Published three years after the last novel in the author's popular Dartmoor Trilogy, "Wintering Hay" is another tale by John Trevena, the pseudonym of Ernest George Henham. In this story, Trevena revisits the English moor and the moral struggles of its rural folk. He centers our attention on Cyril Rossingall, a young man living with his religiously conservative aunt and uncle. They despise him for not sharing their same level of devotion to faith. On Christmas Eve, Cyril's life is forever altered when, attempting to help a ...
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Published three years after the last novel in the author's popular Dartmoor Trilogy, "Wintering Hay" is another tale by John Trevena, the pseudonym of Ernest George Henham. In this story, Trevena revisits the English moor and the moral struggles of its rural folk. He centers our attention on Cyril Rossingall, a young man living with his religiously conservative aunt and uncle. They despise him for not sharing their same level of devotion to faith. On Christmas Eve, Cyril's life is forever altered when, attempting to help a woman being abused by her common law husband, he accidentally kills the man and buries the body to conceal his actions. The tragic event forces Cyril along a path of exploitation and manipulation that highlights two weaknesses: his lack of moral courage and self-love. The incident impacts his relationships with his closest friend, George Corindon, and his sister, Lilian Corindon, to whom Cyril has confessed his love but not his bloody secret. Lilian's father refuses to consent to their marriage until Cyril makes something of himself. After being turned out by his relatives, Cyril tramps his way to London where he leads a depraved lifestyle until returning to the Dartmoor village of Blue Violet. Back in his native surroundings, Cyril encounters Squire Tucker, a bizarre mystic who warns him that: "when we bring suffering to others we bring it upon ourselves." Will Cyril restore his friendship with George and his romance with Lilian? Will he ever be free of the guilt of killing a man? What is his destiny given the weak choices he has made? Originally published in 1912, this annotated edition of "Wintering Hay" includes numerous notes on the text to better understand the many geographical, Biblical and historical references that are typically found in the best of Trevena's work.
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