Sea-Green Ribbons by Naomi Mitchison
Sep. 10th, 2021 06:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
regshoeI first heard of 'sea-green ribbons' in this song, and I was looking forward very much to Naomi Mitchison's take on these ideas and this bit of history. Looking back at that Mainly Norfolk page now, I see that Maggie Holland actually lists the book as an inspiration—how neat!
Sea-Green Ribbons (1991) is set in the south of England shortly after the Civil War. The narrator, Sarah Werden, grows up amongst the Levellers of London, and begins the book by introducing us to this background of her childhood. When she reaches adulthood she's married off against her will; eventually she leaves her abusive husband and London, and embarks on a sort of tour of Radical Groups of the 1650s—the Levellers, then the Diggers and the Quakers—gaining insights from each one but never really feeling at home in any. In the end she finds a new life and a new home for herself, by marrying again and emigrating to America.
It's an odd little book, and I thought it made for an interesting, if not necessarily a very favourable, comparison with both Travel Light and The Bull Calves. It's very short—under 150 pages—and the writing, while perfectly good, felt far too brief. It's not that it's lacking in historical detail—there's plenty of detail, and lots of appearances by real historical figures, including the Digger Gerrard Winstanley and the redoubtable Leveller Elizabeth Lilburne—but the ideas never get room to develop properly, and the lack of space for things to unfold slowly—many of the actual scenes and events of the book are almost summarised—gives a feeling of things not really being grounded as they should be. This is difficult stuff—developing ideas of political and social equality; the religious basis of radical politics; land ownership and enclosure and the commons; the failings of Oliver Cromwell's government; gender and relationships in a deeply sexist society; in the American part of the book, slavery and race—and, while Sarah thinks about them all at some length, the treatment of them all felt superficial and, at times, the attempt at resolution too easy. I think this book deserved the length, slow detail, complex development and uncomfortable-ambivalence-in-a-good-way of The Bull Calves, and it didn't get any of it, and it's a real shame.
The structure of Sea-Green Ribbons is actually far more like Travel Light. Sarah, like Halla, is a very solitary protagonist—she interacts with various people and communities, but there's a running theme of her never actually belonging to any of them, and there are no real central relationships in the story. But Halla's story works that way: Halla has a sort of emotional self-sufficiency which makes her story, as just her story, engaging in itself, and the ideas and themes of Travel Light suit themselves to that. In this book, I somehow felt the lack of important relationships much more, and the themes of political ideas and communities sit oddly alongside a protagonist who never really belongs to any of them. The ending tries to show Sarah finally finding a place to belong, in a sort of quiet, non-revolutionary way, but it's not really convincing, and only partly because the handling of the political ideas gets even weaker once the action moves to America. Hmm—I do think at least some of this ambivalence and unresolvedness was probably intentional, but it felt lacking even so.
What else is there to say? The actual historical background—Levellers, Diggers, Ranters, Quakers etc.—is absolutely fascinating (and a valuable corrective to all these romantic Jacobites :P), and I want to learn more about this period. I went and read 'The True Levellers Standard Advanced', the pamphlet written by Gerrard Winstanley and others setting out the ideas of the Diggers, which is very good reading indeed—so much of its time, and yet highly relevant to modern progressive politics. The relationship between political and religious ideas throughout is an especially noticeable feature, and another interesting comparison between Sea-Green Ribbons and The Bull Calves—especially the presentation of the Quakers, which, while not unsympathetic, is certainly less sympathetic than there.
Anyway, I did enjoy the book! There is a lot of good stuff in there—as well as the historical detail, I enjoyed the mood and style of Sarah's narration and perspective, and I do admire Mitchison's ability to imagine and inhabit historical minds and lives, even if I wish she'd done so in a bit more depth.
