BookBrowse Reviews Golden Hill by Francis Spufford

BookBrowse:

A young man with a fast tongue invents himself afresh - and finds a world of trouble in eighteenth century New York.

Spufford brings American history to raucous life through the story of Mr. Richard Smith, a mysterious British stranger arriving in New York in 1746 to collect a debt owed by a local financier. While awaiting a ship bringing proof of his purchase of the loan, Smith is thrown into the tumultuous local politics of Governor Clinton's petty feud with Chief Justice James De Lancey, and the financier's family drama. Spufford enriches the story with escalating adventure (and an abundance of humor) while Mr. Smith pursues the secret plan he intends to enact when the financier's funds come through.

After delivering the debt collection papers to the financier, Smith encounters the man's two daughters, Flora and Tabitha Lovell, the former a novel-reading romantic belle of the ball, the latter a quick-witted troublemaker in whom Smith finds an appealing verbal sparring partner. Their romance, and Smith's plans, are imperiled by a host of obstacles, as he is robbed, imprisoned as an impostor, and entangled in an affair with the wife of a close associate to the governor. Then, having made an enemy in the governor's camp, Smith is forced into a duel with his only friend in New York. Within this tight circle of intrigue and feuding where, as one character puts it, "all the little planets circle closer, jostling for company," Smith must keep his eyes on the prize – his secret mission. The reader is kept in the dark about the details of this undercover operation until the novel's close. Most will guess it, but the true surprise in the end turns out to be something totally unrelated.

In one of the most vivid scenes, Smith witnesses the celebration of Guy Fawkes Night (see 'Beyond the Book'), a.k.a "Pope Day," and is almost murdered for being a suspected Catholic. An effigy of the Pope is hauled through the streets of Manhattan by a procession of men, on their faces a "swollen straining gargoyle seriousness," and bonfires cast "dancing demon shadows creeping between dark walls." Elsewhere, Spufford is guilty of descriptive glut, using a string of words where one or two would do, but this is an active style choice, one reminiscent of Victorian literature. Golden Hill's first sentence runs on for a rambling half-page that is likely meant to evoke the opening of Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. The language is downright musical at times, as when describing the local theater — "very dusty and dark and cumbered by lumber it was." The tone and themes of Dickens permeate the book (most notably in the critique of slavery and call for social reform), and there is a dash of Jane Austen as well. Tabitha Lovell is a darker Elizabeth Bennett, and her banter with Smith is very reminiscent of the exchanges between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy in Pride & Prejudice.

Spufford's use of voice is extremely clever. The central narrator seems to be omniscient with a direct line on Smith, but is a distinct character and a very canny one. Spufford also makes intelligent use of epistles to provide a window into Smith's history and motivations.

Golden Hill, which won the 2017 Costa First Novel Award, is studded with a lot of great details for history lovers, the still loyal colonists sing old English ballads and a long descriptive passage on the bustling New York economy, mired in slavery, is both evocative and informative. Serious devotees of historical fiction will appreciate Spufford's unrestrained verbosity and knowing winks toward his influences. Golden Hill's nimble story and whip smart humor is a handsome reward for the loquacious digressions.

This review was originally published in The BookBrowse Review in July 2017, and has been updated for the February 2018 edition. Click here to go to this issue.