This is an unusual one for me as it’s been published for a few months now, but I enjoyed Douglas Bruton’s With or Without Angels so much that I was more than happy to accept his offer of a review copy. Hope Never Knew Horizon weaves together three reimagined stories: the exhibiting of the Wexford Whale, the short life of Emily Dickinson and the painting of G. F. Watts’ ‘Hope’ which hangs in Tate Britain.
It was not known then that whales sing and that their magnificent songs carry across oceans, hopeful and full of yearning.
When a blue whale is beached in Wexford in 1891, Ned Wickham sees a chance to make some money, drinking much of it away while bragging in the local tavern, the final straw for the woman who’d hoped to marry him. No doubt Ned would have been amazed to learn that his find, its skeleton carefully disassembled, would be stored in boxes in London’s Natural History Museum for four decades before being exhibited.
It was a love letter. It was the loveliest love letter I ever saw and I was out of breath with the reading of it and I think maybe that was the intent.
In 1850, Emily Dickinson is anxiously watched by Margaret, the maid who shoulders the domestic duties of the household. Margaret has read a letter from Emily to Susan, the woman her brother plans to marry, and is convinced she’s in love. Margaret has her own love story to tell but longs for Emily to find happiness in love and the fulfilment of her hope of seeing her poems in print despite the strictures and demands of her parents.
I did not think it an optimistic painting. But I felt it was beyond beautiful and perfect and it was the first painting I ever saw that pulled at my heart. A part of me wanted to reach out to the young woman in the painting, to take her hand and help guide her towards something better, to the fulfilment of hope perhaps.
A young actress and artists’ model finds herself taken up by a man she calls Sir who comes to love her for more than her beauty, renaming her Dorothy Dene in a bid to promote her stage career but it’s through his friend, George Frederic Watts, that she will realise her ambition to conquer the world, modelling for his arresting picture, ‘Hope’.
I hope too that you have come to this book not in search of facts but to peer inside the head of someone thinking about hope and what hope could mean and what it means for the world we live in.
Bruton alternates his three apparently disparate narratives, each of them fascinating, binding them together with the idea of hope. The Wexford Whale will be taken down from its original hanging place, dusted over, rehung in splendid new surroundings and named Hope in 2017; Emily Dickinson’s hopes for publication are eventually realised, albeit posthumously, her ‘Hope is the Thing with Feathers’ familiar to multitudes; and G. F. Watts’ beautiful painting will inspire many, not least, the first black president of the United States. When I reviewed With or Without Angels I called it ‘original’, a word I tend to avoid. This time it’s ‘inspirational’, one which makes me roll my eyes when I read it in blurbs, but I can’t think of another for this brief but extraordinary novella. Bruton’s writing is strikingly beautiful, his storytelling captivating and his theme is one close to my heart. I’m an inveterate optimist but hope is much better, holding steady while optimism can land you in the dumps. This one’s heading straight for my books of the year list. I can’t recommend it highly enough. Hats off to the cover designer, Anna Morrison, whose work fits Bruton’s perfectly.
If you’re keen to get your hands on a copy of Hope Never Knew Horizon, you can order one direct from Taproot Press. They’re a small publisher who’d no doubt appreciate it.
Taproot Press Edinburgh 9781739207786 190 pages Paperback
As you know, I rarely buy fiction (I’d be bankrupt), relying on the library. But this is such a glowing review, combining three intriguing themes, and the possibility of hope too, that I’ve dashed off an email to my local indie bookshop asking them to get it for me. And so long as I enjoy it, I’ll tell the library to order it too!
Oh, that’s brilliant! I’m delighted on both counts. I’m pretty circumspect about author approaches but loved With or Without Angels so much I jumped at the chance when Douglas offered me this one,
Very interesting link between three disparate stories!
It is, indeed. That last quote is from the author’s afterword. Hope is clearly a sentiment close to his heart. Mine, too!
This sounds very interesting! I’m reading a novel with a beached whale just now: Come to the Window by Howard Norman.
Highly recommend this one. I loved The Bird Artist. Is it a British edition?
The author’s name was so familiar and then when you mentioned his other title I realised I’d had it on my wish list for months. This one also sounds very good. I am such a sucker for fiction about art, artists, writers, etc. On which note, have you read The June Paintings by Maggie Shipstead? It’s a longish short story and I listened to it a couple of months back and liked it very much. Just a similar vein! Must definitely read something by Douglas Bruton.
Oh, me, too. It’s clearly a theme Bruton loves. I’d not come across the Shipstead but it sounds like one to add to my list. Thank you!
Oh this sounds absolutely amazing! I’m buying a book a month from an indie press/bookshop so this will be my August order – it sounds unmissable.
I’m so pleased to hear that! I’m sure you’ll love this one.
Oh wonderful, thanks for the reminder about this one! I loved his other two books and had forgotten this one was due out. Can’t wait!!!!
You’re welcome! I loved this one even more than With or Without Angels. He has another one due out next February based around Vermeer’s Woman Reading a Letter.
Yikes, I don’t think you are receiving any of my comments! Trying via this reply function. The novel sounds remarkable!
I think this one’s right up your street, Jennifer. I saw a comment from you yesterday but it sounds like you didn’t get my reply. Hoping this one arrives.
I just figured out that they don’t go to my email inbox anymore. I’ll start going through Jetpack app to look for them. Thank you!
Glad to hear there’s a solution!
How interesting! I’m glad you made an exception in your reading calendar to glance backwards a few months. hehe (Coincidentally, just yesterday I came across a snippet of one of Emily Dickinson’s notepapers. Curious. But not so synchronous as Rebecca’s double beached whales. Also not so sad.)
Indeed, although Rebecca is such a voracious reader with such a wide range, I wasn’t a bit surprised. I loved this one, and was delighted when Douglas told me he has another book due out in February.
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