The Northern Clemency
In April we begin a six-month tour of the works shortlisted for the 2008 Man Booker Prize. First in line is 'The Northern Clemency' by Philip Hensher, an evocative epic set in Thatcher's Britain. Stephanie Forward introduces the novel...
Philip Hensher's saga The Northern Clemency was shortlisted for the 2008 Man Booker Prize. It spans over two decades, beginning in 1974, and primarily it charts the experiences of two lower-middle-class families. Malcolm and Katherine Glover, with their three children Daniel, Jane and Tim, are native to Sheffield; their neighbours Bernie, Alice, Sandra and Francis Sellers relocate there from London.
The backdrop is Thatcherism and the social and economic changes that took place in England. Tim Glover becomes an activist during the miners’ strike of 1984, selling a magazine called ‘The Spartacist’, but the political context does not swamp the book.
The novel contains many different plots, involving a host of characters. Third person narrative is used throughout, with the perspective switching between the main players. Hensher sets his scenes carefully, providing precise details about locations and using delightful dialect words such as ‘mardy’ and ‘nesh’. He evokes the period by describing the food and décor in vogue.At times the sense of authenticity is powerful: for example in Book Two, when the narrator succeeds in conveying the traumatic ordeal of transferring to a new school.
Whilst some critics have felt that The Northern Clemency recalls great nineteenth-century epics, others have baulked at its length. There have been suggestions that Hensher dwells too much upon trivial details, and that certain passages are melodramatic and unrealistic. Do join us to discuss these points and any others you would like to raise. We could debate the meaning of the title 'The Northern Clemency'!
Content last updated: 27/03/2009
About our expert
Stephanie Forward is Senior Tutor in Open Studies in the Centre for Lifelong Learning at the University of Warwick, and is an Associate Lecturer with The Open University. Her publications include Dreams, Visions and Realities; Sex, Social Purity and Sarah Grand (with Ann Heilmann), and the CD script for Blenheim Palace: The Churchills and their Palace.
Stephanie has been involved in two significant OU/BBC projects: The Big Read (2003) and the television series The Romantics (2006). She also leads the Open2 bookclub.
