Customer Reviews

The Wine of Angels

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have just discovered the Merrily Watkins series of novels, and I couldn't be more thrilled. Phil Rickman manages to create the perfect blend: interesting characters with a lot of depth, mystery with a tinge of the supernatural, and charming recreation of English village life.

In this particular book, Merrily (a priest in the Anglican church) scouts out the village that will be her next post, and participates in a seemingly harmless ritual in an ancient apple orchard. Although the ritual is meant to embue the orchard with new life and increase the apple harvest, it is enacted by a yuppie couple who only intend to promote commercialism in the village and increase tourism. Something goes very wrong, and an old man dies in a particularly horrible and bloody way.

Throughout the rest of the book, we see this dynamic tension between the modern world and the darker, "old" ways of the English countryside. While all this is going on, we get to know Merrily and her feisty daughter who both have their own problems adjusting to small village life. Rickman does a great job of keeping us on the edge of our seat, as we wonder how Merrily will resolve her position in the church with the undeniably powerful dark forces that confront her.

I must say that I never saw the ending coming, and was pleased by the clever resolution.

I have a deep and abiding love both of realistic characters and true horror in books. The problem is that both are terribly rare commodities. Phil Rickman, I must take my hat off to you for handling both.

I have read books with characters who are admirable, heroic, likeable, believable, but that is not quite the same thing as realistic. Take Merrily Watkins for an antidote, however. Merrily is a very real woman. She's 35, a widow, a vicar in the Anglican church, mother to a 15-year-old daughter (who is a delightful and exasperating handful herself), and struggling with a serious appointment in a very small town. Yes, she smokes; yes, she swears now and again, but these are not affectations. Instead, Merrily is a complex person, one with private inconsistencies that make sense as time goes by as well as deep truths that both drive and guide her. Merrily is no superheroine, no master-of-all-situations, but rather a very real, very vulnerable, very tough, very reactive human being trying to make the best of the oddities life has thrown at her. Sometimes she chooses brilliantly, sometimes not. But when all is said and done, what actions she takes and what thoughts she has make sense for the person that she is. She is not a character who serves a plot, but rather a person caught with words on a page. Outside of "War & Peace" and "Crime & Punishment" I have not run across characters I love so deeply and react to on such an intense, human level as those created by Phil Rickman in this series.

Now on to horror...

Most "horror" writers use a lot of red ink. Blood is everywhere, torture abounds, and even ghosts throw things about with alacrity. In point of fact, most horror writers seem more interested in gross than in the tiny thrill of true horror, that moment when something is just a touch wrong, and you know it, but you cannot put your fingers on it, thus making it all the more terrifying for not being able to describe it. Mr. Rickman, conversely, understands this true horror. While many Big Things happen in this book, often the horror aspects are easily explained away -- a person with a psychological hang-up, a nasty public confrontation, someone fed a story about, say, rather nasty faeries in the apple grove at just the right/wrong time. You never actually /see/ a ghost, but you feel them. There is death and mayhem in this book, but that is not the real horror. The horror is a combination of the all-too-human side of reality that people often wish to deny and the subtle, very, very subtle misplacement of the senses, especially of what Is and what Isn't.

Of the books in the series, I give this one 4 stars, although I would probably give 5 stars to the others. There are a few times in this book that the writing weakens, leaving you to scratch your head for a moment or two over just which character is talking or exactly where the plot is heading, but then it gets back on track very strongly and directly. The later books feel more comfortable, confident and controlled -- I wanted to rate this one because it is where people begin the series, though I may get around to the others as well. In the end, this is very strong, very realistic writing and well worth the read.

Give it a try -- what could you possibly have to lose?

The Wine of Angels is Phil Rickman's first Merrily Watkins story. I don't know if Rickman already saw where these stories would go or if he simply set out to write an eerie tale of the woman who, short order would become one of the Anglican Church's rarest breed, a Deliverance minister (an exorcist, in lay terms) but all the seeds for the series are here. For someone who started in the middle, like me, it is fascinating to see how the characters began their development.

Merrily Watkins came into the church late. She started out to become a lawyer, then a mother, and then the widow of a shady solicitor who went a few steps too far. Now, with her daughter Jane, Merrily has begun her first big assignment as vicar of Ledwardine - a cozy British country town undergoing gentrification with more than a few dark secrets of its own. They find themselves housed in a rattling old vicarage which, if not haunted, still bears the echoes of a 17th Century vicar who became a tragic figure in a witch hunt and committed suicide in the nearby orchard rather than face trial. Or so it appears, anyway.

When a modern playwright decides to retell this as the persecution of a homosexual in a time that lacked any understanding the village erupts in a tempest. The argument pits newcomers against families that are centuries old and Merrily quickly discovers that there are more than a few skeletons in this particular closet. Even as this develops, Jane befriends a troublesome woman who, at the age of 16, has all the worldliness that Jane still lacks. When this woman suddenly disappears Jane, somehow psychically connected to the orchard, senses that this is no case of running away, but that something much darker lurks.

