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Academic endeavour, today and long ago
A fine first novel, says David McLaurin
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| Testament Alis Hawkins
Macmillan Ł14.99 (978-0-230-70001-7) ALIS HAWKINS sets her first novel in the ancient university city of Salster, home to Kineton and Dacre College. Two stories move in parallel: the first thread, set in the present day, deals with the college’s struggle to survive in the modern world and resolve its financial difficulties, and is seen through the eyes of Damia Miller, its new head of marketing. The second strand concerns the events surrounding the college’s foundation, and how the master mason Simon Kineton, his wife the master carpenter Gwyneth, and their patron Richard Daker struggle to bring the college to birth in the reign of Richard II. The two stories are linked by the discovery of a painting cycle that holds the key to unlocking past secrets. This fine novel works on many levels. In its setting, and the evocation of an institution riven by conflict, it brings to mind the Starbridge novels of Susan Howatch, and The Choir by Joanna Trollope. Hawkins’s writing is certainly in their league. But the linking of past and present is not simply geographical or institutional: rather, the novel tells us that there are constants in human nature. Gwyneth longs for a child. After 20 years of marriage, he is born with cerebral palsy. Damia, a thoroughly modern and likeable woman, also longs for children. Family is what counts, a powerful theme, skilfully handled. Again, whether it is in university or Church, the novel conveys a strong message that compassion and charity rather than faceless power are what matters. In the Middle Ages, the struggle was between Lollardy and an overmighty bishop. In the present day, the battle is between history and tradition and the corporate sharks. Though the college is secular, thanks to its anti-clerical founders, and though Damia is not religious, the nuanced and skilful conclusion, which packs a considerable emotional punch, well worth the 500-page wait, is that each and every person is of value. This is expressed in terms gently but unmistakably Christian. Like the medieval masons she describes, Hawkins creates a structure that soars upwards. |
