The_Candlemass_Road

<i>The Candlemass Road</i>

The Candlemass Road

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The Candlemass Road is a historical novel from George MacDonald Fraser set in the time of the Border Reivers, a period Fraser had earlier written about in The Steel Bonnets and would later return to in The Reavers.[1][2]

Quick Facts Author, Country ...

Fraser later described it as "a rather dark morality tale - at least I meant it to have a moral - in what I hope was a reasonable imitation of Elizabethan English".[3]

The author said he had another purpose in writing the book, to emphasise the decline in law and order. "We're becoming a nation of broken men," he told a journalist. "Now that the law fails to protect us, people have just got to look out for themselves - within the custom of the country, which is not necessarily within the law."[4]

The book is mentioned in the film All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane.

Reception

The Washington Post said "Readers who enjoy a snatch of history brought to life will enjoy this brief but fascinating tale. However, the slightness of the plot, along with the old-fashioned treatment of point of view and the lack of character development, will leave those looking for a satisfying story disappointed."[5]

References

  1. [1]
    Stanley Reynolds, "George MacDonald Fraser: He created Harry Flashman, tormentor of Tom Brown turned comical anti-hero", The Guardian, 4 January 2008 accessed 23 November 2012
  2. [2]
    Books: Reiving up on the Borders Cameron, David. The Daily Telegraph09 Oct 1993: 27.
  3. [3]
    George MacDonald Fraser, The Light's On at Signpost, HarperCollins 2002 p311
  4. [4]
    Lord, Graham (11 December 1993). "Writing on the border line". The Daily Telegraph. p. 69.
  5. [5]
    "FICTION: THE CANDLEMASS ROAD By George MacDonald Fraser Harvill/HarperCollins. 180 pp. $20". The Washington Post. 22 January 1995.
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