Described on its first publication by John Buchan as the finest English novel since Jude the Obscure, Rogue Herries tells the story of the larger than life Francis Herries who uproots his family from Yorkshire and brings them to live in Borrowdale where their life is as dramatic as the landscape surrounding them. Proud, violent and impetuous he despises his first wife, sells his mistress at a county fair and forms a great love for the teenage gypsy Mirabell Starr. Alongside this turbulent story, runs that of his son David, ...
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Described on its first publication by John Buchan as the finest English novel since Jude the Obscure, Rogue Herries tells the story of the larger than life Francis Herries who uproots his family from Yorkshire and brings them to live in Borrowdale where their life is as dramatic as the landscape surrounding them. Proud, violent and impetuous he despises his first wife, sells his mistress at a county fair and forms a great love for the teenage gypsy Mirabell Starr. Alongside this turbulent story, runs that of his son David, with enemies of his own, and that of his gentle daughter Deborah with placid dreams that will not be realised in her father's house. 'As a feat both of knowledge and imagination the book is huge' Observer 'A superb work of fiction. There is not one tired listless page' J.B. Priestly The Graphic
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Add this copy of Rogue Herries: 1 (Herries Chronicle) to cart. $12.30, fair condition, Sold by Stephen White Books rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Bradford, WEST YORKSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM, published 1930 by Macmillan.
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Seller's Description:
Fair. Ex-library book, usual marking. Clean copy in good condition. Tear at top cover spine. Staining at fore edge. Some marking due to age at page margins. Quick dispatch from UK seller.
Hugh Walpole may be labeled 'dated' by some but what could be better than a good old-fashioned read in the winter season to keep up one's spirits. I am just finishing the four book series and do not want it to end as the characters have become old friends who, unlike those usually portrayed in historically placed novels, display all their bumps and warts with calm openness. Villains are also portrayed with vulnerabilities, so they are not easily dismissed.
Setting is of utmost importance; Walpole's 'Cumberland' is so real and so accessible to the reader who becomes attached to every stone outcropping, every stream and every field of wildflowers.
Politics are always standing just outside the action and the unfolding of the generations of the proud and stubbornly middle class Herries, the backbone of English society.
Maith
Jun 21, 2007
Grand ambition
The first of four books in the Herries' saga, Rogue Herries is a fine novel on its own. Walpole has deliberately set out to pay tribute to the people and landscape of Cumbria, more often known as the Lake District, of England. The descriptions of the characters and the fells, the towns and the villages, have a power and freshness which is not quite as well maintained in the later books. The importance of the sense of family, of social class and tradition are placed in the context of historical events. Writing style is typical of the slower, more thoughtful approach of the 1930s. This is not an action-packed thriller to be raced through, but rather a carefully crafted work to be savoured slowly
