Sir Isumbras at the Ford by D. K. Broster

[regshoe]

Sir Isumbras at the Ford (1918) is the first book written by D. K. Broster alone. Now, I don't want to denigrate G. W. Taylor, whose contributions to the two earlier books I enjoyed, but I do have to say I think Broster is better off without her. This book felt like a serious 'levelling up' in prose style, emotional stakes and general quality, and it's the first time in this read-through that I've really gone, oh yes, this person wrote Flight of the Heron.

Once again, the story takes place amongst the aristocratic émigrés of post-Revolutionary France. It begins in 1795 with the precocious young Royalist Anne-Hilarion de Flavigny, who lives with his French father and Scottish grandfather in London, being kidnapped and taken to France by nefarious Republicans who want to get information about the political schemes his father René is involved in. René is away on business related to these schemes, so it's left to his friend, the Breton guerilla leader Fortuné de la Vireville, to go to France and rescue the boy. This rescue effected, La Vireville returns to his counter-Revolutionary activities in Brittany, where he meets the courageous and interesting Royalist agent Raymonde de Guéfontaine; and then he and René de Flavigny both become embroiled in an invasion of Republican France, which (history spoilers) doesn't go well.

Before I discuss actual details about this book: the one thing that's really struck me, the more so the further through the book I got, is the sheer emotional weight and impact of Broster's writing. Something about the way she constructs sentences, scenes and plots... I can't put my finger on exactly what this quality is—I don't think it's tragedy alone, because this isn't a particularly tragic book, much less than FotH—the main characters all survive and find happiness by the end. If I had to make an attempt, I'd say that it's something to do with the sense of authorial presence in the story—Broster puts her characters through terrible trials and heavy emotional journeys, but she also constantly sympathises with them in a knowing, omniscient-narrator way. She's got a way of emphasising little details of mundane happiness in the wake of tragic events, which I think is meant to show how the characters grow past their trials and misfortunes, but which feels almost cruel at times. It's almost as bad as Mary Renault, and possibly worse than Rosemary Sutcliff.

Anyway, pointless introspection aside, I really enjoyed this book for a number of reasons...

The characters, in general, are great. Anne-Hilarion's endearing precociousness got a bit much after a while, but his 'surrogate uncle' relationship with La Vireville was very sweet all the same. And La Vireville himself is a fave—his combination of world-weary cynicism about people in general and readiness to see the good in people he cares about, like Anne and, later, Raymonde, is great, and his bravery and endurance are very impressive. (If that sounds a bit familiar... yeah, I'll get to discussing FotH further on). My absolute fave in this book, however, was Raymonde. Now, I'm frequently disappointed with the roles that female characters get to play in the sorts of stories I otherwise enjoy, stories like this one, and it was very refreshing indeed to see a different sort of female character here. I loved that a woman gets to take part in the emotionally intense loyalty/honour/revenge/betrayal plots that Broster writes so well; I loved that she's an important political player in her own right, risking everything to work for the Royalist cause as much as the fighting men she works alongside; I loved her courage and resourcefulness and passion and pride. More characters like this, please!

I also enjoyed the two Republican double agents, Madame and Mademoiselle de Chaulnes. It's interesting to see women playing active roles as villains too, of course, and there's a lot of potential in their backstory and scheming. The last meeting between Mme de Chaulnes and La Vireville was particularly intriguing—we see Royalist and Republican characters actually arguing the merits of their causes and accusing each other with what they feel are the flaws of the other side, and I really enjoyed getting a view of that. And there are many other great characters—Anne's strict and suspicious but loyal Scottish nurse Elspeth, La Vireville's sweetheart of a mum, the eager young naval officer Francis Tollemache, etc. etc.

