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regshoeIt was time for another Sutcliff, and I thought the history in this one looked especially interesting. I was right!
The Rider of the White Horse (1959) is, like Bonnie Dundee, much more closely based on real history than Sutcliff's Roman novels. It centres on Anne and Thomas Fairfax, Thomas being the real rather important Parliamentarian commander in the Civil War and Anne his real wife; the book opens with the events leading ominously up to the outbreak of war and has its dramatic climax at the battle of Marston Moor in 1644. And most of its plot consists simply of how the main characters experience their historical lives during the war—I wouldn't call it meandering, but it felt much more like a continuous experience of history than a neatly-plotted novel, something which I think it has in common with Sword at Sunset (although that one is less historically specific, of course).
Something else which increasingly seems typical of Sutcliff the more I read of her books is the complicated and difficult relationship in an arranged marriage. In this case, Thomas is perfectly content to be married to Anne and treats her kindly, but Anne loves Thomas passionately and wishes in vain that he could return her love, leading to much difficulty and heartbreak. I don't usually like these dynamics very much; this one wasn't hugely my thing either, but I liked it better than some of Sutcliff's other similar relationships—possibly because it's not actually antagonistic, possibly because most of the focus and POV is with the woman, and Anne—loyal, brave, rather harsh, fiercely loving—is a very compelling character whose POV I really enjoyed spending time in, with all the emotional complexities involving Thomas and otherwise.
Also, while their relationship is in some ways the centre of the book, it's not really the focus for most of it. Instead what the book is mostly about is Anne's experience of being a soldier's wife and following him on campaign, which she does (historically did!) throughout the early stages of the war in the north. I loved this aspect of the book! Anne deals with the minor mundane hardships of life on campaign, having to give up progressively more luxuries, having to pack her things ready to leave for the next movement first thing in the morning on half an hour's notice; she experiences war up close from a woman's perspective, seeing the fighting and being in some danger from it but not able to take part, waiting to learn the outcome of pivotal battles taking place within earshot; caring for the wounded and seeing some of them die. She observes the suffering that the war brings to ordinary people in the places she visits; she has her small daughter Moll with her and has to deal with taking care of a child in the middle of a war; at one point she gets taken prisoner and has some exchanges with rather ambivalently noble enemies which I think D. K. Broster would have enjoyed. It's a rather different sort of focus from some of Sutcliff's other books, but all described with her characteristic beautiful attention to historical and descriptive detail, use of memorable and significant symbols, constant awareness of the natural world, emotional insightfulness and generally beautiful writing.
I also liked the setting, portrayed as it is with all this brilliant Sutcliffian detail and colour. The action takes place across Yorkshire from the dales to the Humber, and the book brings this dramatic and important part of the region's history to such life. Tangentially, it was interesting to see the pre-Industrial Revolution West Riding, with places like Leeds and Bradford appearing as small 'clothing towns'.
Around the edges of the book, but becoming rather more ominously prominent as events progress, there's a strong sense of historical significance. Thomas's attitude to the war itself is to see it as a combination of righteous cause and bitter necessity; he believes in the importance of opposing what the King is doing but doesn't really want to go to war with him, and he reacts to his own victories with a sort of shocked depression. Oliver Cromwell appears in a few important scenes, and Sutcliff conveys a powerful sense of what such a historically important man is like, which remains very ambivalent about the extent to which he—on the same side as our main characters—is a good thing. The book's overall attitude to the war is a rather strange blend of belief in the Parliamentarian cause with clear-headedness about the costs of war, a strong sense of historical significance and perhaps inevitability, and something else of fated wrongness. I'm struggling to describe it clearly—Right but Repulsive doesn't really cover it—but it made for a terribly engaging and interesting read.
Apparently some editions of this book are abridged, although I don't know what was cut out—I got my copy from the library and can't tell whether it's abridged or not, though it is a later edition (copyright 1967), so it might be.
