BOOK REVIEW – BERNARD CORNWELL AND SUSANNAH KELLS – A CROWNING MERCY. 1983 Harper Collins.
A historic novel and quest story, set against the backdrop of The English Civil War of the 1640’s. The author of the Sharpe novels joins forces with his wife, Judith Cornwell, who adopted the pseudonym of Susannah Kells.
Raised by a strict Puritanical stepfather and her insanely sadistic brother, Dorcas reams of escaping to a more relaxed and happy life. Sent out for water, she takes a naked swim in the local river, only to be seen by a poacher, a Royalist spy, who takes pleasure in stealing fish from the estate. She falls in love with the man, who nicknames her Campion, a name she adapts as her own ever afterwards, but they are quickly separated, and her father, discovering that she has been skinnydipping, thrashes her severely.
Soon afterwards, she finds herself on the brink of being forced into an arranged marriage with a local self appointed minister, who lusts after her and who she discovers has been promised the inheritance of her fortune. The convenient death of her father on he eve of the wedding leads to the reading of a will, in which she learns that the family fortune depends on a seal, named after St. Matthew, the author of one of the gospels. Unfortunately, no one in the family knows where the seal is kept, so a hunt across the house is started. Campion finds it herself, along with indications that it is one of a set of four such seals, (the others being named after he remaining Gospel authors).
Seeking a lawyer named by her father in his papers, Campion goes to London, and aided by a friendly housekeeper, she tracks down her boyfriend too, as he is on the brink of capture by the Parliamentarians who dominate the city. The lawyer proves to be treacherous, and he has Campion captured by her family to try to start wedding proceedings anew. Rescued by who burns down a boatyard to divert attention to his plans, is taken by him to his own family estate, where she is quickly taken to heart by the hero’s formidable mother, the Royalist and gun toting Lady Margaret, (the best character in the book).
The crooked lawyer, and crazed brother manipulate a siege on the house, (comparable to that on Basing House), and in the fight, where her lover is wounded badly (losing several fingers) Campion is captured, though her brother engineers the murder of her would be husband, before framing her for the crime, causing her trial for witch-craft and murder. With her dead, he would inherit the seals and the estates that they would lead to. On the brink of being executed, in a scene of genuine and extra-ordinary tension, a ruthlessly aggressive stranger rescues her, and the plot thickens considerably with duplicity, revenge and several dramatic escapes to follow as the struggle for ownership of the seals and the inheritance, quickens in pace. It’s a great novel, with realistic Civil War period detail, and pantomime villainy, (especially from the twisted brother figure). A thrilling costume romp with some attention to background authenticity.
Arthur Chappell
LINK TO THIS PAGE http://arthurchappell.me.uk/book.review-bernard.cornwell.susannah.kells-a.crowning.mercy.htm
LINKS TO OTHER PEOPLES PAGES E-mail arthur@chappell7300.freeserve.co.uk
UPDATES MYSPACE - http://www.myspace.com/arthurchappell
FACEBOOK - http://profile.to/arthurchappell/
FACEBOOK BLOG http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks/blogpage.php?blogid=85623
MY BOOKS - http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=952521