Beating for Light Synopsis
It is the summer of 1917. Isaac Rosenberg has been on the Western Front for over a year, having barely survived a terrible winter on the Somme. Temporarily attached to the Royal Engineers, he helps to load barbed wire on limbers, hauls it by mule train up to the front at night, and repairs damage to barricades in no-man's land. Although highly dangerous, Rosenberg views his lot as much improved, and he finds more time to write.
From his upbringing in the slums of Whitechapel, to his futile death in the killing fields of Europe, the author explores the evolution of a writer whose war poetry is now widely acknowledged as among the finest ever written.
Paradoxically, while Rosenberg's physical and mental health were on the wane, his terrible experiences on the Western Front appeared to boost the power and originality of his work. Throughout the novel, the reader is given insight into the troubled psyche of a poet who, despite living in constant fear and subject to the contempt of his peers, still managed to retain a highly original perspective on mankind's descent into darkness.
Beating for Light blends fact and fiction in a way which moves beyond the biographical, breathing life into the fears and aspirations of a great artist while, simultaneously, providing a fascinating insight into one of history's greatest watersheds.
Below is a Q & A with the author about this book.
What inspired you to write Beating for Light?
I studied Isaac Rosenberg's war poetry while at university and was struck then by the power of his imagery. Unlike officer poets like Wilfred Owen and Seigfried Sassoon, Isaac was a lowly private and had never received the acknowledgement his work undoubtedly merited. Years later, I returned to the subject and decided to put matter right.
So you decided to write a book about the man and his poetry?
Yes. I wanted to show how hard Rosenberg had struggled for the sake of his art. His life was tragic and sometimes he was his own worst enemy, but his determination and grit shone through. It's really a cracking good story!
How important a part does his poetry play in the novel?
It is significant but you can simply enjoy the novel as a story charting the poet's journey from his unpromising Whitechapel beginnings, to his untimely death on the Western Front. Beating for Light deals with the universal "Pity of War" something everyone nowadays can appreciate.
How can you write a fictional novel about a real person?
As long as you do your research properly and base everything on fact then the rest can be powerfully portrayed by the imagination of the author. In my experience, this is often much more cogent than biography. Pat Barker did it in Regeneration and Margaret Atwood in Alias Grace to name but two.
Who would you recommend Beating for Light to?
To anyone who rates poetry as an expressive and exciting medium and to people who enjoyed books like Birdsong and All Quiet on the Western Front."
