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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
Five big, bold stars and the perfect book to buddy read. On my favorites shelf! 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
With Elmet, Fiona Mozley has written a literary masterpiece. At first, the reader learns that Elmet is a sanctuary, a strip of land viewed as a safe haven and with Celtic history. This is where Daniel, his Daddy, and his sister, Cathy, land. The father, flanked by his two children, and living in a small copse, builds the home with his own hands. Living off the land, they are choosing life on their own terms.
Daddy is a fighter- past and present. He is brawny, and all the fighting is beginning to take its toll on him as he ages. Cathy is a fighter like Daddy. She is slight, but full of vigor and power that surprises anyone who is the target of her rage. Daniel is perhaps less strong physically, but I would offer his heart is the strongest of all.
There are issues with right and wrong in the community and how it pertains to workers’ rights. There is also a seedy, villainous landlord, Mr. Price, who raises issue with this family living on “his” land, and there is backstory to that relationship.
Elmet surprised me with its tension and suspense. This is a literary thriller in every sense, and the story ratcheted up and up with each chapter. I worried about this family’s future, and a feeling of foreboding is present. Mozley’s writing is lightly descriptive. She has a way of painting the most vivid imagery with precise words, and the entire story flows easily- so easily, in fact, that I devoured this book in just three sittings.
I found the themes of protection- protection of family and children, of children for their father, and of safety and safe haven from society’s ills, to be powerful and resonant. I was enthralled with the tender sides to Daddy, Daniel, and Cathy, and how close-knit their love for each other was. My favorite aspect of the book was the exploration of the father-child relationship and the role that protection plays in that. It was refreshing to have a father depicted in this way, and the spotlight shown on the special dynamic between a father and his children (even if the father was not perfect).
In short, I was completely charmed, mesmerized, and haunted by this book. I loved it so much I bought the UK copy to go on my shelf alongside a US copy.
I had the pleasure of buddy reading Elmet with my good friend Beth of Bibliobeth. This was the best kind of read to share. I learned and was enriched from Beth’s insights, and our discussion enabled me to dig much deeper into the story.
My reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com
With Elmet, Fiona Mozley has written a literary masterpiece. At first, the reader learns that Elmet is a sanctuary, a strip of land viewed as a safe haven and with Celtic history. This is where Daniel, his Daddy, and his sister, Cathy, land. The father, flanked by his two children, and living in a small copse, builds the home with his own hands. Living off the land, they are choosing life on their own terms.
Daddy is a fighter- past and present. He is brawny, and all the fighting is beginning to take its toll on him as he ages. Cathy is a fighter like Daddy. She is slight, but full of vigor and power that surprises anyone who is the target of her rage. Daniel is perhaps less strong physically, but I would offer his heart is the strongest of all.
There are issues with right and wrong in the community and how it pertains to workers’ rights. There is also a seedy, villainous landlord, Mr. Price, who raises issue with this family living on “his” land, and there is backstory to that relationship.
Elmet surprised me with its tension and suspense. This is a literary thriller in every sense, and the story ratcheted up and up with each chapter. I worried about this family’s future, and a feeling of foreboding is present. Mozley’s writing is lightly descriptive. She has a way of painting the most vivid imagery with precise words, and the entire story flows easily- so easily, in fact, that I devoured this book in just three sittings.
I found the themes of protection- protection of family and children, of children for their father, and of safety and safe haven from society’s ills, to be powerful and resonant. I was enthralled with the tender sides to Daddy, Daniel, and Cathy, and how close-knit their love for each other was. My favorite aspect of the book was the exploration of the father-child relationship and the role that protection plays in that. It was refreshing to have a father depicted in this way, and the spotlight shown on the special dynamic between a father and his children (even if the father was not perfect).
In short, I was completely charmed, mesmerized, and haunted by this book. I loved it so much I bought the UK copy to go on my shelf alongside a US copy.
I had the pleasure of buddy reading Elmet with my good friend Beth of Bibliobeth. This was the best kind of read to share. I learned and was enriched from Beth’s insights, and our discussion enabled me to dig much deeper into the story.
My reviews can also be found on my blog: www.jennifertarheelreader.com
The back cover blurb of Elmet by Fiona Mozley describes the novel as atmospheric and unsettling. I find it hard to disagree with that assessment. This is a book that, without fanfare or literary pyrotechnics, steadily ups the tension as the story unfolds. More than just offering a good example of rural noir, Mozley also has something to say about class, power and the ownership of land.
