Mavis Cheek seems to have cracked the conundrum
of how to write decent novels with popular appeal'
The Times
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
The Lovers of Pound Hill
By Mavis Cheek
‘The Lovers Of Pound Hill’ is a very clever, very entertaining story with several sub-plots and an amazing array of characters.
It centres around how the village of Lufferton Boney is shaken up and turned on its head by the visit of young archaeologist Molly Bonner who has returned to follow up on work begun by her grandfather many years before.
The story bursts with quirky characters, hidden motives and mysteries. It is fast moving, intriguing and with many plot lines and issues that aren’t resolved right until the very end.
The story is a colourful patch work formed of episodes told through the eyes of a number of different characters. Many of the characters are loveable, some less so, but all are very human: apart from Montmorency who’s a cat.
I loved this book. It is full of fun and humour but has an underlying message that is ultimately emotional and very moving. It follows the themes of love and how it endures, and how the past can impact on the future. It also encompasses religion, superstition, history and even poetry in a fabulously rich narrative.
If you want a book that will grip you, hook you into a complex mystery and ultimately leave you smiling, I strongly recommend this one.
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Buy? Yes |
Borrow? Yes |
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Pages: 368 |
Date: May 2011 |
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The Lovers of Pound Hill. Publisher: Hutchinson |
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Archaeologist Molly Bonner had something about her. She definitely wasn't dressed for the country when she arrived in Lufferton Boney and she'd captured the heart of one young man before she'd even walked down the street. She captured another when she offered money to work on the Gnome of Pound Hill, but Miles Whittington was ruled by his wallet and he was keen to make money out of the Gnome. The Gnome, you see, was what might euphemistically be called 'well endowed' and Miles had visions of charging visitors to make use of the, er, fertility rites. One thing was certain – none of the villagers of Lufferton Boney would be the same by the time that Molly Bonner (not only an archaeologist but also the archaeologist's granddaughter) had finished her work.
Before we go any further – a health and safety warning: do no read this book in public if you are at all worried about laughing out loud or the occasional snort which brings tears to the eyes and prevents you speaking intelligibly for some time. It's going to happen and you really are best in the privacy of your own space. And before you wonder, it's not the gnome's appendage which causes the problem, but the wonderful mixture of people who live in the village. Many books are advertised as being funny but few live up to the hype, but The Lovers of Pound Hill is genuinely witty and very, very clever. It's satire at its best.
I'm not going to tell you a lot more about the story, because it's Mavis Cheek's version you want to read, not my ham-fisted summary. The plot has been crafted and it will grab you from the first page. There's a lot of research behind the story but there's very little in the way of exposition on subjects which most people will know little about and at the end you'll find that it's been intellectually satisfying as well as a good read.
You'll love the people too. In fact – if you live in a village you'll know most of them, from the upper-class lady who drinks just a little too much, the wife of the professional man who's bored and under-employed and the son who is well-meaning but not very bright – and just a little too inclined to fall in love. Borrow the book by all means but you'll get value out of buying it because it's one to go back to and reread.
If Mavis Cheek were to write her autobiography, you would expect it to look very like this latest, perfectly judged, comic novel. Or perhaps that's just a measure of how relentlessly convincing her fiction is, in spite of the dry humour at life's disappointments. Because beneath that comic surface pulse real anger and frustration that can never be never fully voiced, as Cheek's heroine Marianne Flowers knows. In her world, it is always better to stay silent and simply "Rise Above".
From within the circle gathered to inter the body of her late husband steps Flora Chapman - retired schoolteacher, occasional seamstress; a colourless, frumpy woman hitherto mashed into the background by a vainglorious husband and his adoring daughter, Hilary.
