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rue_baldry 's review for:
The Mare
by Angharad Hampshire
This is a very well researched, well written book which deals in nuance and compassion even while it describes some of the darkest things humans have ever done to one another.
The narrative is split between Hermine in the 1940s and her husband, Russell, in the second half of the twentieth century. Hampshire tries to answer the questions How do ordinary people come to commit cruel acts? and How do kind people keep loving someone after they discover cruelty in that person’s past? Obviously these are not questions with straightforward, universal answers, but, through humanising the Ryans, Hampshire explores them and provides implied answers.
She is clear that these are fictional characters based on the historical figures, and not the people themselves. This is a novel, for all the factual historical content. As such is is well structured and the characters and settings are fully realised. My only slight quibble, which is a matter of taste, is that there were times while I was reading it when it would have been clearer if quotation marks had been used. Perhaps some of those ambiguities were intentional.
This novel seems particularly important now as right wing politicians gain power all over the world. Hermine Braunsteiner slipped easily, tiny step by tiny step, into being a tool of a totalitarian regime, and committing violence in its support. The world needs people to be aware of how that happens, vigilant to stop ourselves following the same route.
The narrative is split between Hermine in the 1940s and her husband, Russell, in the second half of the twentieth century. Hampshire tries to answer the questions How do ordinary people come to commit cruel acts? and How do kind people keep loving someone after they discover cruelty in that person’s past? Obviously these are not questions with straightforward, universal answers, but, through humanising the Ryans, Hampshire explores them and provides implied answers.
She is clear that these are fictional characters based on the historical figures, and not the people themselves. This is a novel, for all the factual historical content. As such is is well structured and the characters and settings are fully realised. My only slight quibble, which is a matter of taste, is that there were times while I was reading it when it would have been clearer if quotation marks had been used. Perhaps some of those ambiguities were intentional.
This novel seems particularly important now as right wing politicians gain power all over the world. Hermine Braunsteiner slipped easily, tiny step by tiny step, into being a tool of a totalitarian regime, and committing violence in its support. The world needs people to be aware of how that happens, vigilant to stop ourselves following the same route.