A penetrating and ambitious historical novel, "Havoc, in Its Third
Year" is an ingenious, often deeply unnerving narrative of
seventeenth-century England that speaks directly to the fanaticism
and fears of today.
The time is the early seventeenth century, as the quarrel
between Royalists and Parliamentarians turns toward civil war, and
that between Catholics and Protestants leads toward bloody
religious tyranny; the place is a town in northern England, set in
a grim landscape swept by crop failures, plague and rumors of war,
in which rigid Puritans have taken over government and imposed
their own rules.
At the center of the novel is John Brigge, the Coroner and a
Governor of the town, though not by any means as convinced a zealot
as his fellow governors have become. Married and deeply in love
with Elizabeth, who is pregnant with their first child, he has a
guilty secret to hide in his affection for Dorcas, his wife's ward
-- a secret which, in the world of religious prejudice and
extremism toward which England is moving, can be lethal.
Determined to obey the law, rather than prejudice and the need
to make an example of an Irishwoman accused of murdering her own
infant, Brigge draws upon himself the hostility and suspicion of
the powerful men who have been his fellow governors and who now set
out to destroy him in the name of morality.
Brigge is both sympathetic and deeply vulnerable. He genuinely
loves Elizabeth and longs for their child to be born, but he is
also deeply attracted to Dorcas; he is, however guardedly, of "the
old faith" and does not hesitate to hide a priest; he favors the
wretched vagrants who infest the roads, seeking shelter and a bite
to eat, and employs one of them on his farm. He insists on finding
out the truth about the Irishwoman's baby, despite the fact that
everybody has already decided on her guilt. In short, without
intending to do so, John Brigge offers himself up as a victim by
refusing to cooperate with the political and religious masters of
the town or to subordinate his own conscience to their demand for
rigid obedience and piety. Even his own clerk Adam, whom he regards
as a son, turns against him in the end in a struggle that will
almost cost Brigge his life and that sends him out into a cold and
dangerous world, having sacrificed everything he once held dear,
stripped of his power and authority, but made heroic by his
commitment to love, truth and human feelings.
"Havoc, in Its Third Year" is a novel of great power, drama and
terror, at once a love story and a superb work of historical
fiction. It confirms Ronan Bennett's reputation as a masterful
creator.
General
Imprint: |
Simon & Schuster
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
July 2007 |
First published: |
July 2007 |
Authors: |
Ronan Bennett
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 14mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
256 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-7432-5857-9 |
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
Genre fiction >
Historical fiction
|
LSN: |
0-7432-5857-6 |
Barcode: |
9780743258579 |
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