This book has a lot in common with Flight of the Heron! theseatheseatheopensea has described La Vireville as a sort of proto-Keith Windham—he's a soldier fallen into cynicism after the woman he loved betrayed him, who finds himself forming significant relationships with other, more worthy characters and slowly rediscovering the value of love. This arc involves some fraught situations of honour, characters mistakenly thinking other characters have betrayed them and characters saving each others' lives despite the enmity between them. La Vireville/Raymonde—the canon romance—is very much like Keith/Ewen, and I felt very vindicated by this. :) Other similarities include Broster's fondness for feinting towards killing characters off before abruptly saving them (which also appears in Chantemerle; interestingly, the patterns and eventual outcomes of threatened and real deaths are different in all three books), and impressive feats of physical endurance by badly injured characters. Although not the homoeroticism (which I'm glad about, frankly; I wouldn't want conflict with an m/m pairing I'd inevitably prefer to the canon m/f pairing to interfere with my love for Raymonde!). There's even a mention of a Mr Windham, although he appears to be historical—perhaps he's a relation.

My other favourite thing about this book is the presence of Child Ballads! Elspeth sings ballads to Anne-Hilarion, who loves the stories and quotes verses from them (with appropriately childish powers of association) at various significant moments in the plot, and Broster also uses them as epigraphs. The two ballads that turn up again and again are 'Sir Patrick Spens' and 'Thomas the Rhymer', which just happen to be two of my faves, as well. Good taste, Anne and Broster.

Altogether: a very good and enjoyable book, highly recommended if you like Flight of the Heron and enjoy playing spot-the-common-detail. Since there doesn't currently appear to be an ebook of this one available, and I have a first edition, I'm considering scanning it and sending the text to Gutenberg.org, because more people deserve to break their hearts over Broster's lovely writing. :D

Comments

[garonne]

I'm enjoying reading all your Broster reviews. Raymonde sounds great! I was just thinking the other day that I would like to read one of these historical adventure loyalty/betrayal/honour/etc. type novels, but with two female leads, but I have never come across one.

If you do decide to try preparing the text for Project Gutenberg, I don't know if you have access to a good OCR software? I have access to a pretty good one via AWS if you'd like to use it. Although be warned that even with a high-quality scan and high-quality OCR, the final step (inserting missing punctuation and so on) is still pretty time consuming... I'm about 60% of the way through The Wounded Name.

[luzula]

I was just thinking the other day that I would like to read one of these historical adventure loyalty/betrayal/honour/etc. type novels, but with two female leads, but I have never come across one.

I have recced this to regshoe before, but: have you read Code Name Verity? It really has a lot of that kind of vibe, but between two women. Well, maybe not much honour, but definitely loyalty and potential betrayal. It's set in World War II.

[regshoe]

Ah, I was just about to mention that you'd recced Code Name Verity—it's still on my to-read list :D

[garonne]

I didn't know this book, but I just looked it up. Sounds like something I will be adding to my to-read list!

[regshoe]

Raymonde is the best, but I was thinking that the one thing that'd make it even better is having two such female characters whose most important relationship is with each other.

(My favourite historical f/f relationship is the one in Carmilla, but I think that hits rather different loyalty-related tropes, and is certainly less positive than something like Ewen/Keith)

I hadn't got as far as looking at what OCR software I could use, so yes, that would be very helpful! Thanks for the offer :D

[garonne]

When you mentioned Carmilla I wasn't sure what you meant at first, but when I looked it up I realised I read this book years ago (pre-teens, I think). I distinctly remember "Carmilla" and "Mircalla" :D and also just generally being kind of confused. I guess a large part of the story went right over my head. I should read it again!

[regshoe]

I can highly recommend it :D It's a properly exciting and creepy story (the vampire anagrams are a bit silly, but that probably came across differently when vampire fiction was still a new thing :P), with lots of lovely haunting imagery, as well as being incredibly gay for something published in 1872.

[theseatheseatheopensea]

Awesome review, as usual :) And there is nothing pointless about some good old introspection, which this book obviously calls for!

