"This is a tense family saga, and a battle that I’m sure has been played out in real life the Dales over, that on the whole I found to be an enjoyable read."
An ode to the Yorkshire Dales amongst a challenging and fraught battle between a farming family and a big corporation. ‘The Land, The Land’ by Robin Hawdon is a David vs Goliath style family drama. The Oldfield’s and their community are roused by plans to redevelop a limestone quarry by a big London corporation, leading to the construction of a railway line across the family’s farm. The life changing sums of money available leads to tensions between landowners and within the family unit. Would the bag of gold be worth risking the conservation of an area of natural beauty and the legacy and a multi-generational legacy of the farm. This is a book that will have you questioning which option you would pick, if you were in Roger’s muddy work boots. The sweet diary entries from Roger’s son, Danny at the beginning of each chapter offer brief insights into the atmosphere within the Oldfield home. Meanwhile Roger directs the majority of the narrative with a down-to-earth tone that helps to bring the character and his perspective to life. However I would point out that the blunt, “traditional northerner” nature to his tone is taken a bit too far for me on p. 79 and 101 (a joking reference to “rape” and the description of the “coloured cabbie”) and unnecessarily I feel too, as it doesn’t providing anything of value to the plot and made me as a reader think less of Roger. As tensions grow, fractures begin to appear between the Oldfields and the tactics to get Roger to fold from various parties get dirtier. This is a tense family saga, and a battle that I’m sure has been played out in real life the Dales over, that on the whole I found to be an enjoyable read.
Charlotte Walker, A LoveReading Ambassador
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
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