The butcher's hook by Janet Ellis
Two Roads Books, 2016. ISBN 9781473625129
(Age: Adult - Mature readers) Georgian England. Gender roles.
Sexual maturation. Violence. Murder. Grief.
This is not a Jane Austen-style gentle and romantic exploration of
life in Georgian England, but the voice of the central character
Anne is full of the pain of a young and intelligent girl who lives
in a patriarchal world and lives with limited opportunity - except
that offered by a man. The 'butcher's hook' catches her, whichever
way it, or she, is turned, and as we read we feel the slow and
inexpressible pain of powerlessness at the hands of others. Anne's
early family life is scarred by the repeated loss of her siblings,
either in miscarriage or early death, and there is a heaviness that
pervades her family life. In a world before good medical knowledge
and care, and even less psychological support for the grieving, we
are led into a series of overwhelming situations and potential
problems as Anne matures into a woman of marriageable age and
attempts to independently explore her growing interests. Her
intelligence was at one time fostered by a family 'friend', who
displayed interesting methods of arousing her curiosity about the
world, but his means of explaining her questions about life and
birth change her direction for the future and awaken more than
understanding. A connection to the local butcher's apprentice
rapidly escalates, and her means of clearing her path to enable her
desires to be fed reveals more than just her lust for the young lad.
The story is tragic and macabre, and displays none of the lightness
of an Austen tale.
The background of the Georgian world, with its distinct social and
gender class separations and the mire of poverty always in the
background, is a fascinating setting for this absorbing tale of the
unfolding carnal and worldly sensibilities of an adolescent woman
who transforms in a way that we wish we could halt. This is not a
gentle coming-of-age book for teenagers. And for those who might be
squeamish and a little uncomfortable in a 21st century butcher's
shop, there is a raw and visceral unpleasantness in imagining the
equivalent literary dismembering of life in the 1760s. The quality
of the prose will keep you reading though, despite some
unpleasantness along the route.
Recommended for Mature readers only. (Adult text)
Carolyn Hull