The Rider of the White Horse (1959) is, like Bonnie Dundee, much more closely based on real history than Sutcliff's Roman novels. It centres on Anne and Thomas Fairfax, Thomas being the real rather important Parliamentarian commander in the Civil War and Anne his real wife; the book opens with the events leading ominously up to the outbreak of war and has its dramatic climax at the battle of Marston Moor in 1644. And most of its plot consists simply of how the main characters experience their historical lives during the war—I wouldn't call it meandering, but it felt much more like a continuous experience of history than a neatly-plotted novel, something which I think it has in common with Sword at Sunset (although that one is less historically specific, of course).
Something else which increasingly seems typical of Sutcliff the more I read of her books is the complicated and difficult relationship in an arranged marriage. In this case, Thomas is perfectly content to be married to Anne and treats her kindly, but Anne loves Thomas passionately and wishes in vain that he could return her love, leading to much difficulty and heartbreak. I don't usually like these dynamics very much; this one wasn't hugely my thing either, but I liked it better than some of Sutcliff's other similar relationships—possibly because it's not actually antagonistic, possibly because most of the focus and POV is with the woman, and Anne—loyal, brave, rather harsh, fiercely loving—is a very compelling character whose POV I really enjoyed spending time in, with all the emotional complexities involving Thomas and otherwise.
Also, while their relationship is in some ways the centre of the book, it's not really the focus for most of it. Instead what the book is mostly about is Anne's experience of being a soldier's wife and following him on campaign, which she does (historically did!) throughout the early stages of the war in the north. I loved this aspect of the book! Anne deals with the minor mundane hardships of life on campaign, having to give up progressively more luxuries, having to pack her things ready to leave for the next movement first thing in the morning on half an hour's notice; she experiences war up close from a woman's perspective, seeing the fighting and being in some danger from it but not able to take part, waiting to learn the outcome of pivotal battles taking place within earshot; caring for the wounded and seeing some of them die. She observes the suffering that the war brings to ordinary people in the places she visits; she has her small daughter Moll with her and has to deal with taking care of a child in the middle of a war; at one point she gets taken prisoner and has some exchanges with rather ambivalently noble enemies which I think D. K. Broster would have enjoyed. It's a rather different sort of focus from some of Sutcliff's other books, but all described with her characteristic beautiful attention to historical and descriptive detail, use of memorable and significant symbols, constant awareness of the natural world, emotional insightfulness and generally beautiful writing.
I also liked the setting, portrayed as it is with all this brilliant Sutcliffian detail and colour. The action takes place across Yorkshire from the dales to the Humber, and the book brings this dramatic and important part of the region's history to such life. Tangentially, it was interesting to see the pre-Industrial Revolution West Riding, with places like Leeds and Bradford appearing as small 'clothing towns'.
Around the edges of the book, but becoming rather more ominously prominent as events progress, there's a strong sense of historical significance. Thomas's attitude to the war itself is to see it as a combination of righteous cause and bitter necessity; he believes in the importance of opposing what the King is doing but doesn't really want to go to war with him, and he reacts to his own victories with a sort of shocked depression. Oliver Cromwell appears in a few important scenes, and Sutcliff conveys a powerful sense of what such a historically important man is like, which remains very ambivalent about the extent to which he—on the same side as our main characters—is a good thing. The book's overall attitude to the war is a rather strange blend of belief in the Parliamentarian cause with clear-headedness about the costs of war, a strong sense of historical significance and perhaps inevitability, and something else of fated wrongness. I'm struggling to describe it clearly—Right but Repulsive doesn't really cover it—but it made for a terribly engaging and interesting read.
Apparently some editions of this book are abridged, although I don't know what was cut out—I got my copy from the library and can't tell whether it's abridged or not, though it is a later edition (copyright 1967), so it might be.
no subject
Date: Jan. 29th, 2022 09:22 pm (UTC)And I'm glad you enjoyed it!
There's also a young adult sequel to this one, called Simon, that I haven't read. It sounds rather similar to Bonnie Dundee in theme, with a young man or boy following an older man, in this case Fairfax, in war.
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Date: Jan. 30th, 2022 12:07 pm (UTC)Simon sounds good—and interesting perhaps to see Sutcliff's take on the same historical character from a different perspective.