As Meat Loves Salt

[Zoonie]

Maria McCann's first novel. Her second one, "The Wildings" has picked up a lot of sales whereas the first novel got fantastic reviews but apparently didn't sell too well (the vast majority of the Amazon reviews are incredibly positive). It's set squarely in the 17th century, as Cromwell and Fairfax lead the New Model Army around England, sacking Papist country houses. It has all the sweat, stink, mud and gore that you'd expect in such an era.

I finished it last night and it's very emotionally affecting. I felt quite drained after the last chapter. The lead character is an incredibly jagged, intense proto-psychopath who cares, but only in a fractured and selfish way.

I found it interesting to look at it from a very 'literary' review perspective, seeing Jacob as a metaphor for the spirit of England at the time. Beset by drastic and incomprehensible change, destroying itself and moving from a steady but abusive serfs/lords society to the new Commonwealth (etc). Would be interested to hear other views. Ferris fits in to this analysis as the idealism at the core of the new Republic and the antagonistic love/hate that comes as an inevitable result of idealism. Er... maybe ;)

Be very interested to hear other views?

(Please note, there's loads of violence but also loads of sex, if you like that kind of thing ;)

Ooh, I like that perspective, Zoonie - it isn't one that occurred to me when I read this book, but I did love it to bits. The Wilding isn't half so good - repetitive and ill-thought-out in comparison. I think I loved the realistic feel of the writing - I felt I was reading into the life of people of the C17th in a way I'd not come across in other historical novels of the period, so I was and still am mightily impressed by it. And Jacob was chilling but wholly absorbing as a character

I read this book several years ago and absolutely adored it. I've always been fascinated by the period of the English Civil War, it was a time of such momentous social and political upheaval I've never understood why more writers and film makers haven't used it as a theme.

I was drawn to the book because of that, but it was beautifully written and I found the character of Jacob and his relationships with the other protagonists entirely convincing. He wasn't really a very nice bloke, but you still felt sympathy for him at times.

My brain is much too old and woolly now to go in for much in the way of literary analysis, and I've forgotten quite a lot of the detail of the book, but your comments on the metaphorical elements of the two main characters, Zoonie, strike me as sound.

If you enjoyed this you might also like Ronan Bennett's 'Havoc in its Third Year' which is also set around the time of the civil war, although the metaphor is more aimed at our own times.

Not contributed much to your literary discussion but I would certainly recommend this as a good read - I may even go back and give it another go myself!

Has anyone else read this book recently?

No, just read the two threads about it though, and some analysis online. Sounds fascinating but I'm not going to go there!

As in don't want to read it? It's great!

@BiscuitLover09876 , I am a wimp.