Britain as It Was, Even in Thatcher’s Day
By Martin Rubin–Wall Street Journal Nov. 14, 2008
The Northern Clemency
By Philip Hensher
(Knopf, 597 pages, $26.95)
Anyone who thinks that the English novel has, to paraphrase Wordsworth, forfeited its “ancient English dower” — i.e., lost its ability to inhabit sprawling, meaty tomes, as in the days of yore — might want to take note of “The Northern Clemency.” For Philip Hensher has produced a work of fiction that is the antithesis of so many fashionable contemporary novels, with their elliptical ironies and screenplay-ready dialogue. “The Northern Clemency” is a richly textured, closely observed saga — beginning in 1974 and continuing into the 1990s — of two British families in the Yorkshire city of Sheffield. Mr. Hensher provides plenty of action, but he embeds it in the atmosphere and rhythms of quotidian existence. There is an aspect of social history to the novel that reminds one of Mrs. Gaskell or even Dickens. . . .
To read Martin’s full review, click here or visit www.wsj.com.