The past is a foreign country, as L.P. Hartley once wrote, and exploring how people thought hundreds of years ago is something I find deeply fascinating. This was particularly the case when I was completing my MA degree at the University of Birmingham, specialising in the English Civil War. After a visit to the British Museum a last year, I popped into the London Review of Books in Bury Place in London to find my latest read.
On the recommended shelf stood an intriguing looking 1997 novel by Iain Pears set in 1660s England – an era guaranteed to pique my interest. As well as my studies, my appetite had been wetted by reading the Restless Republic, a brilliant look at the Interregnum and Charles II’s ascension to the throne, whose father was executed in 1649. I picked up Pears’ work, turned it over and read the blurb. Four witnesses describe the events surrounding the death of a fellow of New College at the University of Oxford, with each one telling their version of events.
But only one reveals the extraordinary truth.
Notwithstanding its length, 704 pages, I was gripped throughout, and sympathised with every character’s viewpoint.
Scenes were expertly painted, transporting me back centuries.
You could feel the aged wooden benches of slightly chilly and muddy pubs on your back, see dim candlelight in dingy rooms, smell unwashed crowds and admire the English countryside.
Evident research meant that people’s thinking was realistic, including a constant emphasis on God, which guided Calvinists’ daily activities as they constantly looked for signs of His favour.
Robert Harris does this extremely well, also.
Incidentally, I recommend his book set in the same era – Act of Oblivion, which centres on Restoration authorities tracking down two regicides in America.
Exploring early modern England through the eyes of an Italian in An Instance of a Fingerpost was a clever way to introduce Stuart Oxford, with the foreigner pointing out its customs and peculiarities.
By the end of his chapters, you like him and want him to be successful.
The book explores many themes: espionage, politics and the struggle for power, religion, how women were viewed and treated, as well as scientific research and its practical applications.
An intense court scene reminds one very much of To Kill a Mockingbird.
The thing that struck me most of all, however, is how smoothly it was written.
This made it easy and pleasurable to read, while at the same time keeping the protagonists’ accounts authentic and satisfyingly contemporary.