Review: "Devil Water" by Anya Seton

It seems to be History season for me. After ending 2010 with American history, my first read this year was set in the stormy Jacobite struggles of England, again from a Reader's Digest Condensed Books edition. For all the English authors I have read, my knowledge of Britain’s history is fuzzy at best. The English are to be blamed for that, they have way too much print on their history, you know. Ok, before I wander off as I usually do, let me get to the review part.

Having started off historical fiction with Kalki’s unmatched Ponniyin Selvan, my yardsticks for historical fiction are quite high. And Anya Seton’s Devil Water did live up to the expectations as best as any non-tamil writing could. The comprehension of the story and even my review requires some reading up on the history of the 17^th and 18^th century England.

While I cannot do justice to the review without some introduction to the Stuarts Monarchs of England, the history is highly complicated and difficult to explain. I will endeavor to state only the barest of essentials here. The Stuart Monarchs descended from the Kings of Scotland where they had ruled for over 200 years in the 14^th, 15^th and 16^th centuries. The Stuarts then ruled over the entire island of Britain from 1567 until the staunchly Catholic James II was overthrown in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. The Stuarts did not rule between 1649 and 1660 when monarchy was inoperative as a result of the English Civil War. The novel is set in the Jacobite struggles of late 17^th and early 18^th century, when attempts were made to restore James II, then his son James III and later his grandson Charles to the throne. The word Jacobite derives from Jacobus which means James.

And now for a little bit of geography - Northumbria or Northumberland is the picturesque north corner of England, just south of Scotland.

The narrative of Devil Water unfolds from Charles Radcliffe, brother of the Earl of Derwentwater, James Radcliffe. The Radcliffe brothers were cousins to the Pretender James III and devoted supporters of the Jacobite cause.

The beginning of the book is a romantic read – descriptive and adventurous. The setting is pastoral and political connotations are sparse. The accents take some getting used to. Completely unfamiliar with how the Northumbrian, Highland accents sound, I stumbled over the dialogues quite a bit initially. Thankfully the author did not insist on sticking to accents throughout, that would have made it a bit tiresome.

The initial part of the narrative follows adolescent Charles Radcliffe romancing Meg Snowdon, a Highlands girl. The romance of Charles and Meg comes to an abrupt end when Meg disappears. With the arrival of James Radcliffe into the scene, the story moves between London and Dilston Castle. Charles is all set to marry his cousin Betty Lee, when he is snatched by Meg’s brothers and married to Meg who is pregnant with his child. Meg gives birth to a daughter – Jane, that very night.

Charles loves Jane as soon as he lays his eyes on her. Robert Wilson, Meg’s brother-in-law, a rustic young lad of ten, dotes upon little Jane. The affections these two widely different characters – one aristocratic, the other a simpleton, hold for Jane forms the centre stage of the story.

For a while it looks like the three are set to go their separate ways. While Charles works for the Jacobite cause with his brother James, Rob Wilson tries to make his own way in the world. Jane meanwhile, is sent to Betty Lee’s (who is married to another cousin now) household at the behest of Charles, to be brought up a lady. The Jacobite risings churn the waters and inexorably bring the three together.

Anya Seton writes suspense, romance, narrative and description with equal ease and in splendid style. The story has the right amount of drama, intrigue and the right pace to hold one’s interest. The author takes care to ensure the descriptions do not make the story unrealistic in anyway. The portrayal of Jane and her inner turmoils as she grows up at Betty’s household, is exceptionally well-written. The description of 18^th century London is refreshingly new and far removed from being cliché. 

The author moves to colonial America with ease as Jane follows Rob Wilson into Virginia. Plantation owners and their pride in their plantations and mansions is just so colonial America. Seton doesn't dwell too much on gory details, yet manages to bring out the situation of slaves succinctly.

The themes of the time – Jacobite struggle, contemptuous treatment of colonials, slavery in America are all beautifully captured in their essence. There is not a dull moment in the entire novel. The canvas stretching from Northumbrian Highlands to London to Virginia is vast and the pains the author has taken to carefully research each aspect of the story is self-evident in the flawless narratives.

It is an extremely difficult task to combine thoroughly researched history and intriguing story into one. Anya Seton has done the job well. There is definitely a very good storyline but this book is to be enjoyed equally for its portrayal of the times and the flow. It is a book I thoroughly enjoyed and would strongly recommend to anyone with a little patience to understand the history a bit.

P.S: I have tried to avoid too many details here so as to not give the story away.

Review: “Lady Washington, The Story of America’s First First Lady” by Dorothy Clarke Wilson

I have reason to believe every US President is a stimulus of economic activity in his own right, the reason being the number of books written on him. And these books are popular regardless of the President’s popularity or effectiveness. The fascination with the First Ladies seems to be even more hysterical. I had thought this began with Jackie Kennedy, but it goes long into the past.

I chanced upon “Lady Washington, The Story of America’s First First Lady” by Dorothy Clarke Wilson in a Reader’s Digest Condensed Edition (which I pick up without bothering about the books or summaries, provided they are pre-1990) volume of 1984. I was intrigued because I was just reading about the period of the American Independence and its related events.

Set in Virginia, the initial part of the book reads almost like fiction set in colonial America. There is not too much about the plantations, trade and related issues of the time. The focus is on the households of the plantation owners, socializing and the Colonial Assemblies that are more social affairs than political. Martha’s character buildup is quick and not very colorful.

Once George Washington comes into the picture, political events make themselves felt but only mildly. The author takes great care to ensure the book does not deviate into political waters or turn onto Washington. Washington is always viewed in Martha’s eyes. The author deserves credit for her focus here.

Contrary to my expectations that the book would become more interesting with the Declaration of independence, confrontation with Britain and the Presidency, it progressively became monotonous and slow.

Always following Martha, the writing style is very dry and often feels like a chronology than a story. As we go on, one can almost predict the sentences. There are repetitive phrases like “.. and his arms were around her.” every time Martha meets Washington after a separation. The lives of Washingtons seem to scattered with deaths of dear ones – they are also mentioned in the same fashion over and over again. Another lacking aspect is that there is very little on her interactions with her friends and contemporaries. They are mentioned only in passing, only exception being her first interaction Mary Washington, George’s mother.

Washington is portrayed reluctant to be in public affairs all the time.  And Martha in the vortex of it all, has no leaning towards any political ideology or opinion. She remains only a devoted and supportive wife for a very long time. While she has won the affection and admiration of the people by her unassuming self and good-naturedness, it is only at the end of his first Presidency that she actually realizes the significance of her position as First Lady. Even her caring for his soldiers is the duty of a wife to her husband’s affairs not patriotism.

The book in its devotion to correct chronicling of events misses out on innovation in writing. The narration of six years of Washington’s campaigns seems almost as tiring to the reader as the actual campaigns were to Lady Washington.

The book is a glorifying account of the life of Martha Washington and is all praise for George Washington's devotion to his country and modesty. It fails to make any mention of, or rather diligently avoids, the controversies surrounding the Washingtons, esp with regard to slavery. It only mentions that George Washington sets his slaves free in his will.

This was either a bad condensation(it is thick enough with 175 pages) that did not capture the essence of the book very well or the book itself has been written in a plain style. The book can be called informative at best, but netiher a very engaging read nor a non-partisan account. It can be read for its history – one who is ignorant of American independence history might find it useful and even a light way of understanding the sequence of events.