Spirit of the Place

Now reissued on Kindle.   Here are some of the nice reviews I've received on Amazon:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Thought-Provoking Read 15 Oct 2012

By The Book Witch

Format:Kindle Edition|

I've a confession to make - I loathed Alexander Pope at university, believing him to be a bitter, twisted misogynist! So it was with some apprehension that I read the opening pages of Dennis Hamley's `Spirit of the Place', where Alexander Pope shows his young acolyte, Nicholas Fowler, his garden and grotto.

The book opens with a quote from Richard Dawkins, which gave me a hint of deeper layers of meaning hidden beneath the text. If you're interested in the genetic modification debate, and how we relate to the planet we inhabit, or even interested in 18th century poetry and poets, this is a book that will make you think.

The first paragraphs are mysterious - Lindsey, a young student, lies unconscious while the police wait beside her hospital bed. Her boyfriend, Rod, is being held in custody. What have they done? And what is the connection between an obscure 18th century poet and a genetic research centre?

Set in 1773 and 1993, it's a time-slip novel, so let credibility be suspended for the duration. But Nicholas Fowler is utterly credible as a character - in fact, I was so convinced by him and his poetry, I almost looked him up on Wikipedia! Only an 18th century specialist could have created such a convincing environment, or composed so much elegant 18th century verse.

I also thought the genetics debate well done - Rod is all for `improving on nature', but Lindsey has a disabled brother due to an inherited genetic mutation. The argument for and against is grounded in the characters and their emotional situations.

Aimed at Young Adults of Any Age, this is an interesting, thought-provoking read.

5.0 out of 5 stars An intelligent literary novel for young adults (and adults) 15 Oct 2012

By idlewriter

Format:Kindle Edition

I loved this on first publication, so it's great to see it reissued, and not before time. "Spirit of the place" does indeed define this novel, so powerfully-drawn is the setting, and Dennis Hamley cleverly sets the eighteenth-century aesthetic of controlling and shaping the landscape against current strivings to understand and control the genetic make-up of humans. Fowler's poetry is so convincingly eighteenth-century that I'm not surprised the previous reviewer went in search of more detail - it takes an accomplished writer to pull that off. This intriguing, unusual, engrossing novel deserves to find new readers. I recommend it in particular to anyone who enjoys well-crafted and thought-provoking young adult fiction by writers such as Mal Peet, Aidan Chambers, Jill Paton Walsh and Meg Rosoff.

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