Book Review
Jul. 11th, 2006 06:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariAs Meat Loves Salt
by Maria McCann
This was one of the most darkly compelling books I have ever read. Set during the English Civil War, it is the story of Jacob Cullen, a young man who is incapable of controlling or even coming to terms with the brutal and controlling side of himself, even with and for the sakes of those he loves most dearly. Jacob ends up having to flee the manor house where he is a comfortable servant, and he thus lands in the New Model Army. There Jacob meets Christopher Ferris, a compassionate and idealistic fellow soldier. They desert after a vicious attack on a noble's house and return to Ferris' home in London. Here Jacob and Ferris fall passionately in love. The tragedy of their relationship has little to do with the mores of the times and everything to do with Jacob's brutality.
McCann's prose is beautiful, and she has a wonderful way with the details of everyday life. However, I think her chief achievement is the way in which the historical situation (two bitterly opposed sides in the same country, the clash between utopian ideals of equality and the established hierarchies, etc.) mirrors and thus illuminates a very intimate story.
by Maria McCann
This was one of the most darkly compelling books I have ever read. Set during the English Civil War, it is the story of Jacob Cullen, a young man who is incapable of controlling or even coming to terms with the brutal and controlling side of himself, even with and for the sakes of those he loves most dearly. Jacob ends up having to flee the manor house where he is a comfortable servant, and he thus lands in the New Model Army. There Jacob meets Christopher Ferris, a compassionate and idealistic fellow soldier. They desert after a vicious attack on a noble's house and return to Ferris' home in London. Here Jacob and Ferris fall passionately in love. The tragedy of their relationship has little to do with the mores of the times and everything to do with Jacob's brutality.
McCann's prose is beautiful, and she has a wonderful way with the details of everyday life. However, I think her chief achievement is the way in which the historical situation (two bitterly opposed sides in the same country, the clash between utopian ideals of equality and the established hierarchies, etc.) mirrors and thus illuminates a very intimate story.
