ANCESTRY, by Simon Mawer (Little, Brown, $37.99) In Ancestry, Simon Mawer has done what some of us might be able to do if we seriously turned our minds to it. Using a 1928 photo of some of his relatives, he travels back in time to imagine how their lives became intertwined. Though because he’s a Booker Prize-shortlisted novelist – for 2009’s The Glass Room – he does it rather better than most. He begins in 1837, by fleshing out the life of six-year-old Abraham Block as he grows up in a poor Suffolk family, scavenging for trinkets from shipwrecks on the Strand with his brother. Given the chance to become an apprentice sailor, Abraham grabs it, cheered on by his Uncle Isaac, who has made good in London.
Hastings-born seamstress Naomi Lulham, an attractive young woman who comes to London at 17 for work, has a love affair with Abraham, which leaves her reliant on the kindness of the fledgling sailor’s family. Then there’s Private George Mawer, who is in the early stages of a military career and about to depart for Crimea. Before leaving, he marries Ann Scanlon in Manchester Cathedral.
Abraham and George are key players in this story, but it’s the women in their lives that Mawer gives the spotlight to, aware that if it wasn’t for their grit and resilience the author wouldn’t be here to spin this tale.
For both Naomi and Ann – mothers, workers, financial providers – the workhouse is always only a step away when their husbands are at sea or war. If the women failed to find work, their fate often lay in the hands of a begrudging and at times abusive church community.
This story is from the September 10 - 16, 2022 edition of New Zealand Listener.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 10 - 16, 2022 edition of New Zealand Listener.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
The big dry
All we know is that here at Lush Places, our pasture and gardens are gasping. The pasture is the worry. The garden is a luxury but if you move to the country to buy a garden, the lack of rain is distressing.
Digital disruption or disaster?
If the news media is left to sink or swim, who will hold the powerful to account?
Fair's fair
Are we kidding ourselves that the world is a fair and just place?
Fortify yourself
Iodine is an essential mineral for our metabolism but opt for bread and milk rather than salt to get an adequate dose.
Flautist’s flight
A United Nations of styles mark Tessa Brinckman’s collection of flute pieces.
Characters with a back story
A new local comedy drama set in a spinal unit is based on the lives of two of its writers, one of whom stars in the show.
On the slopes of whakapapa
Kids go bush in Taranaki in a family flick with some familiar touches.
Southern belles
Kaylee Bell embraces Nashville, while Amiria Grenell heads to Americana.
Flying colours
Look Blue Go Purple, a group which stood out among the many in 1980s Dunedin, is being honoured at the Taite Music Prize. RUSSELL BROWN tracked down the op shop-raiding politest band in rock'n'roll”.
Critters for life's jitters
A talking fox offers solace to a struggling man in this moving story about the redemptive power of nature.