Books
| NORTH YORKSHIRE |  | | | CLEVELAND | | | | COUNTY DURHAM | | |
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Raw deal for monkey in fictional tale as in history
HARTLEPOOL'S most famous
legend has inspired
a fictional tale,
The Hartlepool Monkey,
by Sean Longley (published in
hardback by Doubleday, priced
£14.99).
During the Napoleonic Wars, a
French ship sank off the Hartlepool
coast and the town's fishermen,
fearing an invasion, hanged
the only survivor - the ship's pet
monkey - as a spy.
The truth of this tale is questionable,
though the people of Hartlepool
are still known as "monkey
hangers" in the North-East, but
Longley uses the incident as the
basis of his latest novel.
Where the folk tale is concerned
only with the monkey's demise, he
imagines his story from when he
is taken from the jungle by a
physician with an interest in natural
history, eventually casting it
as the hapless victim of a shadowy
plot by the British Government to
cover up an embarrassing incident
involving Admiral Nelson
and a high-class prostitute.
The book promises "a historical
romp ... a demonically witty digest
of all things 18th-century", but
Longley fails to give a convincing
flavour of the period.
In the final chapters, an engaging
courtroom drama unfolds as the
monkey is put on trial, and it is
clear Longley, who describes himself
as a "one guinea brief" by profession,
has more of a feel for this
genre than historical fiction.
He is clearly aware that people
spoke differently in Olden Times,
but it seems he decided against
reading any of the vast quantity of
18th century literature available
and stuck to britches-and-bodice
cliché instead.
The narrative - told in the first
person by three separate characters
- is peppered with hoary "olde
worlde" words and clanking historical
references. The effect is to
draw attention to a laborious and
unconvincing charade, rather like
Dick Van Dyke's Cockney accent in
Mary Poppins.
To make matters worse, Longley
invests his characters with modern
attitudes wholly out of keeping
with the period. When
Claudette, the courtesan, goes to
the theatre, she tells us: "I had a
nice little box seat ... very useful
for scouting the talent ...", which
sounds more like Friday night in a
nightclub than the last days of the
ancien regime.
Even more disturbing is his attempt
to speak in Claudette's
voice. What he creates is not a vision
of empowered feminine sexuality,
but a grubby adolescent
fantasy at times verging on the
febrile.
FOR a debut novel, The Spanish
Bow by Andromeda Romano-Lax
is a commendable effort (published
in hardback by William
Heinemann, priced £16.99).
The well-crafted story is about
how music can inspire and break
down any number of barriers - social,
political and class. It tells of
Feliu Delargo's rise from humble
beginnings and comments on the
changing face of Europe in the
early part of the 20th century.
From a poor background, Feliu's
unquestionable ability to play the
cello and his unquenchable desire
to become a master on the instrument
helps him avoid the worst
ravages of Civil War in Spain and
the First World War.
Even the power of the Roman
Catholic Church is not enough to
stop the wave of change which accompanies
his journey through
life. His career takes him as far
afield as America, but it is the sad
story of unspoken love which is
the strong undercurrent of the
whole novel.
The colour in this story comes
from a heady mix of the rich and
famous whose paths cross that of
Feliu's during his musical career
right through to his final years in
Cuba.
Kings and queens, dictators, world
leaders, famous artists and musicians
all come into contact with
the son of a poor family, who
leaves an indelible mark on the
lives of many because of his skills
with the bow.
Add in the often fraught relationship
with musical partner Justo
Al-Cerraz, a piano prodigy, and
there is only ever going to be one
conclusion to what essentially is a
love story.
The love of his music proves too
strong for Feliu and he loses the
affections of a woman to Al-Ceraz.
Despite this, he tries to help the
couple in their greatest hour of
need, but his efforts prove in vain
and there are tragic consequences
to the love triangle.
1:39pm Friday 22nd February 2008
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