The stories intertwine, involving a musician who is subject to deep depression and an older woman of distinctly 'pagan' (as Merrily puts it) spirituality. As events hurtle to a climax, Merrily finds her faith tested time and again as she tries to overcome the hurdles must confront a woman assigned as vicar to a rural community and keep her relationship with Jane from exploding on its own.

I like Phil Rickman's horror well in general, but for some reason, his best writing happens in these stories of a woman facing challenges mysterious and spiritual. While these aren't really horror stories, many will generate chills as they confront evils that are partly spiritual, but mostly human. Rickman's characters read naturally as they confront both modern issues and dark corners of the soul that often have roots centuries in the past. This cross-genre mix works well under Rickman's control, creating 600 page novels that are impossible to put down.

This is a review of the audiobook so I will be mentioning the narrator along with the text.

Phil Rickman, who I have only known until recently as the author of three thick horror tomes, manages to create in the stories of Merrily Watkins, her family and her flock, a fascinating novel that deals with a distant event in the history of her parish, an event that resonates from the 17th century to the 21st. Merrily to be installed in her first post as "Priest in Charge" i.e., Vicar of a small village which is currently suffering the strain of meeting the 21st century. She is also dealing with the consequences of her calling to become a minister in the Church of England.

This is not a cozy mystery. There are disturbing events with sexual relevance. This book also addresses loss and suicide and death. And there is a particular reason why the arrival of female vicar would rouse spirits thought long put to rest.

Merrily, her adolescent daughter Jane and the enigmatic elderly woman, Lucy to an excellent job in a Christian context of portraying the triple form of the goddess: the mother, the virgin and the crone. It is rendered even more fascinating by the knowledge that Merrily would repudiate any such thought with fervor.

Rickman does an excellent job. And he also brings in themes in the very first book of the series that he will explore in more depth in other books in the series: the importance of place in the sacred and the importance of folklore to the place. Further in the book he brings up Nick Drake, a British singer/songwriter whose fame came after his early death of presumed suicide. If you want to get the most out of this book I would suggest Pink Moon and Family Tree. One thing to remember about Rickman is that he never carelessly uses symbols. They all have meaning.

Now the audio part: Emma Powell is the narrator. She is a British actress and voice over artist. Her voice is husky but clear. While her accents are sometimes not easy to place-- or maybe I just lack an ear for the subtler British dialects-- she does a very good job of denoting male and female characters without obvious strain. I did not find her diction to be difficult or mumbling. It might, of course, come down to the quality of the playback equipment.

As an avid reader stumbling onto something truly new and interesting is such a rare and welcome treat. I have read a few of Phil Rickmans stand alone older novels and loved them. This is the first in the Merrily Watkins series and it is a pleasure to read. Atmospheric and well written, the pace plot and charaters are all excellent. I wont go into yet another description of the story as many others have already done so..but I will say BUY THIS BOOK! You will be so happy that you did and wont be able to wait to read the next one. Here is a helpful hint on the order of books in the series:
1. Wine of Angels
2. Midwinter of the Spirit
3. A Crown of Lights
4. The Cure of Souls
5. The Lamp of the Wicked
6. The Prayer of the Night Shepard
7. The Smile of a Ghost
8. Remains of an Altar
9. The Fabric of Sin

While following a typical "whodonnit"-cum-supernatural-thriller formula, what Phil Rickman does in the series of novels that begins here is more, much more ambitious. Through well fleshed-out, impossible to forget characters, and a very intense sense of atmosphere (really, the village and buildings are just like characters with a definite -i.e. compllex- personality) Rickman explores some of the spiritual alternatives offered in western society. In spite of the aparent lack of interest in anything related to the spiritual that many of the characters display -as for instance the protagonist's own teenage daughter-, under the surface we see how many are desperately looking for something to believe in, to use as guidance in our complicated world. This -conscious or unconscious- search for meaning leaves many of the most unlucky characters just trying to keep the balance and survive (like the ex rock-star Lol), or plain unbalanced. The lucky ones receive what they interpret as a clear sign, and have the guts to follow it to the ultimate consequences (such is the case of Merrily, the protagonist, who in a few years has given her life a sudden turn by not just becoming religous, but also a priest). But maybe the least lucky of all, as I see in these novels, are the cynics, the people bent on being materalistic, on finding the easiest answers and the shortcuts.

And above all, there is a sense of connection with the past, with the place and the events that happened there and that bring unavoidable consequences. Because even if we want to reject this connection, if we don't want to see that the deeds of our ancestors have an influence in our present, that we are surrounded by their effects.... that won't make them disappear. Past and present are connected in this first Merily Watkins novel in dangerous, surprising ways, and the labour of finding out "whodonnit" refers to the past as much as to the present. The outcome is highly original, surprising and fresh. You won't be able to put the book down until you are guided through the convoluted past and present fact and learn exactly WHAT.

