Alex's Historical Fiction

The Lost Luggage Porter by Andrew Martin

I'm currently reading The Lost Luggage Porter by Andrew Martin. It's a detective story, set in York in 1906. The narrator is one Jim Springer, who has just taken up a position as a detective with the North Eastern Railway Company. It's told in first person, with no frame (eg. he's not obviously writing his memoires) which is great. I don't see why 1st person narratives need frames. The Ripley book below had almost believable frames - in that one was writing a history (and ... no, I shouldn't give it away) and the other was being interviewed by someone who was really wanting to know about Agricola, and turned out to be Tacitus (Agricola's son-in-law). But mostly, the 'I am writing this in my dotage' is used too often to be entertaining. Why not just jump right (write?) in and tell the story? Jim Stringer does just this.

Somehow, Andrew Martin's got a very authentic voice. For example, he only ever refers to his wife as The Wife. I only got to know her name (Lydia) because his Dad called her by her name. The author knows about trains, and his settings feel right. As a York resident, I haven't come across any quibbles as yet. I'm certainly very familiar with some of the buildings and roads mentioned :-)

Jim lives in Thorpe-on-Ouse. Not being a local, I'm not sure, if this is a resident's name for Bishopthorpe (I have a friend who lives there, I shall ask her tomorrow), but it certainly is that part of York. It's interesting to note that there is a stern disclaimer about there being no intent to refer to anyone who either worked on the railways, lived in York or Paris at the time. I guess that is the hazard of writing a story set in relatively recent times. I remember an author talking about a book she had written about the Sunken Island in Holderness. Though it was set in the 19th century, she was very careful to ensure that she didn't use any current family names in the area, just in case.

I've not finished The Lost Luggage Porter yet, but it's compelling stuff. It's actually the third in the Jim Stringer series, and I certainly wouldn't sniff at reading the other two. He has a light touch, using historical detail deftly. I remember the first one, The Necropolis Railway getting very good reviews, and now I have a hint as to why.

Labels: Books, First person, Frames, York

posted by Alex Bordessa @ Saturday, November 04, 2006 2 comments

Boudica and the lost Roman

It took me a while, but I finally managed to get hold of Mike Ripley's Boudica and the lost Roman, 2005, Severn House. He seems to be quite a popular author, although mostly known for Crime Stories. But his Boudica book was out on loan every time I tried to get hold of it, so finally I put in a request.

It's a horrible, awful, realistic and rather good book. It's almost an antidote to some recent Boudica novels. Told in two first person characters and through a couple of letters, it follows the events of Boudica's Iceni uprising in AD 60. Olussa is a merchant who reluctantly gets recruited as a spy by the nasty Procurator Catus Decianus. Roscius is a soldier in Suetonius Paulinus' bodyguard. Olussa manages to get held by Boudica, who gets him to write her story, so is witness to the all sackings of the Roman towns. Needless to say, it all ends rather badly. There aren't many characters to really love in this book, and it amply shows the atrocities of war. There's plenty of period details and a few in-jokes to delight the reader.

Labels: Books, First person

posted by Alex Bordessa @ Monday, October 30, 2006 1 comments