Customer Reviews

Martha Peake: A Novel of the Revolution

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I recently had the great privilege of hearing Mr. McGrath perform a reading from Chapters 5 & 6 of "Martha Peake". Wonderful! Why he doesn't do his own audio books - with his cultured yet mercurial British accent, clear tones, dramatic presentation and emotive voice - is beyond me. After the reading, he was most gracious, signing books and chatting with all of us individually in an unhurried manner that suggested he enjoyed every minute of the event.

Now, to "Martha Peake". McGrath told us that this was his first attempt at an "historical" novel. Being a Civil War buff myself, I found it refreshing that he set it during the American Revolution, a period about which I read shockingly little. The first half of the novel takes place in England and McGrath told us that in order to capture the feeling of London's public houses and pubs, as well as the characters who inhabited them, he'd spent a great deal of time studying the novels of Charles Dickens and examining prints and artworks depicting the period. His efforts were well-rewarded in scenes set in crowded pubs filled with people from all walks of life - from footpads to the aristocratic and sinister Lord Drogo. You can smell the smoke from their pipes, taste the stale beer and ale and hear the customers' raucous laughter and the strident tones of the barmaids heaving libatious mugs onto long, wooden tables while getting pinched in the rear by way of reward.

Harry Peake, Martha's father and the focal point of the first half of the book, is so clear a character as to warrant his own novel. One could well compare him in depth to the evil butler, Fledge, of McGrath's "The Grotesque" (later made into the movie "Grave Indiscretion" starring Sting and Alan Bates). Fledge is pure evil. Harry is not evil, but a victim - of himself. McGrath shows Harry performing his dramatic poems in stinking, crowded London pubs, with his horrifically twisted spine unveiled and displayed for the audience to see. His later disintegration and violence toward himself and his beloved daughter, Martha, inspire not disgust so much as sympathy. Perhaps not "sympathy" for WHAT he does to Martha, but sympathy for WHO the man he has become by that time: a gin-sodden tragedy only inches from oblivion and death, a fate which in Harry's condition could only be considered merciful.

Martha Peake herself illustrates how seldom we know the facts behind all those popular legends which we accept as truth. Her actions once she arrives in America are simplified by others for the cause of those who wish to keep the flame of the Revolution alive before the onslaught of the British Redcoats. It has little to do with Martha's personal tragedy or the real truth behind her actions and prompts the question, "If a 'distortion' of the truth (or, in some cases, an outright lie) brings about a positive end, is that distortion or lie justified?"

The answer is yours to decide in Patrick McGrath's "Martha Peake". In the end, I came away feeling that my wait for his newest work was well worth it. His gothic talents are surpassed by few modern novelists. Bravo!

Patrick McGrath is known for writing dark, tightly-woven gothic novels which are either good (Asylum, Spider) or unforgettable (Dr Haggard's Disease). With Martha Peake the author has deviated from his successful formula and tries for something more ambitious. Did he succeed? Well...

Martha Peake is an epic novel about a young English woman who escapes the clutches of her drunken father and escapes to America ... just when the American revolution was about to start. The novel reads more like historical fiction than a gothic novel. While there are dark, sinister elements to the story I was never really frightened or caught off-guard. Perhaps it is because McGrath spends so much time telling us about the proud and fearless freedom fighters that the gothic elements of the story are swept aside.

Oh, there are positive elements to Martha Peake. Firstly, the characterization of our heroine is really well done. And of course Patrick McGrath can churn out English prose better than most anyone else. So Martha Peake is not an unpleasent read, just vaguely disappointing - especially for those who know McGrath has done much better.

Bottom line: opportunity missed, although McGrath fans will probably want to add it to their collection.

I like McGrath's gothic storytelling, and was looking forward to getting my hands on his first attempt at "historical fiction", as the novel is depicted on the jacket as a "novel of the revolution." Having just finished Martha Peake, I must say I was impressed with the ending and many early passages in London, but was frustrated at long passages of the novel.

First, although promising to be about the American Revolution, the novel is about half way over before the action ever gets to Massachussets Bay. The first half of the novel has nothing at all to do with the battle for American independence, and in fact I think a good editor could've pared down the opening 140 pages to about 90. The story of Harry's tragic fall, the fire that destroyed his spine and devastated his family, etc. were very well told and moving. But his constant battles with gin got a bit tiring until his daughter Martha sought refuge in gloomy Drogo Hall, rising from grassy Lambeth Marsh within sight of the distant lights and smoke of London, where the story picked up steam again.

The novel is narrated by Ambrose Tree, a young man called to Drogo Hall by his sick uncle William, from whom he hopes to inherit the manor. William tells an eager Ambrose the story of Harry and Martha Peake, and that story within a story is relayed to us in the course of the novel. As usual, McGrath is not content to simply use a third person narrator to tell his tale, and as usual his narrative tricks take their toll on the reader and present some problems.

When Martha leaves England and moves in with her aunt in a town north of Boston, the narration of the novel hits a roadblack, since William knew little of Martha's activity there and the fragments of letters from her that supposedly survived told little of her story. Accordingly, Ambrose tells his reader that he is forced to supply the story of Martha Peake in America based on conjecture, which is oddly annoying even though I realize there are no "true facts" as the entire novel is a figment of McGrath's imagination. Still, you want to believe that what you are reading happened, at least in the imaginary world of the novel, and was not some educated guess by an imaginary storyteller.

