George Garrett (1)

This rich tapestry of a book follows the final two days of Sir Walter Raleigh's (or Ralegh's) life. Taking those two days as a framework, it lures the reader into a sequence of dreams, memories and visions that come together to create a vivid picture of Elizabethan and early Stuart England, and the men who lived in it.

Garrett's writing is dense and picturesque and this is a book that demands time to be spent on it. It is really less of a novel and more a series of fictionalised meditations on life in England at this time. There are some passages of surpassing beauty which capture the elegiac sense of a fading golden age seen from the harsh light of day. However, it is not an easy read. The language is archaic and Garnett's sentences are sometimes chopped and truncated in odd ways. In short: it's a challenge, but one which is worth the effort if you appreciate beautiful writing and historical fiction.

For a longer review, please visit my blog:
http://theidlewoman.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/the-death-of-fox-george-garrett.html… (mere)