Ancestry

As a big fan of genealogy, it was inevitable that this title and its synopsis grabbed my attention. After the author researched his family history, he created this imagining of the lives of some of his ancestors through a combination of fact and (mostly) historical fiction. It is a bold idea, trying to give life and meaning to those generally unknown individuals who have long since passed from all memory, but have contributed their genetic makeup to who we are today.

Here, we have the interconnecting stories of Abraham Block, a poor, illiterate lad who finds a life at sea, Naomi Lulham, a seamstress who has a series of adventures in the city, and a soldier of the "Dirty Half Hundred", ie the 50th Regiment *, George Mawer, and his Sligo-born bride, Annie.

This is a rich and colourful novel, full of the sights and sounds of the 19th Century, with vivid descriptions of the contrast between poor and rich, the inequities and inequalities, the status of women and children, dire hygiene and health conditions, and ennobling charity at odds with gross incompetence at all levels of government and in the military. The treatment of soldiers' families during the Crimean War and afterwards is particularly harrowing to read. The famous Victorian sentimentality overshadows the harsh reality of life for the average lower-class individuals.

Abraham and Naomi's stories were more interesting for me than that of George's later experiences in the army, as the details of the Crimean campaign are rather longwinded and will appeal to readers who like to know about the minutiae of militaria, battles and logistics. His wife Annie's subsequent life is somewhat difficult to comprehend in many ways, but she would have had few choices in a judgemental age. Annie's fudging of the records for her last two children prove that.

This has the usual stereotypes of popular fiction, especially the lasvicious religious men, whom I've no doubt existed, but there would also have been just as many truly honest and dedicated charity and church workers who didn't see every single, vulnerable woman as prey. Also, although expressions of love would have as many variations in those days just as they do now, the novel's speculations regarding events in the bedroom impart a "modernness" (and more than a touch of male fantasy) that just doesn't ring true for me. Both Naomi and Annie seem to be uninhibited about sex and it is difficult to visualise any impoverished, hardworking Victorian woman already exhausted from either looking after her brood, cooking and cleaning in the home, as well as working long hours as a washerwoman or a skivvy, being interested in movie-style sexual encounters. Sex was dangerous for women with high risks. Not just the possibility of death in childbirth, but there was moral disgrace as well if the pregnancy was out of wedlock.. Furtive quickies - welcome or not - are the more practical and likely scenario. 

All the same, this is a unique and memorable novel that's left me wondering how I might write about my various great-great-grandparents, several of whom have seemed to be free with their romantic favours, judging by the number of illegitimate babies. Then there are those others who lived very restrictive lives; religious or ascetic loners and misfits. How much would I dare to suggest what they got up to? Would I offend their ghosts?

Three-and-a-half Stars

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Dymocks Australia


* From the footnotes: "The nickname 'Dirty Half-Hundred' came from an incident in the Peninsula War in 1808 when the black facing of their uniform jackets ran, giving them the appearance of chimney sweeps". (Page 260)

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