Reviews

Four characters move through this story: the coiner - or organiser of widespread counterfeiting - David Hartley, the ill-fated Excise Man William Deighton, the lawyer who brings Hartley to justice, Robert Parker, and (this has been said before of other works) the landscape, in this case of the Calder Valley on the cusp of the industrial revolution which in the epilogue has brought its own mixture of prosperity and oppression. Are these really spoilers? The protagonist, mob-ruling David Hartley, is executed at the climax of the book - but this is a matter of historical record. What would spoil it would be what makes the climax so astonishing, and this is at the heart of the book: the detailed nature-writing that sustains this book and places it in the Yorkshire Pennines above Halifax is allowed to flood into the final moments, even the micro-seconds, of a man being hanged. It is horrific, and yet completely believable and compelling. To quote the lyrical and forensic dissecting of Hartley’s final thoughts and sensations would be an intrusion.
Other characters come and go, each beautifully painted, with back stories and motives we are left to half-understand: Deighton’s murderers; the turncoat Broadbent; Hartley’s wife (whose end story in the final chapters would make a novel in itself)... and a host of minor characters whose names are repeated in list after resonant list, most, if not all, real names from the history which is amply referenced in the endnotes.
Period, subject and landscape mean Alan Garner’s mantle is over all of this, and Myers gives Strandloper (Garner’s own account of revolt, punishment and retribution in the C18th from the other side of the Pennines) a mention in the endnotes. Myers similarly allows a half-forgotten pagan tradition to colour the hill farmers’ attitudes, in the dream-like appearance of the stagmen, who dominate Hartley’s vision. The description of landscape and seasons is some of the finest in modern British nature writing. This is all utterly compelling, with fine, vivid prose.
Any drawbacks? For me the only one is the uncomfortable use of misspelling in Hartley’s one account, which doesn’t quite ring true - but this is something to set aside in what is a real triumph, and that is how Myers brings out the voice of the Pennines in words and phrases I recognise from my youth. If the pedant in me objects to some misspelling, the rest of me is willing to go along with the rich dialect and the vivid depiction of character and landscape - and unflinching exploration of violence and exploitation.

cakeandbooks1970's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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