Rating: 4/5
Review:
Well written and enjoyable
I enjoyed The Cuckoos Of Batch Magna. It is very well written,
engaging and amusing.
The basic story is
pretty well-worn: a secluded rural idyll populated by a colourful
group of often eccentric people, has its way of life threatened by an
incomer bent on changing everything with a view to profit and
“progress.” In this case, it’s Batch Magna, a small village on
the Welsh border in Shropshire, whose de facto squire dies and the
entailment of the estate means that it passes to a rather hapless New
Yorker who gradually (of course) falls under the spell of the place
and its people…
It sounds corny, and
it is in a way, but Peter Maughan is a good enough writer to make
this a very engaging, enjoyable book. It is steeped in rich, loving
descriptions of the place, its way of life while his characters are
very well painted and surprisingly recognisable and there is a very
nice leaven of dry humour. There are moments of farce, some charming
romances and a general atmosphere which is very endearing. Maughan
is unafraid to confound expectations occasionally and there are some
genuinely touching moments, all of which gives the book a fresh feel.
I have to say that so little actually happens in the first half of
the book that I began to get a bit restive, but things pick up
wonderfully in the second half, which I loved.
I found this a very
enjoyable read (in the end). Whether the idea can maintain a series
remains to be seen, but I’ll certainly read the next one to find
out. Recommended.
(My thanks to
Farrago for an ARC via NetGalley.)
No comments:
Post a Comment