Musick for the King

I have had the honour of knowing the author of the Oak Grove conspiracies, a trilogy of political intrigue and the battles between good and evil that are riveting and well written. Barrie Doyle has a gift of story telling that unfortunately means you might lose some sleep if you don’t have the will power to put the book down. His latest book, Musick for the King is another ‘I can’t put it down’ read but it’s a total turn from his first three books. This book takes you deep into the life of Handel and the writing of the well known ‘Messiah’ that now touches the hearts of millions of people each year at Easter and Christmas in particular.

This is a historical fiction so you can sit in a cozy chair, wrapped in a warm blanket and allow yourself to be swept back to the mid 1700s and imagine you were there, watching the whole story play out in your mind. It is vivid and real and you can almost feel the Irish dust on your face as the horses pass by, or hear the calls of the people on the crowded streets near the docks.

Without giving too much away, you will find Handel, in his mid sixties, down on his luck and staring down the road at debtors prison. He’s deeply depressed, he’s unwell physically and in those moments he has encounters that change his life, and the lives of music lovers everywhere. Forever.

I am so tempted here to start telling you about the parts I loved the most, but I don’t want to spoil it for you. (The choosing of his soloist is absolutely beautiful!) I will say this, there are a lot of parts. The story behind the creation of the Messiah is one I hadn’t known about prior to reading this book and it’s one that you might not known about as it was fraught with political troubles from the start but ultimately as you well know it did get written, it did get performed and this book leads you gently through the politics and scandal that lead to that glorious and triumphant “Hallelujah” it was worth every second of the read and I encourage you to read it. It’s more than a tale of music it’s a tale of redemption.

You can find the book and Barrie’s Oak Grove Conspiracies trilogy at any online book store, Amazon or if you prefer to support a local artist you can go directly to the source and get a signed copy by visiting www.barriedoyle.com !!

Laurie Haughton