Krishna
Bernard Cornwell being in the list of authors we like to review, there are no dearth of books that we have reviewed. This one belongs in the category of standalone books – as opposed to the numerous series he has written, all of which, in my opinion are fascinating page turners. In this category, we have already reviewed some books, Redcoat and Stonehenge serving as two examples. Let’s look at the story.
Sir Henry Forrest goes to the Press Yard of Newgate Prison to meet the Keeper Mr Brown and another gentleman, a Reverend Dr Horace Cotton. The place smells like hell. Sir Henry also meets there some other gentlemen, his friend Matthew Logan among them.
Matthew asks after Sir Henry’s wife Florence and his daughter Eleanor. The petitioner Jemmy arrives.
Finally we are given a view of the medieval hanging (capital punishment) and how a woman kept repeating that she was innocent of the crime for which she is being punished – and ignored by all including the parson reading her final sermon. The crowd which thronged not just the stadium but adjacent buildings to get a view of the hanging is shockingly described.
Rider Sandman, a celebrated cricket player, signs up to play for Sir John Hart’s team and is disgusted that the players threw a surely winnable game due to corruption. In anger, he declines the ride back with the hated teammates and walks almost all night back to his room.
He is poor and broke and so accepts when Lord Sidmouth offers him a strange commission. A man called Charles Corday has been accused of killing (real name Cruttwell) Lad Avebery (by her husband). Charles has been tried and condemned to death but unfortunately, his mother was known to Her Majesty and wrote a letter. Even though Sidmouth has no doubt about the guilt, he is now forced to appoint an investigator. He tells Sandman to ‘force a confession’ from Charles and then collect fifteen guineas – a fortune for him – for what he thought of as a single day’s work.
He goes to the prison to meet the man. The first surprise is that the man is weak and almost feminine. He claims he did not kill her and Sandman is oddly convinced of the truth. The Lord wanted his wife to be painted in the nude but without her knowledge. She wore a gown but that was to be later changed to a nude portrait with a model – ‘drawing the top half of the body’ as Charles put it.
Meanwhile, lovely Sally Hood invites him to see her performance. She makes additional money as a topless model to a fat painter who sneers at her.
Sandman first goes to the Seraphim Club and injudiciously makes enquiries. When two goons try to come to his place to kidnap him, he counterattacks and subdues him. However when Lady and Lord Skavadale offer him money that he will never see in his life, he rejects his offer and makes enemies of (more of the) powerful people.
There are multiple people hunting for Sandman’s life. When shots are fired in a drama, he jumps down, spraining his leg. He gets a friend – Sergeant Brennan who was actually in Seraphim Club but quit; Sally Hood. He also realizes that Eleonar, who he is in love with but had to break off his engagement because he lost his money (due to his father’s gambling), still loves him.
A rather lightweight story, well told as Bryson can. Fun to read. He then extracts information from the fat painter that there were ten paintings similarly commissioned and decides to go ‘exploring’ with Brennan and Sally.
Then he goes to the castle of the count at night and interrogates a stableboy and a carriage man. They tell him that he took Meg, the servant to a castle far away. He ‘borrows’ the carriage of the club and with them as prisoners, goes to the castle. After much struggle and resistance, he manages to ‘smoke out’ the hiding Meg in the house.
Meg proves recalcitrant to the end but is forced to confess. The confession she makes is devastating, and the real culprit is revealed (after a terrified Meg is told the size of wasps – a phobia of hers – in Australia). The book ends in a spectacular cliffhanging fashion that Bryson is so famous for!
A simple story, well told, with old fashioned times and attitudes and a deadly mystery in it and many twists and turns in it as well. And I like how some (not major) items are left for the reader’s imagination. A well written book!
8/10
— Krishna