Early 19th
century
The Mourning
Ring,
by Sarah Parke, is a work of historical fantasy. Authentic details from the
lives of the Brontë sisters, and their brother Branwell, are blended with a
magical alternate setting. But this other place is not purely imaginary: rather
it is the creation of the Brontës themselves. As children, the four of them had
collaborated in the creation of an imaginary world. Rather than being kept
secret, we know about this one through diaries and other records. Sarah has
mined this store of information to reconstruct a credible and persuasive
reality.
At its heart, The
Mourning Ring is exploring the peculiar relationship between author and
book. Probably most of us know the powerful urge to think of stories as real.
One of the mysterious appeals of reading fiction is that situations which once
existed only in the mind of the author assume tangible form for other people.
So, how would it be to enter into such a created world? To be subject to its
vagaries and limitations, but also to know it so well that you can manipulate
events in ways that seem magical or serendipitous?
In the case of
the Brontës, two complicating factors are stirred in. First, the world was
created when they were children. Several years have passed since its
beginnings, and in many ways it reflects an immature view of life. At first, as
I read this book, I wondered why the characters seemed rather simplistic -
almost stereotypes. Then abruptly it came to me: how else could they be, given
who had created them? The teenage Brontës are meeting the products of their own
childish minds.
The second
factor is that of sibling rivalry. While the original creation of this world
might have been harmonious and collaborative, each of the children has changed
since then. They no longer necessarily see eye to eye, and the conflicts are
worked out in this imaginary setting. But the emotional traffic goes both ways,
and the fictitious world exposes something of the real difficulties these young
people would experience as adults.
I did feel that
some very early scenes, supplying one description of the links between this
world and the other, didn’t integrate smoothly with later explanations in terms
of imagination and creativity. However, this is a minor issue and readers
should not let this detract from the whole.
I very much
enjoyed The Mourning Ring, and
recommend it to anyone who wants something a little different from their
historical fiction. Sarah has done a great job of blending history and magic
into a single compelling reality.
© Richard
Abbott
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