Peculiar Ground is the
first novel from award winning biographer Lucy Hughes-Hallett and it is a huge
and ambitious tale set in one place with narrators and timelines spanning three
hundred years. The novel opens with the voice of landscaper Mr Norris as he
navigates his way through the vagaries of Restoration society as those who
supported the King replace those who favoured Cromwell. Wychwood is witnessing its
own restoration as the Earl of Woldingham and his family reclaim their lands
from their cousins the Rivers. Mr Norris describes oppositions of class,
religion, politics and values as well as the Fortescue’s tragic loss of their
son. The loss of a child is echoed in the second section set in 1960s when we
visit the Rossiters and the Lanes and there are further conflicts for those
living at Wychwood as the villagers demand the right to roam and use the
ancient pathways. While on the wider stage the cold war and the Berlin Wall are
the news of the day. The novel is an intriguing study in landscape, manners,
class and the changes in the English countryside it twists and turns through
genres from family drama to ghost story to historical fiction never quite sure
where it fits. While the story telling is well paced and the characters
interesting the use of multiple narrators can drag the story down and convolute
the tale. There are at times too many actors on the stage. A book full of
interesting people and details but sadly it didn’t quite capture me.
Published by 4th Estate on May 18th. Thanks to the publisher and lovereading.co.uk for a review copy.
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