And The Waters Shall Cover The Earth.: A tale of the drainage of the Fens

Bramble, Mr Forbes

ISBN 10: 1906791147 / ISBN 13: 9781906791148

Edité par Arena Books, 2008

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Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: And The Waters Shall Cover The Earth.: A tale of the drainage of the Fens
• Éditeur: Arena Books
• Date de parution: 2008
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 1906791147
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9781906791148
• Reliure: Soft cover
• État de l'article: As New
• Signé: Inscribed by Author(s)

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

Jacob de Vries, arrives from Holland with his wife, Cristeen, and daughter, Katja, to a remote part of East Anglia to undertake the drainage of the swamps and meres of Oxay Fen. In doing so he is unaware of walking into a melee arousing political passions which divide the community. The great project ahead - in continuing the work of Vermuyden forty years earlier - in transforming an ancient landscape and way of life, is financed by the landowners, led by John Warburton. But the village people see this as the theft of their fowl, fish, and eels, and their very livelihood, and are determined to oppose those who call for change. For John Warburton and his friends, the work is essential for the recovery of what they regard as theirs. The prize is the realisation of fine pasture and rich fields. In this situation a drama is played out involving night raids, arson, and the suspicion of witchcraft, and the tension is not subdued by the arrival of the militia.Foremost in the resistance is Clara, the fearsome blacksmith, who gains an unexpected ally in Emms, the vicar, the latter who refuses to reject the evidence of his own eyes as ancient artefacts and even a body emerge from the diggings. Another dissident is John Sylam, a childhood friend of Clara, and then one of the drainage partners begins to doubt the wisdom of the venture, and fears the effect it may have on the wider community. Kayja, too, has her different problems, as her heart is perturbed by several young men in the neighbourhood, and then a skating disaster and nature takes its own revenge in a devastating climax. This is a magnificently poetic and atmospheric novel describing the fens and fenland life in the 1690s. The authenticity of the tale is brought alive by the descriptions of the environment with its mists and distant horizons, its characters and their dialogue, in a way which few historical novels are able to match.

À propos de l?auteur

Forbes Bramble is an established author who has already written seven previous novels brought to the public by a leading British publishing house. He has also written plays for stage and television. In addition to his literary activities he is a trained architect and engineering consultant. He is married, with three sons, and lives in East Anglia. His novel, And The Waters Shall Cover The Earth, presents a vivid and poetic description of fenland life in the 1690s, and is an intriguing tales of love and communal conflict, based around the drainage of that part of the country which was eventually to produce the richest soil for fruit and vegetable horticulture in Britain.