The Swift and the Harrier by Minette Walters

Simply the best historical fiction I have read, the scenes of the English Civil War and the siege of Lyme Regis will stay with the reader long after the book is finished. And Minette Walker’s creation Jayne Swift is memorable.

Without taking allegiance to either the Royalist or Parliamentary forces in the English Civil War, Jayne Swift continues to practise her life’s work: healing. She finds herself at Lyme Regis setting up a hospital for the embattled town as Royalist forces hammer at their gates.

The eight week siege sees her skills needed every hour of every day, and she conscript many others to the hospital. Here she learns of the beliefs  tearing families apart, not least her own. Coming from a Royalist family, she is surprised when one of her brothers enlists in Cromwell’s forces. But in the hospital and in Lyme itself Jayne becomes aware of the conflicted nature of opposing beliefs, and the utter brutality of the war, where intrigue and guile are used to undermine the opposing forces. Into this mix she meets William Harrier. Each time she meets him he is hiding behind a different guise, one a footman, a Caption at the Royalist stronghold of Corfe Castle, then a spy, but for whom?  Their paths cross more often than she would like as a grudging interest in the man develops.

The background of the English Civil War is wonderful, giving a blow by blow account of the cruelty of the forces as they try to outdo each other, and giving the reader an intimate knowledge of the reasons each group fights. Through a small number of families, Walters is able to show the allegiances which supported each side, prolonging the agony for the smaller communities as their crops are razed, flocks taken for food, women assaulted, men killed, houses and farms destroyed. The portrait of the siege of Lyme Regis is powerful, allowing even the most casual of reader to understand the blood, sweat and tears that such a siege engenders.

The growing feelings between Jayne and William carries the story behind the  fighting, and allows the reader to see just how different life was for women in the seventeenth century as she must tread a careful path lest any be aware of their mutual regard, particularly her parents.

I read this book via an audible version and the reading in a Dorset accent was thrilling. Jayne Swift is a character you will want to know better, her beliefs and expertise at a time when most doctors still followed the ideas of humours causing illness, bring her detractors as well as supporters both at home and further afield. This is an exceptional read on so many levels.

Themes: Medicine, English Civil War, Dorset, Charles 1, Cromwell, Lyme Regis, Siege of Lyme Regis, Women’s role, Hospitals, Surgery.

Fran Knight