Philip Hensher, The Northern Clemency Review

Overall Rating

A well written book, with an in depth descriptive narrative of family relationships.

Tough to read through, very lengthly in parts, could have been condensed down.

When approaching The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher, the heaviness of the book, mirror's the heaviness and the weight of the subject matter. The book is set in Sheffield, following two neighbouring families,' the- Glovers and the Sellers, through the personally emotional and landscaping physical journey of two decades where England changed from the mid 1970's to the 1990's, with industry declining and the service sector booming. The book focuses on the North, with the events of the miners' strike of 1984. It reflects on a period of history spanning over 20 years, and is Henshers' right wing biased and subjective view of a period in which he lived. He has used real historical events as a backdrop to his fictional characters and story lines to give his work reality and credence. There is much to be appreciated about this book with its depth of detail of personal relationships and cultural references and I can definitely see why it has been short listed for the Man Booker Prize 2008, but unless you are particularly interested or motivated to read about this period of history it can be a long and arduous journey.

By Celia Bissell