Sea-Green Ribbons (1991) is set in the south of England shortly after the Civil War. The narrator, Sarah Werden, grows up amongst the Levellers of London, and begins the book by introducing us to this background of her childhood. When she reaches adulthood she's married off against her will; eventually she leaves her abusive husband and London, and embarks on a sort of tour of Radical Groups of the 1650s—the Levellers, then the Diggers and the Quakers—gaining insights from each one but never really feeling at home in any. In the end she finds a new life and a new home for herself, by marrying again and emigrating to America.
It's an odd little book, and I thought it made for an interesting, if not necessarily a very favourable, comparison with both Travel Light and The Bull Calves. It's very short—under 150 pages—and the writing, while perfectly good, felt far too brief. It's not that it's lacking in historical detail—there's plenty of detail, and lots of appearances by real historical figures, including the Digger Gerrard Winstanley and the redoubtable Leveller Elizabeth Lilburne—but the ideas never get room to develop properly, and the lack of space for things to unfold slowly—many of the actual scenes and events of the book are almost summarised—gives a feeling of things not really being grounded as they should be. This is difficult stuff—developing ideas of political and social equality; the religious basis of radical politics; land ownership and enclosure and the commons; the failings of Oliver Cromwell's government; gender and relationships in a deeply sexist society; in the American part of the book, slavery and race—and, while Sarah thinks about them all at some length, the treatment of them all felt superficial and, at times, the attempt at resolution too easy. I think this book deserved the length, slow detail, complex development and uncomfortable-ambivalence-in-a-good-way of The Bull Calves, and it didn't get any of it, and it's a real shame.
The structure of Sea-Green Ribbons is actually far more like Travel Light. Sarah, like Halla, is a very solitary protagonist—she interacts with various people and communities, but there's a running theme of her never actually belonging to any of them, and there are no real central relationships in the story. But Halla's story works that way: Halla has a sort of emotional self-sufficiency which makes her story, as just her story, engaging in itself, and the ideas and themes of Travel Light suit themselves to that. In this book, I somehow felt the lack of important relationships much more, and the themes of political ideas and communities sit oddly alongside a protagonist who never really belongs to any of them. The ending tries to show Sarah finally finding a place to belong, in a sort of quiet, non-revolutionary way, but it's not really convincing, and only partly because the handling of the political ideas gets even weaker once the action moves to America. Hmm—I do think at least some of this ambivalence and unresolvedness was probably intentional, but it felt lacking even so.
What else is there to say? The actual historical background—Levellers, Diggers, Ranters, Quakers etc.—is absolutely fascinating (and a valuable corrective to all these romantic Jacobites :P), and I want to learn more about this period. I went and read 'The True Levellers Standard Advanced', the pamphlet written by Gerrard Winstanley and others setting out the ideas of the Diggers, which is very good reading indeed—so much of its time, and yet highly relevant to modern progressive politics. The relationship between political and religious ideas throughout is an especially noticeable feature, and another interesting comparison between Sea-Green Ribbons and The Bull Calves—especially the presentation of the Quakers, which, while not unsympathetic, is certainly less sympathetic than there.
Anyway, I did enjoy the book! There is a lot of good stuff in there—as well as the historical detail, I enjoyed the mood and style of Sarah's narration and perspective, and I do admire Mitchison's ability to imagine and inhabit historical minds and lives, even if I wish she'd done so in a bit more depth.
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Date: Sep. 10th, 2021 07:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Sep. 11th, 2021 04:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Sep. 10th, 2021 10:21 pm (UTC)And that's such a lovely song, with such a poignant message... of loss, and things definitely changing, but also of some hope and brightness remaining! <3
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Date: Sep. 11th, 2021 04:26 pm (UTC)It's a great song! I always think its political message is very similar to that of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.
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Date: Sep. 11th, 2021 02:31 am (UTC)Huh! I know the song, but have not read the book. I will almost still certainly grab a copy if I see one, just because of Naomi Mitchison.
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Date: Sep. 11th, 2021 04:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Sep. 11th, 2021 08:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Sep. 12th, 2021 10:45 am (UTC)