Weekend Reads: Historical fiction

The Pagan Lord: A Novel

By Bernard Cornwell

In The Pagan Lord (Harper, 2014), Bernard Cornwell weaves a tale full of complex characters who draw the reader into 10th century, chaotic “Englaland.” (Note: Expletives are mild and sexual relations are inferred.) Cornwell’s novels, historically accurate, remind readers of Sutton Hoo and the poetic Beowulf. His prose is in a commanding first-person voice and ends with the refrain: “Wyrd bio ful araed” (“Fate is inexorable”).

As that fatalistic conclusion suggests, Cornwell understands the pagan worldview, and in this seventh of his The Saxon Tales series, he continues to show the battles of pagan and Christian understanding. Warlord Uhtred of Bebbanburg wears the hammer of Thor while Christians wear the cross of Christ. Uhtred calls Christ “the nailed god” and knows him to be all-powerful and jealous for His people, but Uhtred’s hope is for the imaginary afterlife banquet halls of Valhalla served by the Valkyrie.

Cornwell’s own views are not clear, but he can inspire writers. During the final battle Uhtred turns to a boy-warrior and says, “One man always survives. He’s usually a poet and his job is to write a song that tells how bravely all his companions died. That might be your job today. Are you a poet?” —Rebecca Gault

The Farm: A Novel

By Tom Rob Smith

Tom Rob Smith’s vivid novels set in the Soviet Union, such as The Secret Speech, give us a sense of totalitarian life without pushing us over the edge. His new psychological thriller, The Farm (Grand Central Publishing, 2015), set largely in Sweden, goes over the edge with horrific discoveries and obscene language scattered throughout.

The main character, Daniel, has to choose between his father, who tells him his mother is intensely paranoid, and his mother, who has escaped from a mental institution, claims she is sane, and says the father is sexually attacking young women. Daniel doesn’t know whether to believe her fantastic story of murder and other evil, so he travels to the family farm in Sweden to seek the truth himself. There he discovers matters kept secret for generations.

Smith’s own mother’s descent into mental illness inspired the novel that captures the frustrating quest to sort truth from fantasy. Smith raises questions about how well family members can know each other, and emphasizes the need for empathy, but The Farm has too much manure. —Ryan McKinnon and Marvin Olasky