The events depicted involve Daniel, his sister Cathy, their father John and their back-to-basics lifestyle out in the boondocks of Yorkshire. John, who Daniel refers to as "Daddy" throughout the novel, not only built the family home with his bare hands but spends a good deal of the day foraging for food. Daniel and Cathy attend school initially, but when some bullying leads to violence, John has them both home-schooled by his friend (and possible lover) Vivienne. Through the course of the novel we learn that John is more than just a man who enjoys the independent life. He's also a well known pugilist whose fists have made wealthier, unprincipled men a great deal of money. After a period of peace, a period where John has been left to tend to his own, those same men, specifically a Mr Price, are now threatening to take away his land, his house, his family if he doesn't work for them.
Wikipedia tells me that Elmet was an independent Brittonic kingdom of the early Middle Ages located in Yorkshire. The Kingdom lasted for about a century until, in either 616 or 626, it was invaded and taken over by the Kingdom of Northumbria. Apparently it was notable for having held out longer than most against the expansion of Anglo-Saxon settlements in Britain. In the late 1970s poet Ted Hughes (the once husband of Sylvia Path) wrote some poetry about Elmet an excerpt of which forms the Epigraph of Fiona Mozley's novel. Title aside Elmet is referenced twice in the novel, and yet its hard to ignore the connection between Yorkshire's prehistory and John's struggle against Mr Price. He is Elmet (his son ever refers to him as the King) they are Northumbria and as history informs us John is playing a losing hand.
You don't need to have made the connection between John's struggle and the prehistory of Yorkshire to appreciate the key themes of the novel. This is a book that makes no bones about the fact that it's a commentary on the distinction between the disempowered and those who can command armies (or burly henchman). John is King of his copse because he is physically strong, because until Mr Price decides to pay a visit no-one in the town would be willing to face him down (not that anyone has reason to). John is aware though that physical prowess will only get you so far and so when Mr Price threatens to take his land, land that Mr Price claims to own, John begins to mobilise his own army of the disenfranchised and the poor. While success is not assured the suggestion is that labour, if it unifies, can threaten and even overthrow capital.
While class and power is a primary theme of the novel, the language of the book - in Daniel's voice - is steeped in the beauty and abundance of the natural world. I'm not someone who gets excited by description of trees and flowers and landscapes but Daniel and his family's passion for nature and their copse won me over. That includes the produce that comes from that land, the cooking of which is described in great, hunger inducing detail. By highlighting the quiet beauty of the area Mozley emphasises what Daniel, Cathy and John are set to lose. It also reinforces that division of labor and class. John works his own land, built his own house, rears and grows his own produce. Mr Price, on the other hand, hires people to work his land, to fight his wars, to make him money.
Elmer is a fine debut novel. As rural noir it elicits the right amount of menace and foreboding. As a commentary about class, power and the natural world it is mature and insightful, evoking the legends of Yorkshire, the remains of Elmet.
“Daddy was king. A foot taller than the tallest of these men, Daddy was gargantuan. Each of his arms was as thick as two of theirs. His fists were near the size of their heads. Each of them could have sat curled up inside his ribcage like a foetus in a mother’s womb. These men did not move Daddy, and when they began prowling in earnest, he knew how to respond.
The bailiffs started knocking on doors. At first they would concentrate on a few houses in a certain area. This made it easy for Daddy. Gary, our man from the potato sorting, had use of his uncle’s car and as soon as he got a call from any of the tenants he would drive Daddy over as quickly as he could. Daddy would get out and make his hulking presence known. The bailiffs would leg it.”
The events depicted involve Daniel, his sister Cathy, their father John and their back-to-basics lifestyle out in the boondocks of Yorkshire. John, who Daniel refers to as "Daddy" throughout the novel, not only built the family home with his bare hands but spends a good deal of the day foraging for food. Daniel and Cathy attend school initially, but when some bullying leads to violence, John has them both home-schooled by his friend (and possible lover) Vivienne. Through the course of the novel we learn that John is more than just a man who enjoys the independent life. He's also a well known pugilist whose fists have made wealthier, unprincipled men a great deal of money. After a period of peace, a period where John has been left to tend to his own, those same men, specifically a Mr Price, are now threatening to take away his land, his house, his family if he doesn't work for them.
Wikipedia tells me that Elmet was an independent Brittonic kingdom of the early Middle Ages located in Yorkshire. The Kingdom lasted for about a century until, in either 616 or 626, it was invaded and taken over by the Kingdom of Northumbria. Apparently it was notable for having held out longer than most against the expansion of Anglo-Saxon settlements in Britain. In the late 1970s poet Ted Hughes (the once husband of Sylvia Path) wrote some poetry about Elmet an excerpt of which forms the Epigraph of Fiona Mozley's novel. Title aside Elmet is referenced twice in the novel, and yet its hard to ignore the connection between Yorkshire's prehistory and John's struggle against Mr Price. He is Elmet (his son ever refers to him as the King) they are Northumbria and as history informs us John is playing a losing hand.
