This delightfully charming novella is set in the Spring of 1603. In the opening chapter we are introduced to the villagers of Hope Ghyll, through the eyes of narrator and principal protagonist Susanna, an innocent girl fast approaching womanhood who goes to the woods to confide in her doll and idol, 'Oak Tree Jesus', telling him all her dreams, from becoming May Queen to kissing the dreamy-looking James Joseph. But growing-up has its dangers and its consequences.
I'm not an expert on this period but to me the details and the descriptions and the dialogue seemed pitch perfect. At the start of the book the countryside is idyllic: the villagers work together and live together in a close-knit but tolerant co-dependence; Susanna is happy to be surrounded by her kith and kin and comforted by the certainty of the village traditions. But change cannot be prevented. A new preacher arrives, who challenges the easy paganism of village life. And Susanna's own longings prove disruptive too. With the dreadful inevitability of a gathering storm, clouds loom on the horizon. Tragedy, when it strikes, is terrible.
The plot is perfectly paced (the May day celebration, half way through, is the turning point) and the prose is lyrical. The writing seems simple and effortless which is a testament to the writer's skill.
Some selected quotes:
- "And if there was one thing John Assheby was, it was certain."
- "The white thing lay across a large rock, soaked through, plastered to the stone like a second skin. One sleeve trailed into the water, whilst the other lay across its own body. The watery arm wafted back and forth waving to her."
- "The abandoned parson’s house where an apple tree wrapped its branches around one corner of the roof, as a parent embracing a child."
- "James, simply thinking his name made her sigh with bliss, would come home tomorrow. Perhaps."
- "Moths were a sign of death, and it was unlucky to kill them."
- "The road rose uphill to the church and cemetery and climbed from there at a rate Tom Ballard's mare and even John Baker's donkeys struggled to ascend. She remembered her father once comparing it to the long climb to Heaven, but Heaven was a steeper journey, no doubt."
- "If I had looked in more windows before marrying, tried the goods, well...who knows how things might have turned out.”
A simple tale, beautifully told. Magnificent. August 2021.
Alexandra Peel has also written:
- Beneath the Skin: a steampunk adventure in two parts:
- Where Sleeps the Serpent
- The Song of the Nightingale
- The Life and Crimes of Lockhart & Doppler: another steampunk novel
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