All Among the Barley

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The writing has a lyrical beauty to it as the author describes with hugely-impressive authenticity, rural life in Suffolk in the mid-1930s. We and Edie also see more the tensions in the small farm community – her father’s struggle with despondency and alcohol, her mother’s odd relationship with John whose political differences with her father become increasingly open as the tensions between tradition and progress become greater. The novel’s epilogue is very affecting, a section in which seventy-year-old Edie contemplates her current situation – a life marked by events that took place during Constance’s visit.

The fate of those who were suspected of having some sort of psychotic episode as outlined by the author in her Historical Note would in my view be best served in a different story. In October, Wych Farm’s trees turned quickly and all at once, blazing into oranges and reds and burnished golds; with little wind to strip them the woods and spinneys lay on our land like treasure, the massy hedgerows filigreed with old-man’s-beard and enamelled with rosehips and black sloes. Edith’s brother Frank helps too and at seventeen is courting a local girl, his future mapped out for him. From the empty pews at the church to the tools left idle in barns to the poorly stacked ricks due to a lack of skilled men, these silent absences are deeply felt. The hardness of the characters worlds as well as the peaceful landscape full of wildlife, are beautifully portrayed.Running through the book is the need for farmers to balance the preservation of traditional methods with the drive for progression and change. Edie is caught in this maelstrom of social and political activity whilst still trying to make the transition herself from child to young woman and she comments as a narrator of the story as an elderly woman at the end of the book. I often tend to be drawn to novels touching on nature, family and group relationships and on how lives intersect and sometimes affect each other in unintended and unpredictable ways.

And yes, I can see how someone like Constance would make an lasting impression on a young girl, especially an adolescent like Edie. In All Among the Barley , Melissa Harrison has created a central character to rival Cassandra in I Capture the Castle . They had four fields at the bottom of the garden, one leading onto the next like a patchwork quilt, in shades of green and gold through the seasons. For those of us, like myself, who have grown up in the countryside, it is not in the least bit disappointing that the hardships and drawbacks of a life lived on the land – especially in that era – be fairly portrayed and indeed, how can one truly appreciate light unless it is in the context of shades of dark? Women in rural environments had to do their duty, be careful to fit in and not be seen as different.As the narrative progresses, we begin to realise – even if Edie remains blind to it – that Constance’s interest in the traditions of English life extends to holding prejudices against outsiders. Harrison describes it in lush detail that makes you feel you are there, not just the flora and fauna as she sees it, but how it changes with the seasons, or even as day turns to night. In fact, it could be seen as a political novel disguised as a coming-of-age story, albeit it in a very nuanced way! As harvest time approaches and the pressures mount on the entire Mather family, Edie must decide whose version of reality to trust, and how best to save herself from disaster. However, the gradually revealed pressure combined with distrust of change, and the entry of worldly affairs gave an interesting viewpoint of the times.