Books I Read In May

 Fiction

'The Noble Outlaw' by Bernard Knight

This is the 11th book in the series, though the sequence has only reached December 1195. In truth this novel covers two different crimes that are actually less connected than it appears. One connection is the protagonist's - Sir John De Wolfe, coroner of South Devon - enduring antagonist, Richard de Revelle, former Sheriff of Devon and his brother-in-law. De Revelle is involved in a scheme to follow the new trend of opening schools in Exeter. A desiccated corpse of a man killed by having a nail hammered into the top of his spine is found in the loft of a property being developed for this school. There also seems to be a connection to the 'noble outlaw', the former crusader, Nicholas de Arundell, who had his lands seized in part by De Revelle while away on crusade. An altercation led to a killing and De Arundell fleeing into Dartmoor where he has become a brigand raiding neighbouring farms. The two threads are quite distinct and De Wolfe has to effectively deal with a devious serial killer. The interaction with De Arundell is different. De Revelle and his co-conspirator go after the brigands and there is action as they battle. However, De Wolfe's role is more diplomatic trying to establish a connection to the man, even though under law he should kill him on sight, and seeking to get a pardon. There is further action when De Arundell takes part in a legal battle against the two men who took his land.

In general this is an interesting novel. We see more of De Wolfe's ongoing life and as always learn more about the society, law and politics of 12th Century South-West England. Separately each of the cases is interesting and well explored. However, they do not really mesh together effectively, though I suppose that reflects a detective's typical case book quite accurately. I do think Knight over-uses De Revelle and in the books from 'Figure of Hate' (2005), the 9th book, onwards it feels like he is being levered into the plot, when the development of other antagonists would have perhaps been fresher. However, I accept that the relationships between De Wolfe, his wife, his in-laws, his mistress and his assistants are important to Knight as much as the various mysteries. I have the 12th book on my shelf to read. There were 3 subsequent books in the series, published 2009-12 that I do not have, one of which is a prequel. I would certainly search them out to finish off my reading of the Crowner John series. While perhaps lacking something of the sparkle of the Brother Cadfael novels, this series is a medieval police procedural, which is richly written and draws us very much into the world it is portraying.

'The Poison Garden' by Sarah Singleton

Like most books I acquire these days, this one came from a charity shop. As it was in the adult SF/Fantasy section, rather than with the children's books it was not until later that I realised it is in fact a children's book. Saying that a lot of fantasy no matter the target audience, especially if it is written by women, gets dumped into children's fiction categories. Furthermore, I had read and enjoyed all the Harry Potter books so was not apprehensive about engaging with this one. Singleton has created a rich fantasy in our world, rather like Rowling did. It took me some time to realise that actually it is set in some unspecified late Victorian period rather than in modern day; I have subsequently discovered it is supposed to be the 1850s, whereas I had felt it was 10-40 years later than that.

Thomas is 10 years old at the start of the novel, though most of it takes place when he is 14 and an apprentice to a London pharmacist. On the death of his grandmother, who was very much into plants and herbalism, he becomes aware of a magical garden which appears and disappears. In this garden he meets and old friend of his grandmother's and witnesses a fatal assault on him. He is left a circular magical box and is directed at 14 to become a pharmacist's apprentice. On moving to London he discovers that his grandmother was part of the small Guild of Medical Herbalists (not Magical as some reviews have it). Though some portray them as sorcerers or witches, they see themselves as scientific practitioners. Each of the members has a garden that comes from one of these boxes and allows them to enter it as if shifting to another plane. In these gardens they can cultivate plants lost to the world and breed others for particular beneficial or nefarious uses. Thomas is drawn into investigating who is slowly killing off the few members of the Guild and along with another young heiress to the Guild's secrets, Maud, defeating the unexpected killer.

Some complain that the book is too short at 288 pages, though aimed at children, perhaps making it longer would have been of no benefit. While the latter Harry Potter books became large, the early ones were of this kind of length. The story does move along briskly while doing more than enough to conjure up a kind of magic that is distinct from that of other fantasy stories. Regularly Singleton eschews what might be expected, possibly right down to the end, depending on where you might see it going. Despite the pace of the book, the characters and indeed the Victorian settings, let alone the various gardens, are evocatively drawn. I found it a satisfying, refreshing read and welcomed it tending to avoid tropes. There are only very distant echoes of things like 'Tom's Midnight Garden' (1958) and even a little, 'The Secret Garden' (1910/11) and really you have to be of my generation or older to think of those; certainly not a child in the 21st Century or indeed their parents. While I will not hunt out Singleton's books, if I come across another in a charity shop, then I would certainly be likely to buy it.

P.P. 29/11/2023

I have only just become aware that one of the elements in Singleton's story in featuring the Guild of Funerary Violinists also references another book, 'An Incomplete History of the Art of the Funerary Violin' (2006) by Rohan Kriwaczek:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/An_Incomplete_History_of_the_Art_of_Funerary_Violin which is a spoof history text on said guild and its members practices. Singleton has taken that fiction and added it as an element in her own book, very effectively, I feel.

Non-Fiction

'Napoleon' by Vincent Cronin

Cronin sets out to write a book very much focused on Napoleon Bonaparte, the man. There are references to battles and the political steps, but only when he was directly involved, rather than the events that happened in the context of his expansion of the French Empire. We also get a lot about his early life and his exiles on Elbe and St. Helena that you would typically see in a book about this period of French history in general. There is also a lot about his family and his wives, much of which I had been unaware of. The book was published in 1971 and at times its tone jars for a modern reader. We do not need to know the size of Napoleon's genitals and certainly the statement that Napoleon's sisters were unfortunate in not finding husbands to 'master them' would be struck through vigorously by any editor of the 21st Century.

Cronin is a fan of Napoleon that is clear and there are sections especially on policy around law and religion that clearly aim to show the benefits that Napoleon brought to France and indeed neighbouring states. Cronin does not present these with blind enthusiasm but there is an attitude that these were good things that tended to be undermined by others. Interestingly Klemens von Metternich, the Foreign Minister of the Austrian Empire, in the diplomatic field and Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord in domestic French politics are really shown as men who set out to wreck Napoleon's plans especially in the period 1813-15. Without their vigorous intervention, Cronin makes clear, the outcome for Napoleon and indeed for France as a whole would have been very different.

While dated, you do come away with a greater sense of knowing the man rather than a kind of factor in European politics. You see his weaknesses for example his loyalty to his wives even when they were unfaithful and how much of a family man he was. He also shows loyalty to friends, again even when they plotted or acted against him. A more cynical, less loyal man might have survived better. I have found this book useful in rounding out my understanding of the period, not simply in terms of Napoleon himself but the reflection of other leading individuals in Europe at the time, through their interaction with or steps against him.