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Fictional Saga / Coming of Age
17th century
London /Jamaica
I first made the acquaintance of Calumny
Spinks in The Bitter Trade, a book set in the late 17th
century London. At the time, Calumny was a redheaded, somewhat ugly and unloved
adolescent, who couldn’t quite understand why his father was so secretive about
his past — or why his own father seemed determined to set Calumny up to fail.
While I would warmly recommend that the prospective reader starts with The
Bitter Trade – if nothing else because it’s a great read – Scatterwood
stands perfectly well on its own, with enough of the relevant backstory
presented.
This time round, Calumny is no longer an
adolescent. Yes, he is still very young, yes he is still as redheaded as ever,
but his experiences have made him wise beyond his years, and he is doing his
best to keep himself and his little family afloat in a London defined by
religious intolerance and the constant fear of a Jacobite counterrevolution,
thereby toppling Dutch William from the throne.
Calumny has made some mistakes in his previous
life, and this time round it is payback time, which is why Calumny is tricked
by people whom he trusts into undertaking a dangerous undercover mission in
Jamaica. Mind you, no one tells him just how dangerous his mission is, or that
it will involve huge amounts of physical pain and humiliation. Or that his best
friend will be an active participant in inflicting said pain, thereby proving
that some friends are far worse than your enemies.
His new taskmasters have Calumny over a
barrel. Unless he delivers, his Irish woman and her little daughter will be
separated from each other and transported to the New World as indentures, there
work and die. For now, they languish in the Tower, and only if Calumny delivers
do they go free.
And there, dear readers, is the background to
this fast-paced adventure through the heat-infested landscape of 17th
century Jamaica, all the way from decadent Port Royal, through endless fields
of sugarcane to the jungles that clamber up Jamaica’s Blue Mountains. Mr
Alexander delivers a vivid description of his setting and complements this with
a colourful set of characters, all the way from escaped slaves to world-weary
whores who can’t be bothered to advertise their wares beyond hitching up their
skirts to reveal their privates to the blasé passer-bys.
Jamaica is home to many a determined Jacobite,
some of whom are rich enough to pose a real threat to William, and Mr Alexander
skilfully guides the readers through this tangled web of loyalties and
treachery, where it becomes more and more apparent that almost everyone, no
matter whose side they’re on, is there to look after number one. Well, with
the exception of Calumny, who has no choice but to try and finish his mission
as otherwise his woman and stepchild will suffer for it.
Calumny Spinks is a wonderful creation: he is
young, he is brave, he stays true to those he loves—and has a heart big enough
to add to that little group as he tumbles through life. There are several
occasions when said tumbles come close to costing Calumny his life, which makes
it difficult to put this book down. Add to Calumny a diverse and well-developed
set of supporting characters, and this is a novel that pulsates with life. And
blood. And death.
In Scatterwood, Mr Alexander has
wrought an intricate tale. With an effortless prose, crisp dialogue and
beautiful descriptive writing, he has created a window into the turbulent world
of 17th century Jamaica, complete with everything from the stench of rotting
carcasses to the sheer joie-de-vivre that once defined Port Royal.
Bravo, Mr Alexander. Bravo!
© Anna Belfrage
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I'm happy to see this title on here because it's already on my Kindle!
ReplyDeleteIt's on mine too... looks really good!
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