I absolutely agree about that elusive thing about Broster's writing--it really is something that's difficult to pinpoint, but truly makes it striking and memorable. I also think it's not necessarily about tragedy, to me it feels like this emotional weight comes from a strong sense of place, which she is excellent at writing... and I also feel it's from the idea of characters doing what they do for a reason that, more often than not, seems to be their home (motherland, home country, choice of king or gov't, whatever), so the stories become so emotional and striking because they are tied to the struggles the characters go through and them meaning something, because of that sense of homecoming they achieve (or hope to achieve) in the end. Does that make sense? I feel that Broster's narrative style is so good at showing all this, and more... but you've said it way better, heh! <3

Broster puts her characters through terrible trials and heavy emotional journeys, but she also constantly sympathises with them in a knowing, omniscient-narrator way. She's got a way of emphasising little details of mundane happiness in the wake of tragic events, which I think is meant to show how the characters grow past their trials and misfortunes, but which feels almost cruel at times.

I absolutely agree! It does feel a bit cruel, but also very realistic! Even in small passages and details, you get this deep feeling, this depth of character that also makes you see them as real people, and sympathise with them, even when they are Royalists! haha! But seriously, it is great! <3

I love Raymonde too, as you know! <3 A total badass, with her own goals, and definitely not used as a plot device!! I love how well-developed she is--Broster doesnt make her one-dimensioned, like so many heroines are, so she can be both tough *and* emotional. Like you said, "courage and resourcefulness and passion and pride". She's the whole package, and I totally agree with you about needing more characters like her!

we see Royalist and Republican characters actually arguing the merits of their causes and accusing each other with what they feel are the flaws of the other side, and I really enjoyed getting a view of that.

Yes! And I somehow feel that some scenes in FOTH have that similar flavour, of confronting your enemy with reason and logical thinking and words, rather than just plain battlefield fighting (and perhaps, seeing more common points that one might think...)

Speaking of FOTH, while it can't be beat because of all those nature descriptions (yes, I am Biased <3), I feel that this novel also really shows Broster's wonderful grasp of emotion and character growth. I am weak for the "personal salvation through human connection" trope (which, in a sense, is a sort of emotional homecoming and Broster really kicks ass at writing this!) and you really see this in the bond the Chevallier forms with Anne and then with Raymonde (with a happier ending than the one our Keith gets--but luckily there is such a thing as fix-it fic! ;)

As a side note, I feel it's quite refreshing to show this "slowly rediscovering the value of love" thing via a bond with a child, isn't it? It's not a romantic bond that saves him/brings his heart back to life, and I think it's lovely. Maybe it's just me, but it seems that many times, romantic bonds are shown in fiction as the only meaningful/important ones, so it's great to see a different thing here! Which is not to say that I don't root for him and Raymonde, because theirs is one relationship I can totally see as realistic and fleshed out--they dont fall in love the second they see each other, like in other romance books, and so it's very nice to see their relationship grow, along with the things/the Cause they have in common.

La Vireville/Raymonde—the canon romance—is very much like Keith/Ewen, and I felt very vindicated by this. :)

I absolutely agree! <3

Although not the homoeroticism (which I'm glad about, frankly; I wouldn't want conflict with an m/m pairing I'd inevitably prefer to the canon m/f pairing to interfere with my love for Raymonde!).

Also very true, she kept the m/m handholding to a bare minimum here. I think the Chevallier gets kissed by another soldier once, and he and Anne's dad are close friends, but that's about it--Broster knew that we are all #TeamRaymonde, haha!

There's even a mention of a Mr Windham, although he appears to be historical—perhaps he's a relation.

Oh, you're right about that! I knew you'd spot all the Important Details! Well, this is what fanfic is for, isn”t it?

My other favourite thing about this book is the presence of Child Ballads!

Yes! <3

Altogether: a very good and enjoyable book, highly recommended if you like Flight of the Heron and enjoy playing spot-the-common-detail.

Haha, it really is a bingo card waiting to happen, isn't it? I find it very amusing! :D

And it's awesome of you to consider scanning it and sharing it with the world! <3

[regshoe]

Yeah, I agree that the strong sense of place is important (I loved her descriptions of the Channel Islands, especially in the last section with La Vireville and Raymonde meeting again, as well as La Vireville's mourning for his lost home).

