I read this book because I met the author on one of my Northamptonshire walks. I’m amazed at how ready people are to share their knowledge and achievements with strangers. The main character clearly owes at least something to the author, who has worked in agriculture, and created some splendid metal sculptures in Southwick.
This is Henrietta (Moraes), muse and lover of Lucian Freud, and model for Francis Bacon.
Two sculptures representing the development of agriculture.
Bill James told me he regrets having had the book published by what he later found to be a vanity publisher, and I think that with a little tighter editing in places, this could have found a niche. I found it online, secondhand.
The tale takes place in Halston, an imaginary village near Southwick, and part of its charm for me was in following the main character along some of the paths in the area, recognizing landmarks and routes. Other villages are named, and accurately placed and described.
Our hero, Jim Evans, is perhaps a bit too clever to be true. Adept at photography, operating farm machinery, and driving HGVs, he is also a motorcycle stunt rider and a musician, with very liberal ideas about sex, and he soon makes himself indispensable to almost everyone in the village.
No story is complete without a good villain, and a love story, and as the title tells us, a few good coincidences.
I could have done without some of the technical details about farm machinery and tractors, but no doubt these would appeal to an enthusiast.
1 comment:
Worth reading but a little too much detail. Author might do better to write either text books or fiction as this volume tends to fall between two stools. A nice picture of rural Northamptonshire in the 8os.
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