THE QUICKENBERRY TREE

by Annette Motley ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 17, 1984

From the 1979 author of a glutinous Renaissance saga, The Sins of the Lion: lengthy, tedious family doings in England, 1641-1657--the time of England's civil war, the deposition and execution of Charles I, the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell, and the promise of the Restoration. The Heron family of Gloucestershire is largely Royalist in sympathies: Sir George and wife Mary, eldest son Tom, twins Humpty and Kit--all are, or will be, King's men. But young George, ""Jud,"" will eventually become an admirer of Puritan Parliamentarian John Pym, running off Parliament pamphlets on his press, in partnership with his radical/democratic friend Rob Whit-taker (former ragamuffin, future brother-in-law). And Heron's daughter Lucy will be enraptured by ambivalently aligned Will Staunton, mercantile adventurer and nephew of the Earl of Warwick--who's both a partner to Pym (in planning American colonization) and a friend to the Court of King Charles I. Thus, it's Will who comes and goes from Heronscourt during the war, bringing aid and comfort, while Sir George and Tom fight various anti-Royalist armies. Meanwhile, the Herons suffer from the doings of Nehemiah Owerby, a stereotypical melodrama Puritan--Bible-toting, glowering, boiling with lust: he hangs priests and lasciviously pursues gentle Martha, a Heronscourt tenant whose mother was burnt as a witch. Eventually, however, Martha will be rescued, becoming widower Tom's second wife. . . while Lucy's romantic joys and miseries center on both dashing Irish Cathal O'Connor and husband Will (who'll father but one of their two children). Motley gives these rather limp characters bland 20th-century diction (""The war can't last forever"") and similarly anachronistic outlooks; she has them try to explain the blither of political, diplomatic, and military moves in one of England's grandest historical messes. And though a few perky moments surface--a bit of military action, a sliver of eye-witness history (Charles' trial), romancing--there's yards and yards of parlor talk on the latest: a kind of soporific Westminster Week in Review, with sixth-graders as panelists. Simplistic, surprisingly uninformative, and dull.

Pub Date: May 17, 1984

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1984

Categories: FICTION