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Adult Books - Fiction - General Fiction
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The Northern Clemency.
Hensher, Philip (author).
Nov. 2008. 608p. Knopf, hardcover, $26.95 (9781400044481).
REVIEW.
First published November 15, 2008 (Booklist).
Hensher’s sixth novel was shortlisted for, but did not win, the Man Booker Prize. With a time line starting in 1974, it’s also the sort of novel that, in the 1970s, would have had a better chance of winning. A tale of two neighboring Sheffield families, one locally established, one newly arrived from London, it’s old-fashioned in its pace and attention to daily life—and has a length that may deter time-starved contemporary readers. Its subject matter is quintessentially English and closely observed: the stifling gaze of the neighbors; the unspoken dialogue of long-marrieds; the agonizing explorations of adolescence; all of it conveying the sense of surprise we feel when we realize that this is, after all, what we have become. Readers not daunted by this book’s heft will be rewarded by poetic prose and astonishingly lifelike character sketches, by Hensher’s sly wit, and, above all, by a moving sense of life, faithfully re-created, its most humble conflicts treated with utmost respect. American readers, too, will gain a keen sense of the way things were over there back then. A richly rewarding read.— Keir Graff
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