You don't need to have made the connection between John's struggle and the prehistory of Yorkshire to appreciate the key themes of the novel. This is a book that makes no bones about the fact that it's a commentary on the distinction between the disempowered and those who can command armies (or burly henchman). John is King of his copse because he is physically strong, because until Mr Price decides to pay a visit no-one in the town would be willing to face him down (not that anyone has reason to). John is aware though that physical prowess will only get you so far and so when Mr Price threatens to take his land, land that Mr Price claims to own, John begins to mobilise his own army of the disenfranchised and the poor. While success is not assured the suggestion is that labour, if it unifies, can threaten and even overthrow capital.
While class and power is a primary theme of the novel, the language of the book - in Daniel's voice - is steeped in the beauty and abundance of the natural world. I'm not someone who gets excited by description of trees and flowers and landscapes but Daniel and his family's passion for nature and their copse won me over. That includes the produce that comes from that land, the cooking of which is described in great, hunger inducing detail. By highlighting the quiet beauty of the area Mozley emphasises what Daniel, Cathy and John are set to lose. It also reinforces that division of labor and class. John works his own land, built his own house, rears and grows his own produce. Mr Price, on the other hand, hires people to work his land, to fight his wars, to make him money.
Elmer is a fine debut novel. As rural noir it elicits the right amount of menace and foreboding. As a commentary about class, power and the natural world it is mature and insightful, evoking the legends of Yorkshire, the remains of Elmet.
“Daddy was king. A foot taller than the tallest of these men, Daddy was gargantuan. Each of his arms was as thick as two of theirs. His fists were near the size of their heads. Each of them could have sat curled up inside his ribcage like a foetus in a mother’s womb. These men did not move Daddy, and when they began prowling in earnest, he knew how to respond.
The bailiffs started knocking on doors. At first they would concentrate on a few houses in a certain area. This made it easy for Daddy. Gary, our man from the potato sorting, had use of his uncle’s car and as soon as he got a call from any of the tenants he would drive Daddy over as quickly as he could. Daddy would get out and make his hulking presence known. The bailiffs would leg it.”
This was a pleasant surprise, very different from other books I’ve read. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
An Amazon Best Book of December 2017: Fiona Mozley’s debut novel is a surprising, serious story with some of the best writing about nature and family published this year. Short listed for the Man Booker prize, Elmet begins with a young person – without name or sex – walking along a railroad line in the north of England, searching for someone lost. The origins of that scene unfold: a family has sought refuge on a patch of woods that was once theirs, but their harmonious and humane way of life in this Edenic setting is threatened by conflict with “Mr. Price,” the rapacious new landowner. Mozley’s liberal sympathies are all out in the open across a range of issues from unionization to privatization and gender identity. But even to readers who might not share her politics, Elmet presents a persuasive and evocatively written argument. Her vision of what rural life could be is only slightly tempered by the knowledge that like all Edens, this one must be left behind. --Sarah Harrison Smith, Amazon Book Review
Well, this is very very good. It takes what you might in another novel call "a startling left turn into extreme violence" near the end, but really, the reader has always known this is coming, so although it's much more graphic than anything that came before, it's also almost a relief. I'm not at all unhappy that it's on the Booker Prize shortlist.
Unusual and insightful. Even after months, the landscape and setting especially have stuck with me.
Ask my husband, I am a sucker for anything described as atmospheric. I suffered through the film
Crimson Peak
because it was so beautiful and atmospheric.
Elmet started a bit slow -- almost plodding along -- for me, but the prose and the narration hooked me.
Final thoughts: The story was slow in a deliberate, but gripping, way. At times, the brutality was very intense -- but realistic. The characters felt very real.
Crimson Peak
because it was so beautiful and atmospheric.
Elmet started a bit slow -- almost plodding along -- for me, but the prose and the narration hooked me.
Final thoughts: The story was slow in a deliberate, but gripping, way. At times, the brutality was very intense -- but realistic. The characters felt very real.
A slow, slow burn of a book, all embers and low smoke until the fuel hits the flame near the very end. Lovely prose, evocative dialect, fairly minimalist story.
The only fault I would have is that, spare at it is, I could have felt more empathy for the characters.
Q: 3
E: 4
I: 3
QxE + I = 15
The only fault I would have is that, spare at it is, I could have felt more empathy for the characters.
Q: 3
E: 4
I: 3
QxE + I = 15
3.5 stars throughout, but the ending was so good, upped it to 4
An amazing first novel from a voice that exudes uniqueness while at the same time brilliantly capturing the importance of landscapes to the tradition of British literature. Filled with lyrical passages of beauty, violence, and the sublime Mozley's novel transcends the average reading experience transforming it into an existential exercise to understand the family at the core of the novel.