All Among the Barley

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Our barley was well along now, flaxen from a distance and with the beards tipping over almost as we watched. The fusing of ancient natural cycles and farming techniques with powerfully descriptive prose and rich characterisation feels luxuriant on the page . In some ways, it’s quite similar to The Offing, which I’ve seen described (via Ben Myers himself) as an anti-Brexit novel disguised as a story about tea and scones. Her re-connection to the community many years later being handled in a most alarming way when her vulnerability and lack of experience of the 'present' world is taken into consideration. It’s a great historical read – a combination of characters you can feel for, great writing and a brilliant recreation of time and place.

It was certainly evocative of the time that our land was still an agricultural land for the most part but also showed that change was very much in the air and the harshness of war already casting a sadness on the population. In the 1930s, disaffected by socialism and appalled by the possibility of another war, he became an outspoken supporter of Oswald Mosley and the British Union of Fascists.There are many areas of sadness in this book from the harsh words of Edie's father to the death of Edmund the corncrake but maybe the saddest of all was the incarceration of Edie into the mental institute, abandoned by her family. The interest in politics is another potential connection too, especially their impact on the community. The rhythms and rituals of farming are also beautifully portrayed, augmenting the novel’s captivating sense of time and place. Though they don’t appear to be affiliated with one of the big conglomerates and declare themselves to be an independent publisher, they *are* a big outfit with lots of trustees etc!

Set on a farm in Suffolk just before the Second World War, it introduces a girl on the cusp of adulthood. The angle which seems to have been given the greatest (and compared to its treatment in the book disproportionate) coverage in press reviews and interviews, is an examination of 1930s rural themed fascism (my term).

Although I did not know her well yet, I felt more real, more interesting even, when I saw myself through Constance’s eyes. Older sister Mary is already married and has a baby, so Edith’s future seems set to follow in a similar direction.