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Jump to navigationJump to searchRape of the Fair Country by Alexander Cordell (view source)
Revision as of 16:20, 1 September 2015
, 16:20, 1 September 2015no edit summary
It's not just the story of the Mortymers, or even of Blaenavon and Nantyglo, but of the Chartist Movement and the birth of Trade Unionism. The events might be fictional, but they're true to the course of history, with ''Rape of the Fair Country'' ending with the disastrous Newport Rising of 1839. The research to write the book must have been extensive, but Cordell makes it seem effortless: momentous events viewed through the lense of a very human and likeable family.
More than half a century on from when I first read the book I had the opportunity to listen to an audio download from one of my favourite narrators, Matt Addis, but I worried that he would be unable to do the book justice: there's a substantial cast list, male and female, young and old, all of whom would require slightly different voices. 'Demanding' didn't quite seem to cover a recording such as this, but I've doubted Addiss Addis before and discovered that it was unnecessary. I was always aware of which character was speaking and unlike many narrators there was never any 'bleed back' into the narrator's natural voice when a character was speaking. It's a five-star book with a five-star narration.
You can read more about Matt Addis [http://www.mattaddis.com/index.html here].
