Day 29

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Roundheads and Cavaliers quartet by Stella Riley

 

I am very fond of this series, which I read when they first came out in the early 90s. They are excellent historical novels set during the mid-17^th Century covering the Civil War and its immediate aftermath. Although they contain romance, it would be wrong to characterise them as mere romances, because the Civil War is shown accurately in all its brutality and pain. They are an excellent read that bear rereading from time to time.

Last year Alex Wyndham recorded the first, the Black Madonna, for Audible. Previously he has recorded Ms Riley’s other books, The Marigold Chain and the Rockliffe books with elegance and panache. It is so satisfying when the reader’s voice matches the book perfectly. There are no jarring notes at all.

He has just finished recording Garland of Straw, the second in the series. Of the four it is probably the easiest to read as a stand-alone book. Many of the characters are the same but the protagonists are different so we see what happens from a slightly different point of view.

The Civil War has reached the uneasy stage where the king has been beaten, but the monarchy has not yet been abolished. Cromwell is more or less in control, but there is dissension in the Protestant ranks between the Presbyterians and the Independents.

Ardent Royalist, Venetia has been constrained to marry Gabriel, who is an officer in the Parliamentary army and the illegitimate brother of her erstwhile, totally unreliable, fiancé, Ellis Brandon. Usually that would be a plot manipulation too far, but Ms Riley handles it so that it is not only believable, but inevitable. The story of their relationship and how it is affected by the war and the political chaos around them is the main matter of the book.

Stella Riley reduces the complicated political situation into a form which we can understand and that doesn’t overwhelm the story, but leaves us in no doubt as to the divisiveness and pain caused by a civil war as families and friendships are torn apart. The sense of place and time is very strong and the history – social as well as political – is sound. Ms Riley has done her research, but because she is a very good writer, the story is paramount and is served by the research, which is as it should be. (Too often, in historical fiction the balance is the other way round with huge chunks of Wikipedia being strung together by a narrow thread of narrative.)

This part of the Civil War tends to be forgotten, but there was quite a long time between Charles’s first defeat and the abolition of the monarchy, culminating in Charles’s execution. Until Charles was killed there was always uncertainty and instability and it is this that drives the story.

I am talking about Garland of Straw in detail because it is freshest in my memory. The Audible version couldn’t have arrived at a better time for me – it saw me through last night, the hottest night of the year, when sleep was impossible, so that the hours of darkness were not as oppressive and miserable as I was expecting and, as the thunder again bounces around the horizon and the heavy rain has started, there is enough left to see me through tonight’s promised storms! 

Stella Riley has also written two other books set during and just after the Civil War, The Marigold Chain and A Splendid Defiance. There is a small cross-over of characters with the Roundheads and Cavaliers quartet, but they are stand-alone novels.

If your taste runs to lighter historical fiction, I recommend Stella Riley’s Rockliffe books:

The Parfit Knight

The Mesalliance

The Player

The Wicked Cousin

 Hazard

 Cadenza

These are set in the 1770s and are concerned with the same set of people, friends or relations of the Duke of Rockliffe who is a hero to die for.

Again the history is sound but the emphasis is on social history rather than political. The stories are excellent – funny, exciting, romantic – but all with their feet firmly on the ground. Light reading certainly, but you don’t have to hide it when other people come into the room.

 

Food for a hot evening

Seared Scallops with Cherry Tomatoes

·      3 tablespoons unsalted butter

·      1 thinly sliced onion or 2 shallots (You could also use young, tender leeks)

·      2 garlic cloves, minced

·      ¼ cup dry white wine

·      450g cherry tomatoes, cut in half

·      Salt and black pepper

·      Scallops (about 4 per person unless you are feeling very rich).   

·      2 tablespoons oil, plus more as needed (light olive, sunflower or rapeseed)

·      1 lemon, halved

·      fresh basil and mint, for serving

·      Coarse sea salt, for serving

Method

1.                Heat a large frying pan over medium-low heat and melt the butter

2.                Add the onions/shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 5 minutes, until tender but not browned.

3.                Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until fragrant.

4.                Add the wine and cook until about half the liquid has evaporated.

5.                Add the tomatoes, ½  teaspoon salt and ¼  teaspoon pepper and cook over medium-heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 to 12 minutes, until the tomatoes have released their juices and almost completely collapsed.

6.                Transfer the tomato mixture to a dish    

7.                Pat the scallops dry.

8.                Clean the frying pan and add the oil and turn the heat to medium-high.

9.                When the oil is very hot, add half the scallops, spacing them evenly in the pan.

10.           Cook without moving for 2 to 3 minutes, until golden brown on the bottom. Flip and cook for 1 more minute. Be careful you don’t overcook them. They will go like rubber.

11.           Transfer the scallops to a plate and repeat with the remaining scallops, adding more oil if necessary.

12.           Return the tomatoes and their juices to the frying pan and squeeze in 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Add the scallops to the pan, nestling them into the tomatoes. Top with the zest of both lemon halves, basil and mint, and a generous sprinkle of coarse sea salt.

Serve immediately with an iced dry white wine or a dry cider.

 

 

Music

A song from Peter Brook’s 1953 film of the Beggar’s Opera by John Gay, with Laurence Olivier and Dorothy Tutin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU6p3Ubq42U&list=RDnU6p3Ubq42U&start_radio=1&t=26

 

 

Today’s Painting

Claude Duval by William Powell Frith, Manchester Art Gallery

 

Frith was a genre painter who specialised in huge narrative pieces depicting Victorian life. He also painted vignettes from the novels of Charles Dickens who was a close friend.

He was a very conservative and traditional painter who resisted the developments in art during the latter part of the 19th century. (For instance he loathed the Pre-Raphaelites).

He also appeared to be as conservative and traditional in his moral values, as can be seen in the two series of five pictures, telling moral stories in the manner of Hogarth, the Road to Ruin (1878), about the dangers of gambling, and the Race for Wealth (1880) about reckless financial speculation. This high moral stance appears to be shown also in the subject matter of many of his paintings extolling the virtues of family life.

He certainly was an expert on family life as he had twelve children with his first wife, Isabelle, whilst living a mile down the road he had a mistress, Mary Alford and seven more children. He married Mary when Isabelle died.

Frith has fallen out of favour in recent years, but even if you don’t care for his style of painting, his pictures are a fascinating view of how the Victorians saw themselves. His picture of Claude Duval exemplifies his romantic view of life.

 

The Legend of Claude Duval (1643 – 1670)

Claude Duval was born in Normandy in 1643. As a boy he went Paris and became the servant of Royalist exiles, returning to Britain with them.

According to the legend, Duval soon ceased being a servant and became a successful highwayman who robbed the passing stagecoaches on the roads to London, especially between Highgate and Islington. But he was a highwayman with a difference because he wore fashionable clothes, acted like a gentleman and was gallant to his lady victims, frequently enticing them out of their coaches to dance in the moonlight, before stripping them of all their jewels. He is said never to have used violence.

Unfortunately, even though he was a legend, and was adored by ladies of the Ton, the authorities still pursued him and he was caught in a pub in Covent Garden and despite many pleas from his admirers, he was executed at Tyburn in 1670.

His exploits did much to romanticise the image of the highwayman, most of whom were brutish, violent thugs, and he has inspired many stories and poems and this picture by William Powell Frith.