Review of Philip Hensher's The Northern Clemency
The Tale of Two Families in 1970s Sheffield
Apr 26, 2009
It is the summer of 1974, and Katherine Glover is having a party at her home in Sheffield. The guests are all neighbours, self-consciously making smalltalk over the vol-au-vents and sausages on sticks while the Glover children look on, bored. Yet Katherine has clearly taken great trouble with the food, and with her appearance; for whom has she made such an effort?
A Tale of Two Families
Over the following 700 or so pages, the reader becomes intimately acquainted not only with Katherine, but with her husband Malcolm and with her children – the youngest of whom is widely acknowledged to be downright weird. We also follow the day-to-day activities of a new family from London, the Sellers, who have just moved in over the road.
The Sellers are at first eyed with some suspicion by the other inhabitants of Rayfield Avenue, but Alice and Bernie soon settle in, bringing with them their sexually precocious daughter Sandra and their son Francis - notable chiefly for his bizarre height. Links are made between the two families, and the novel jumps between the different individuals, recording both the significant and the mundane events of their lives over the next two decades.
Comparisons with Middlemarch
The novel was shortlisted for the 2008 Booker Prize, and many critics felt it should have won. It has even drawn comparisons with nineteenth century classics such as George Eliot's Middlemarch for its detailed portrayal of everyday life. Hensher has ensured his novel remains contemporary by including references to public and political events such as the miners' strike, but these act simply as a backdrop for the characters and never become the main focus of the novel.
There are some funny and shocking set-pieces: a violent event including an unfortunate snake; an awkward and fumbling sexual encounter between two people who should know better. But it is the unremarkable events of the novel that make this such an extraordinary achievement - Hensher's prose is so fluid and consistent that the reader becomes immersed in the novel no matter which character the narrative is focusing on, with even the seemingly mundane taking on importance as we learn more about each individual.
Don't be put off by the sheer length of this book – it is a rich and rewarding experience that sees Hensher achieve full maturity as a novelist.
The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher is published in paperback in the UK by Harper Perennial (2009), ISBN 978-0-00-717480-5.