Anyway, happily Uncle William resumes the tale at the end, fitting in all the pieces nicely, and so a book that had many loose ends 3/4 into it is wrapped up quite nicely by the conclusion. Readers shouldn't expect much history in the book, aside from a cameo by Thomas Paine and some general discussion about Adams and Washington, the novel concentrates largely on the Peake and Rind families. There are also some aspects that make little sense to me. For example, the physical appearance of Martha's son struck me as odd, considering old Harry was injured in a house fire and was not born with a congenital deformity. However, overall the novel was moving and intellectually challenging. McGrath is a great storyteller and can portray a gloomy British marsh, a stinking London pub and a moldy dungeon better than anyone I know. A good book for a rainy weekend.

Patrick McGrath is a master stylist, and it is his skill with language that allows him to pull off successfully in Martha Peake what could have been a very bad novel. The first potential problem is indeed the style itself, which verges on self-parody. To illustrate, the opening scene has the narrator - whom we never learn much about - crossing a dank English moor alone at night to visit a ghostly mansion, where he meets his old and wizened uncle who, over a sputtering candle, starts telling a mysterious tale about the book's heroine, Martha Peake, and her tormented father, Harry. You can see the unsatisfactory level to which this might descend, and in fact the portion of the book that unfolds in England - more than half of it - is written in this kind of exaggerated super-Gothic style. But the technique works, at least if you have a tolerance for that sort of thing, because Mr. McGrath is so very good at it. The other potential problem - and I myself found this more troublesome - is the quirky and labored symbolism that pervades the novel. It is essentially about the American Revolution, and the symbolic contrast between creepy, death-ridden England and the vitality of revolutionary America underlies the entire story. Harry Peake is a deformed hunchback, and the author devotes so much attention to Harry's hump that it's clearly meant to represent something more than itself. Yet I have to confess to never quite getting it. Moreover, the plot culminates in a weird surprise ending that twists the book's meaning and, for me anyway, aggravated the sense of confusion about its thematic content. I can't recommend Martha Peake wholeheartedly - some readers will hate it - but I found it an engrossing work despite it's oddness and its flaws.

McGrath has the dexterity of a surgeon when it comes to crafting psychological suspense and highly unique characters, and Martha Peake is no exception, and finds McGrath at his finest. Martha Peake is a brilliantly moving, darkly disturbing, and a completely unforgettable tale from the master of modern Gothic. Gary S.Potter Author/Poet.

I've loved all of McGrath's books, and this one is definitely his most intricate and -- along with Dr. Haggard's Disease-- one of his best. McGrath is probably the finest neo-gothic writer around, and his novels are among the most evocative, engaging, and thrilling I've read. In addition, his preference for the unreliable narrator always adds a new dimension of complexity to the reading experience. This, his latest novel, is deeply engaging, and the finale -- a thrilling maelstrom of misdirection -- is a true tour-de-force of storytelling. If you like your stories by the fireplace, with a strong wind outside, I highly recommend this, and all of McGrath's books.

Not since Sheri Holman's The Dress Lodger, have I read a novel so wonderful in form, characterization, and setting. McGrath, who writes neo-Gothics, has written his best novel in Martha Peake. While some readers may find his narrations taxing, it is precisely those narrations that give this novel its genius. The heroine of this dark story is one Martha Peake. Slowly her life is revealed, and we see Martha's fate approaching with an aching horror. I cannot tell you the plot here [too intricate], but if you liked Wuthering Heights, you will love this novel. It has the same kind of narration, the same darkness of setting and soul, the same intensity of fate. Martha is plagued with her own strange Heathcliff, one Harry Peake, only he reminds me more of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. What more can I say? It's a brilliant novel formed out of collected fragments and memories, a powerfully written story that you won't ever forget. It's the kind you expect to hear "told by firelight." It will definitely leave you with a delightful shiver. History, love, death, courage, fate -- you will find them all here!

The Washington Post reviewer said this book was unputdownable. Yet I had to force myself to continue reading after about the first 50 pages. It took McGrath the first half of the book to establish that Harry Peake, although basically a goodheart, was driven insane by his alcoholism and guilt, etc. Enough already -- I got the picture! While Martha was sympathetic in the first half, she became annoying in the second half. She brought about her own downfall with her obsessive (vs. rational) concern about her father. Hard to get into a book when you don't care for the "heroine." Having said all that, I'm glad I read it til the end, to learn that things are not always as they seem. Doubt I'll read anything else by McGrath, though.

I found this book to be, quite frankly, rather dull. There were certain sections that were suspenseful, but on the whole, it was a difficult novel to finish. I found the constant switching between the points of view of Ambrose and William to the story in America, and then back to Harry to be confusing and misleading. While some may consider this well-written, I thought that McGrath overdid a lot of his descriptions. The characters were fully drawn, but I did not find any of them particularly likeable, with the exception of Sara Rind. Overall, I was very disappointed with this book, which had a lot of potential to be a great story.

It's a good story, a terrific story, really: the gothic atmosphere of Drogo Hall out on Lambeth Marsh, haunted by Harry Peake the Cripplegate Monster, his noble and beautiful daughter Martha. Great stuff. The evocation of Massachusetts Bay Colony at the time of the Revolution was excellent.

But why did Mr. McGrath choose such a convoluted narrative structure? The narration-of-a-narration is unnecessarily complicated, imo. And the narrator's "speculation" about what might have happened to Martha in America is extremely unnconvincing. McGrath gets wrapped in many many knots trying to make this an integral part of the book and for the most part he fails. The character of Uncle William is flat and predictable and we spend entirely too much time listening to him wheeze and bark. Because of all this, I found long passages of the book quite dull which is a shame because the rest of the book is so rewarding.