The subject of this series is thorny, but the author manages to deliver incredibly good stories that handle in a surprisingly gutsy and candid way some of the many spiritual options available -and the dangers and limits they can entail- , while being generally respectful and delivering great fiction -the characters and sense of atmosphere are especially superb. I have read 6 of the novels in these series and liked them all....in fact I usually read them as a treat when I deserve one....

While Mr. Rickman has wonderful descriptions of the old house and town and his characters are pretty intersting, the plot was weak in my opinion. The old legend of the apple orchard and the supernatural could have been played up more with more intriguing twists and events, instead of the mundane. I may read one more of his novels and then decide if he is an author i would pursue.

This is a great way to be introduced to the Reverend Merrily Watkins and her daughter Jane. The story moves well and there are a lot of twist and turns, but there doesn't seem to be quite as much paranormal involvement as I've become familiar with in Rickman's other novels. I love his settings in old Welsh or English towns... even the minor characters prove to be interesting and integral to the plot. Mr. Rickman also is a wonderful source to finding out more about older Celtic legends, myths and monsters.

I've been a fan of Phil Rickman's work since my sister turned me on to his books a few years ago (specifically DECEMBER, CURFEW and CANDLENIGHT). I love his lyrical style and attention to detail in those books. Unfortunately, he just didn't seem to have the same flow in this novel as he did in his others. I'm not saying that this isn't a good novel... its just not one of his better ones.

After savoring the last drop of this Rickman offering, I looked back through my copy of the novel to find I had highlighted passages of text, written copious marginal comments and even affixed multi-colored page tabs throughout! I have never done this, even with King or Straub novels, so this was probably my recognition that I've set Rickman's works apart from others. Rickman's writing, in my opinion, does more than entertain; this writer consistently integrates the mythos of ritual and sacrifice, which link the temporal to the sacred, into the fabric of his stories in a way that no other contemporary author of popular fiction I've encountered thus far dares to do. I enjoyed this book so much because the characters, setting, imagery, tone and language work together so well to link contemporary "Ledwardine" to its past, just as most places and people are linked in the spiral of mythic time. One character, Lucy Devenish, understands the need to honor that link to the past through the performance of "right" ritual, a theme that, in my opinion, cannot be overdone in our world today. I think that there exists a profound hunger for ritual, albeit at times a subconscious one, as is evidenced by all the pathetic attempts at finding substitutes for what we've lost in the name of progress. Rickman so aptly captures this cultural void in his tale, set in the contemporary Hereford countryside, of the resulting bastardized festival that is disastrous from its planning stage to its tragic conclusion. The author exposes the residents of this town as well as their motivations for taking part in staging the festival, and he holds each character accountable for his or her involvement. I guess that's what makes this story so satisfying: in a mythic world like Ledwardine, a writer can address those individual lapses of judgment, violations of social mores and breaches of cultural propriety. In the real world, we don't often get or want to see the connections between our actions and the events they set in motion. Rickman metes out consequences that are appropriate but not heavy-handed. Another interesting aspect of this and other Rickman stories is the often painful yet inevitable nature of sacrifice, which occurs for the ultimate good of the community. Rickman's "victims" seem to have at their cores a gentle and perhaps imperfect wisdom that becomes almost holy through their deaths. This book is no exception. Again, Rickman's consistent articulation of the psychic significance of this theme has created a unique sub-genre within the horror/supernatural genre.

The themes of ritual and sacrifice are not the only ones that set Rickman's novels apart from others. This novel and its sequel, MIDWINTER OF THE SPIRIT, both explore the intricacies of the mother/daughter bond as well as maternal themes found in the mythos of the Anglican (and Catholic)Church. Rickman's "Merrily Watkins" novels have something for anyone who has ever felt that uneasy void in her or his soul and the need to re-connect to that sense of maternal comfort we often find in things spiritual.

I am anxiously awaiting Rickman's new novel, A CROWN OF LIGHTS, due out this spring.

I've been buying Rickman novels from UK websites for a couple of years now. Years ago, after reading Curfew (until now, one of the few of his novels available in the States), I was hooked by the supernatural plots, on the mark characterizations, subtle humor and creepy settings. In The Wine of Angels Rickman introduces Rev. Merrily Watkins, who finds herself in the middle of a community uproar of the natural and supernatural type while trying to gain acceptance as a female vicar in a small, traditional village. One of the things I really like about Rickman's writing is the way he blends the supernatural with the mundane. In this case, Merrily faces the supernatural in a haunted vicarage while dealing with sexism and the challenges associated with raising a teenager. If you like Merrily here, try the next book, Midwinter of the Spirit.

I hope Rickman's cooking up some more clever thrillers for his readers here in the U.S.