Elmet
Ratings10
Average rating3.4
The family thought the little house they had made themselves in Elmet, a corner of Yorkshire, was theirs, that their peaceful, self-sufficient life was safe. Cathy and Daniel roamed the woods freely, occasionally visiting a local woman for some schooling, living outside all conventions. Their father built things and hunted, working with his hands; sometimes he would disappear, forced to do secret, brutal work for money, but to them he was a gentle protector.
Narrated by Daniel after a catastrophic event has occurred, Elmet mesmerizes even as it becomes clear the family’s solitary idyll will not last. When a local landowner shows up on their doorstep, their precarious existence is threatened, their innocence lost. Daddy and Cathy, both of them fierce, strong, and unyielding, set out to protect themselves and their neighbors, putting into motion a chain of events that can only end in violence.
As rich, wild, dark, and beautiful as its Yorkshire setting, Elmet is a gripping debut about life on the margins and the power—and limits—of family loyalty.
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Some men would rather destroy something than lose it to someone else. Those men are amongst the most dangerous of men. This novel captures the observation of one such man, and the destruction he is willing to wrought, quite well.
Well...that ending was a bit much. A bit over the top if you ask me. I think (?) I liked it up to that point, but perhaps need some time to mull it over...
I'm more disappointed with that ending the more I think about it. There was so much promise here, so much I loved; the brooding and lyrical prose, the atmospheric rural Yorkshire setting, the ominous tone, and the tight family unit living beyond the law. I loved the “timeless” feel to the story, as if it's a modern folktale, especially with the references to the old Kingdom of Elmet.
The 3 main characters in this family were all well drawn, but sadly I think all of the secondary characters were lacking. Mr Price, above all, was terribly two dimensional, like a villain from a Bond movie. I needed to know more about the children's mother (and their grandmother, for that matter) and was really surprised that strand of the story was left unexplained by the novel's end. Vivien was...odd; I couldn't make sense of her character or her apathy. The rest, who had been so supporting of the family, turned against them so suddenly that it all felt too convenient for the dark ending we knew was inevitably coming...
A lot of promise that I wish had come together better at the end.
