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WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF WHITBOURN
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What's New OR: 'Yo, ladies ... What's happenin ? Whatever Next ? [ Downs Lord Triptych / The Two Confessions / Amy-Faith & the Stronghold] |
[ First Published in ‘All Hallows’: Journal Of The Ghost Story Society. No 32. Feb 2003. ]
A
HYMN TO MERRILY
‘Oft
when on my couch I lie, in vacant or pensive mood,’ ( being a good
GSS member ) my thoughts turn not, like Wordsworth’s, to daffodils, but to
ghost stories ( or Israeli women soldiers – but that’s another story … ). Specifically, I ponder just what would comprise my personally
tailored template for the perfect ghost story ? Years
of contemplation have honed it to the following:
Imagine
then my joy when I recently discovered that there is such a writer
ticking off my wish-list. Imagine
also my horror at realising I almost missed him.
For not only is he woefully under-promoted but his books are stacked on
the ‘horror’ shelf, you see - when you can locate them at all.
But for a chance recommendation and the promiscuous reading ( amongst
other ) habits of a friend, I could so easily have missed out on meeting the
Reverend Merrily Watkins ( and her creator, Mr Phil Rickman ) Therefore
the purpose of this ‘hymn’ is to share and spread that ‘joy’ - as all
joy should be. I also write
inspired by that chilling thought of joy almost aborted. To
business: Merrily
is an Anglican priestess,. A widow
blessed and burdened with a stroppy teenage daughter, she humbly tries her best
in the bumbling, milk-and-water-kindness context of the contemporary C of E.
That soon entails taking on the mantle of diocesan exorcist - or
‘deliverance minister’ in modern mealy-mouthed parlance.
Cue manifestations around Herefordshire’s Anglo-Welsh border, where
Saxonry meets Cymry and history festers just below the bright secular surface. And
that’s about it really. Except
that it isn’t, not by a monstrous chalk.
It so happens Rickman is a wizard of characterisation, a better than
Baron Frankenstein creator of flesh and blood.
Merrily is made a living breathing person and conviction develops, via
mere marks upon paper, that she, and daughter Jane, and Lol the damaged
ex-rocker and Gomer the wiseacre et al. are only a drive to Hereford and lucky
encounter away. Also,
Merrily is on a spiritual journey, whilst simultaneously wading through the
mundane. In the course of her days,
she encounters good and evil, often from unlikely sources.
The good is believably human and the evil ditto – except when it’s
from a superbly hinted beyond. There’s
real theological depth here and passages to ponder long after the book has been
set down. Not to mention
untelegraphed lines that crackle like electricity and raise the neck hairs:
genuine ‘I’ll just check I’ve locked the back door ‘ quality writing.
Rickman can convey malignity like no other writer I’ve encountered.
Ditto unease. Ditto supernatural events forming round you, sudden and
clammy as a sea-mist. And
he’s chosen to do so in our own beloved ‘ghost story’ genre.
We should be honoured. I
fondly believed myself familiar with every technique for depicting the uncanny,
right from Victorian pioneers to contemporary, lazy, splatter-fests. Yet, time
and again, in book after book, Rickman astounds with pages that quicken the
pulse and chill the room. This is
modern supernatural fiction come of age; proper adult writing – and the
closest thing you’ll get to experiencing the supernatural on demand in the
safety of your own home. There
are currently four books out – four phenomenal books comprising a series which
is more than the sum of its parts. Collectively, they call out for a big-budget Saturday
Inspector Morse style TV series. In
order they are:
To
whiz through them without spoiling, ‘Wine’ deals with apple-lore and
ancient injustices. ‘Midwinter’
introduces a chilling hierarchy of evil. In
'Lights', a 'new-age' 'Wiccan' ( tree-hugging, not cat-strangling,
variety ) couple buy a deconsecrated church, but the idea of 'reverting' it to
pagan use proves less than wise. Meanwhile,
about her hospital-visiting duties, Merrily encounters a man who refuses
to accept the fact that his wife has died. Finally
( only it’s not – see below ), in ‘Cure’ Merrily collides with
possession, unhealthy communication across the ‘Great Divide’ and Rickmanian
trademark resurrection of rural memories better left buried.
In this case, the hop industry and Romany lore feature, leavened with
spirituality and rock n’ roll references. From
such disparate elements spring stories as engaging and credible as life itself.
High praise or what ? And
there's even humour. ‘Crown’s
Mr Wiccan, an artist, covets the cover-art commission for a best-selling Fantasy
series starring 'Lord Madoc the intergalactic Celt'.
Rickman reviews it as '700 pages of total bollocks'.
This particular fantasy book reviewer punched the air and said ‘Yowsa
!’ when he read that. A
fifth Merrily novel is apparently in the pipeline.
If there's any justice ( which Merrily sometimes doubts ) Rickman
and Merrily deserve to be huge. Which
is where you and I come into it. The
Merrily series represents a major talent unfolding before us. To miss out on it
would be to deny yourself a rare and exquisite pleasure in this short life.
It would also be a crying shame to let this author and character pass by
without their due reward. Thus
kindly consider this ‘hymn’ as my humble exhortation to buy. ****** JAW note: Since writing, that mooted fifth Merrily has been published - 'The Lamp of the Wicked' ( Macmillan, 2003 - a mere £10 for a bumper hardback ! ) and I had the honour to review it ( maximum 5 stars ) for SFX Magazine. Better still, a sixth in the series is scheduled for 2004. Mr
Rickman has a website: ( http://www.philrickman.co.uk ), he has books for sale - what are you waiting for ? ****** |