Sam Marsdyke, 19 year old son of a Yorkshire farmer, sits at the top of the Moor watching ramblers and the new people ("towns") arriving at the neighbouring farmhouse. In beautiful dialect he records the circumstances that led to his expulsion from school and subsequently lead to his friendship with the young daughter of the towns. A lad perfectly adapted to the Moors he has very little idea of other people; he is a primitive savage who is a lost innocent in the world of folk. He is like a fish, utterly at home in his natural environment but doomed the moment he is taken out of it. He just doesn't understand how other people think. Almost every interaction he has with people leads to disaster. Soon events build to their inevitable climax.
Although the plot is, on the whole, predictable, and employs mostly stock characters the novel is redeemed by the wonderful, faultless language used for Sam's monologue and which lends depth to his unique vision of the world.
April 2009, 211 pages
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