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A review by vonnegutian
Morality Play by Barry Unsworth
3.0
To finish my author A-Z of 2017, I powered through this, Barry Unsworth’s ‘Morality Play’ to finish the challenge with hours to spare. Luckily, it was an entertaining book which made finishing it quickly a pleasurable experience.
It tells the tale of a renegade clergyman who having wandered out of his diocese and sleeping with a woman, adjoins himself to a wandering band of actors living hand to mouth during the dark ages. With one of their ensemble recently deceased, they take in the minister and head to a nearby town to try and bury their late companion. And it is within this village that they become embroiled in the tragic deaths of young boys under suspicious circumstances. Carried on a macabre and judicious wave of artistic furore the company decide to take the hitherto step of ditching their biblical enactments to instead perform an impromptu play of the most recent murder when, after gathering evidence from various town sources, they stumble upon a suspicious verdict as to who the town believe commits the crime: the boy’s deaf mother, no less.
Part philosophical treatise on ‘the roles we play’, part mystery, part historical, medieval narrative, this short novel offers substantial intrigue and ideas about medieval life and what it is to portray oneself and others. It’s an engaging, fast-paced novel that transports you to a time of a brutal and primitive England, where the finesse and talents of artists and artisans exist precariously amidst the oppressive royal and religious regimes. 3/5
It tells the tale of a renegade clergyman who having wandered out of his diocese and sleeping with a woman, adjoins himself to a wandering band of actors living hand to mouth during the dark ages. With one of their ensemble recently deceased, they take in the minister and head to a nearby town to try and bury their late companion. And it is within this village that they become embroiled in the tragic deaths of young boys under suspicious circumstances. Carried on a macabre and judicious wave of artistic furore the company decide to take the hitherto step of ditching their biblical enactments to instead perform an impromptu play of the most recent murder when, after gathering evidence from various town sources, they stumble upon a suspicious verdict as to who the town believe commits the crime: the boy’s deaf mother, no less.
Part philosophical treatise on ‘the roles we play’, part mystery, part historical, medieval narrative, this short novel offers substantial intrigue and ideas about medieval life and what it is to portray oneself and others. It’s an engaging, fast-paced novel that transports you to a time of a brutal and primitive England, where the finesse and talents of artists and artisans exist precariously amidst the oppressive royal and religious regimes. 3/5