The Manningtree Witches – A K Blakemore

Essex, 1643, the English civil war rumbles on in the background but at the coastal town of Manningtree it is the effect of growing Puritan power that threatens at a local level.

If the religious doctrine is of God’s goodness, how to explain bad fortune? – a child dies in infancy, a hen stops laying, a cow runs dry, a ship is lost at sea. Clearly the work of the devil and his handmaidens, who must be found among the single, the widowed, the unprotected women of the community. Women like young Rebecca West, nineteen or so, attractive and still not wed; like her widowed mother, Anne; and like the old crone, Mother Clarke, whom they keep an eye on.

There arrives in town one Matthew Hopkins, Cambridge graduate, devout Puritan, and on a mission to root out witchcraft. It is not long before neighbour disputes crystallise into accusations of curses laid and evil eyes cast, which Hopkins is all too ready to take up as evidence of devilment. Not that evidence is necessary – false witness, forced confession, and revealed bodily imperfections are enough to be detained and sent for trial.

Rebecca is one of those seized, incarcerated, and interrogated by Hopkins. She narrates most of the story in language and prose that richly describes events, characters, the Essex landscape, and then Colchester gaol. Possibly a bit too rich for one of her class and education; but get past that and enjoy the writing.

How will it end for Rebecca? Hopkins would like her to confess so he can ‘save her’ – maybe for himself. So that’s one option for Rebecca, though barely more palatable than the noose. That narrative hook, as well as the quality of writing keeps the reader engaged to the last.

And Away … – Bob Mortimer

In 2015, fifty-six-year-old comedian and national treasure, Bob Mortimer is diagnosed with blocked arteries, requiring open heart surgery. The planned tour of Reeves and Mortimer has to be postponed, and the subsequent surgery and recuperation lead Bob to reflect on his life, on how he got here.

Thus we get his autobiography, spliced with his recovery process. Born and raised in Middlesbrough, the youngest of four brothers, the early loss of his father leads to a special bond with his mother. His upbringing on Teesside involves getting into scrapes with his mates but he progresses well enough at school to get a place at university and then law school, to become a qualified and practicing solicitor.

That fledgling career takes him to London where a chance encounter leads him to see a one-man show in a room above a pub in New Cross – Vic Reeves Big Night Out. Ther show invites audience participation, and the rest is show biz history.

It is an engaging account of how a shy boy from Middlesbrough became a successful performer on stage and TV simply by being himself. Mortimer is modest and unassuming, bemused by his success but grateful for that sliding-doors moment that transformed his life from a dead-end job in the law to part of a manic comedy duo. The book goes on beyond his operation to include the Gone Fishing series with Paul Whitehouse.

It is an easy read and rings true, and even those ‘would I lie to you’ incidents seem to have happened (mostly).

Review of the Reading Year 2024

 2024 was a good year for the quantity of books read - 38 - if not outstanding for quality, impacted by some iffy reading group titles and some injudicious 99p buys on Kindle. There were slight majorities for authors new to me (55%) and for male authors (57%), though male authors managed to provide a clean sweep of the picks of the year - see below.

This year brought to an end the Bookpacking reading journey, which staggered to a halt in Iceland after  seven years and 21 books set across the world. Attention now turns to the Book-et List, which in 2024 knocked off only the final (original) Rebus novel, leaving ten of the planned fifteen to go at.

There are seven best books of the year for 2024, which are (month of the full review in brackets):

The Killers of the Flower Moon - David Grann. A fascinating and harrowing exposure of a scandal, long-forgotten in the US, whereby the Osage tribe were systematically controlled, exploited, and murdered for their oil-based riches. (May 24)

Reservoir 13 - Jon McGregor. A beautifully written, engrossing account of the rhythm of lives lived in beat with the natural world around it, as a rural community comes to terms with a tragedy on its doorstep. (May 24)

Bournville - Jonathan Coe. From VE Day in 1945 to its seventy-fifth anniversary in Covid hit 2020, seven decades of change in English society, told in seven snapshots of the same extended family, narrated with style, wit, and no little pathos. (May 24)

Pity - Andrew McMillan, Another book addressing generational change, set in a mining community in Barnsley, and told sparingly using a clever mix of writing styles. (June 24)

Mythos - Stephen Fry. The Greek myths given a retelling in the author's inimitable style mixing erudition and wit to great effect, (June 24)

The Pier Falls - Mark Haddon. A collection of not-so-short stories that showcase the author's talent and imagination, with a pleasing variety of settings and characters that only have one thing in common - jeopardy. (August 24)

The Wager - David Grann. A revelatory and gripping account of an ill-fated voyage, part of a British naval expedition to round Cape Horn in the 1780s, which ended in shipwreck, survival (of some), and recrimination. (November 24)