Pilgrims

Having so enjoyed English Passengers, I pre-ordered this, but am so disappointed. Each chapter is narrated by a different person but there is very little linkage. One was over 50 pages long & I feared forgetting what had gone before. I was given a clumsy recap. Now, a poor demented soul is talking to Jesus and has been for page after page but instead of saying "I" she refers to herself as "Your poor creature" It is silly and tedious. I am at page 190 & can see that this is going on for another dozen pages. I can't take it, nor can I be bothered. My local second hand bookshop is now open..

This is a tremendous read. The humour is subtle but razor sharp and the characterisation covers virtually every personality type. A thirteenth century setting and pilgrimage reveals that human nature and relationships have not changed in the eight centuries since. This is a great read, devoured by this reader in a single lockdown day!

Except for the first chapter, which is set in 1264, the rest are set 1289 and 1290, and are an account of a group of pilgrims on their way to Rome. They go for all sorts of reasons. Some of them hope to get loved ones – ranging from a dead cat to relatives - released from purgatory. Some hoped to shorten the time they themselves would have to spend in purgatory for their sins. One went believing that she were being punished for her sins by having illness befall her illegitimate but beloved little son and hoped he would be cured. Another had been paid to go in the place of others who had not kept their own vows to go on pilgrimage. Two were really quite mad: one had fits when she croaked out with the voice of God, and wanted to go to Rome to tell the Pope about the wickedness in her neighbourhood; the other had been told by Jesus himself to go on pilgrimage. One wanted to petition the Pope for a grant of divorce which had been refused by the local ecclesiastical authorities. One was a Welshman who repented that, during the Welsh rebellion in 1282, had betrayed both his lord and his people to the English. One went for no other reason than that she had been told by Jesus to go. Several were travelling with other members of their family or their retainers: altogether there were 25 of them. There are only two of these, a mother and her daughter, whose story is truly dramatic, because they were converts from Judaism. Not that this resolved their problems in the Judeophobic atmosphere of the time. The book is very readable. It has fewer confusing passages – and also much less drama - than Kneale’s earlier book, “English Passengers” (see my Amazon review). In that novel, each of the many characters had spoken in a different and distinctive voice. In this novel, for all the differences in their social background, the style of the speakers varies not at all, their characterization is, with a few exceptions, nothing like as strong, and their motivations are not as varied. Of course Kneale brings out the religious superstitions of the time, there are good descriptions of events during the pilgrimage and a lot of local colour; a few Middle English words sprinkle the otherwise straightforward modern English, and there are several references to the political and social history of the period, notably the Welsh wars and the hostility towards the Jews.

I have always admired Matthew Kneale as a writer and this is probably his finest novel I think. Having studied history at university I have always maintained an interest in historical fiction, and this is one of the finest of its genre. Technically it is excellent-he does a really good job of the language:a very difficult process in a book set in the 13th century.Make it too medieval and it becomes a hard read:make it too modern and it just seems wrong. The characterisation is also excellent and the cast of characters seems true to life. What is most impressive about the book though is the way it shows up the possibilities of absurdity of the pilgrimage experience and how in many ways things haven't changed much since the 13th century.The pilgrims arrive in Rome and get to see all the obviously fraudulent items; disciples' foreskins,a loaf from the feeding of the 5,000 etc.Yet pilgrims today go the such suites and see the same sort of fake souvenirs today. Everything and nothing changes.....