Tag: historic fiction

The young pretender by Michael Arditti

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The young pretender by Michael Arditti

English historical fiction

Source – review copy

It was nice to be sent a new book from arcadia books which was a publisher I had reviewed books over the years and had sadly after its founder Gary’s death nearly vanished to it has been taken as an imprint by Quercus. I don’t read many historical fiction books but this one appealed as it has a number of themes I like people trying to make a come back. I also like the thought of the way actors travelled back in the day with touring companies crossing the country. it reminded me it has been a number of years since I last went to the theatre to see something. The book follows the comeback of the child actor Master Betty as he returned to the stage at the age of 20 after he was lauded at the age of 13 and was called the infant Garrick. But after a scandal, he disappears and now a man is trying to return.

It is not yet nine months since he died, so I realise that my sentiments may be coloured by my loss, but I doubt that even at the height of my fame,Papa was proud of me. He may been proud that others were proud of me, but that’s not the same. Poets Lauded me as Albion’s favourite snout, if I were his it was only because I lacked brother. Even when dukes and duchesses crowded my dressing room, he railed that he had exchanged the honourable life of a gentleman for that of a fair-keeper

After his father’s death, he looks back at his father the line about a brother touched me so sad!!

Netty had been on the boards since he was little and had played a lot of the major roles in Shakespeare plays and when he was Hamlet at Covent garden William Pitt had let parliament go early so they could go and watch him. We meet him as now a young man who is trying to regain fame but he also maybe wants to be seen as a man, not the boy that left the stage 6 years earlier now a taller fat man is trying to reclaim what he once was for himself not for his father. What we see in the theatre world in regency times where plays just happened here and then the actors don’t have much time to learn the plays and the world just seems very chaotic at times and unprofessional. We see as we follow him how the young boy was taught the stage trade by another actor Mr Hough when he was a boy. But this was what would now be called grooming in the way it happened and the abuse the young boy suffered. but when we see him remember his former glory the bad bits tend to be rosier and you get the sense of the horrors he saw as a child.

I think that Papa met him at the race. There was a course at Downpatrick, which he frequented, especially after the factory closed. It was his habit to bring people Springhill- people who in the old days… no matter! Mr Hough was there with several players from Belfast. Papa invited them to dine with us on their way back to the city. After showing his cups – she a=glances at the cabinet in which the fencing trophies of Papa’s youth are proudly displayed – “He must have remarked that he has a son with a zeal for drama, at which the players, knowing what was required them, called on you to recite, I sought to prevent it -”

“Mama”

How Mr Hough his teacher which came to teach but also abused the young actor as well

I loved the way we saw Betty trying to relaunch himself to be taken seriously but most of those around him still view him as the young boy he was many years ago. I loved the way he described his career and how he had been here there and everywhere as a  young boy, but then you think how his father maybe used his fame and overworked also such a young boy in an adult world wasn’t ever great for the young Betty and we see how the scars wear on the young man. This is a story that has echoes with the present with the ME too mob=vement and we think of things like how so many child actors I grew up watching went off the rails and suffered due to pressure of fame at a young age.  Arditti conjures up those actors going here and there chasing the jobs and performance in regency Britain so well the description of his fame at the time he conjures up the chaos behind the stage around the country and a time when going to see a play was the most important entertain for most in the country. Have you a favourite historic novel set in Regency times. Any other books around this time?

Winstons score – B a book that shows metoo has always been there and the follies of being a child star

The prisoner of paradise by Romesh Gunesekera

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Romesh Gunesekera is a Sri Lankan born writer ,he has written five books previously including the booker shortlisted Reef ,he is currently writer in residence for the charity first story .I ‘ve had Romesh’s books on my mind since last summer I borrow his book the match and never got round too reading it before it needed being back at the library but knew I wanted to read him as I had enjoy Reef and his debut the short story collection monkfish moon a short story collection in fact one of my favourite short story collections .So at christmas when he did one of the BBC Radio three essays in honour of Dickens and he talked about this book and how in a little ways it was influenced by dickens.Then next day it dropped on my doorstep from Bloomsbury if ever I was told to read a book it was this one .It seemed right to do it the day before dickens birthday ,also it was a change of subject from the early books of his I d read as it is a historic novel where the other I d read had been set in the present or recent past .

THE book is set in 1825 in Mauritius ,we meet Lucy Gladwell a typical Romesh character a young person who is in the middle of changes in her life like Triton in Reef Lucy has had a change this one sees her going to her aunt and uncle as she is an Orphan and has come to escape looming poverty ,another dickens connection how many orphans do we meet in dickens that go live with family good or bad .She is 19 years old but in our modern eyes she is a lot younger than that in her world view ,anyway as the story unfolds she is dazzled by this wonderful island. This island is a melting pot of africa and india with people from all over the place there ,as with most islands like this tend to be a little different to the life she is used to in the uk .and also slow to change to the modern world .

“Ananas,ananas” ,and tipped forward a basin of jagged sweet smelling yellow fruit .George Huyton wielded his cane with both hands.Get away with you .Out .Out two young brown boys dodged him.

Lucy sees her uncle and minutes later he does this that sets tone for the book .

As we she her Aunt Betty and Uncle George live in a island full of people from round the world but her uncle has the bigotry of a ruling class .later we see Lucy as she falls for a young man from Ceylon (Sri Lanka now ).This is man Don Lambodar isn’t her openly bigoted uncle first choice to say the least .Else where away from the Island slave are rebelling and things are happening in the uk people are rioting ,in this time it took weeks for this news to slowly seep through drop by drop as we see tension on the island grow between the plantation owners and workers and slaves ,all this comes to the head as disaster hits the island .Romesh is the master of description the island comes to life through his carefully written descriptions of flowers and food .But the main theme of this book is freedom what is it who has it are the all prisoners as they are held on the island and also to a set of rules to who they are and how they act ,as the world outside the island is seeing this change due to Peterloo riots that had happened six-years earlier but is just soaking through to the island and People like william Wilberforce .Lucy see this all through her innocent eyes and lets you draw your own conclusion which is the same as her becomes as the story develops .

Have you read his books ?