Raymonde as a fully-rounded character, yes! That last scene on the boat was really striking, in that sense—she keeps her cool during the crisis, and bravely does her part in saving them both, but then at the end she breaks down with all the emotion of it, as is quite understandable considering what she's been through. And you feel for her all the more for seeing both/all sides of her. I love her :D

I am weak for the "personal salvation through human connection" trope (which, in a sense, is a sort of emotional homecoming and Broster really kicks ass at writing this!) and you really see this in the bond the Chevallier forms with Anne and then with Raymonde

Oh, yes—it is all very sweet, and that emotional weight is done very well throughout. And I agree that it's refreshing to see this trope done with a quasi-parental relationship rather than a romantic one (although some of the implications about the importance of having your own children did rub me the wrong way, especially in light of similar themes in FotH—but that's subjective, I suppose).

Well, this is what fanfic is for, isn”t it?

:D I'm not sure how Keith would feel about a cousin of his supporting the French Royalists—are they just as bad as the Jacobites? (What would he think of the Revolution? who knows...)

[theseatheseatheopensea]

That last scene was exactly what I was thinking of--she does the job and doesn't lose her nerve, but then all the fear and stress and emotion catches up with her at the end, which, like you said, is totally understandable, considering what she's been through. She really comes across as a believable character, with her own arc and her own agency, not only just as a romantic interest, which was one of the (few) things I didn't like about FOTH, and thought this book did better.

And yeah, you are totally right about the implications about the importance of having your own children... that was very much of its time, wasn't it? (Wait until you get to "The dark mile", there's a part of the story dealing with duty/marriage that was kind of gag-worthy to me, but like you said, it could be subjective.)

But, overall, I like the sense of found family in this book. Broster writes these unexpected bonds rather nicely, and I like the idea of people who are different working together for a common goal!

[regshoe]

She really comes across as a believable character, with her own arc and her own agency, not only just as a romantic interest, which was one of the (few) things I didn't like about FOTH, and thought this book did better.

Yes!

Found family, yeah, absolutely. Even though I don't always agree with Broster (now, that's what fanfic is for...), that is a lovely theme and story. :)

[luzula]

Sold! I have ordered this book now. : D

I'm glad to hear there's a woman in one of those emotionally intense honor/related plots! I mean, I know Broster can write women--Juliana in Mr. Rowl is great, but she doesn't really get as much page time as the main character.

[regshoe]

Glad to hear it—I'll look forward to seeing what you make of it :D

Raymonde doesn't get a huge amount of page time compared to the other main characters, although it's more than a little, but she steals the show so much when she is there that it doesn't really matter, I think. And good to know that there are other good female characters in the later books! (besides Aunt Margaret, of course <3)

[isis]

This sounds really interesting! And also, I agree, I'm enjoying your Broster (+) reviews.

[regshoe]

Oh, good—I'm certainly enjoying writing them :D

[hyarrowen]

OK, I'm ordering this. I've come across one or two real turkeys of hers, which have put me off reading the whole oeuvre, but this seems to be one of the good 'uns. I like your insight into what makes her good writing so powerful - I wasn't sure whether it was just because I liked it on a personal level. But the poet Patricia Beer felt the same way about it, and a poet should know when words work.

[regshoe]

Yeah, it's definitely a particular thing—I have lots of fave writers who I think write really well in terms of technique and emotion, but there are only one or two others whose writing is powerful quite like that.

Heh, if I'm going to be a completist about anyone's books I suppose I should expect a couple of less than brilliant ones—but worth it to discover the forgotten gems, I think :P

[theseatheseatheopensea]

Shamelessly butting in to say that I'm delighted to know that Patricia Beer liked Broster too! What I've read of her poetry is incredible! <3

[hyarrowen]

Here I confess that I haven't read many of her poems, though the ones I've read are indeed brilliant. But I went to the same uni as she did, and picked up her autobiography and enjoyed it, and remember that I enjoyed "Reader, I married him" as well. She says such a lot in a little.