The twenty
disparate voices that make up A Distant Cry range from Mary
Mann's harrowing tale of rural deprivation at the turn of
the last century to Esther Freud's work in progress set
on the Suffolk coast. They echo across the "Badlands"
of the Fens, along north Norfolk's treacherous "Shorelines"
and deep in the "Heartland" of the Suffolk countryside.
The broad sweep of this collection takes in the gentle wit
of Sylvia Townsend Warner and Ronald Blythe, the unpredictable
twists of Ruth Rendell's murder mysteries, an M R James
ghost story and Roald Dahl's account of the Mildenhall treasure
and its dramatic discovery on the edge of the Fens.
Here too is the title story from Ian McEwan's early collection
First Love, Last Rites set in Kings' Lynn, two disturbing
pieces by Elspeth Barker, a medieval fable from Julia Blackburn
and the distinctive voice of Rose Tremain. A bleak little
story by Susan Hill and a subversive gem from Penelope Lively
are both set in Aldeburgh while Hunstanton Hall becomes
the backdrop for another hilarious episode in the life of
Bertie Wooster and Breckland is home to some of D J Taylor's
equally dysfunctional characters.
What is clear from this anthology is that East Anglia is
blessed with some of the country's finest writers. As Louis
de Bernières concludes: "In this volume you
will find a small selection from a vast literature, much
of it incontestably brilliant. It should not be thought
of as a commemoration of brilliance that has passed, but
as a celebration of a brilliance that continues to be alive
and well, and will undoubtedly become even greater in the
future." |
