Evening star., 1952-12-21
Tudor England
Is Reuwukened
In Fine Novel
The Man on q Donkey
BY H. F. M. Prescott.
(MGcmilldn;; So

(Macmillan; So
This noble novel. q chronicle
Of Tudor England. Is English
to the marrow. partaking fully
Of both the hardy and the lyric
strains Of that breed. Bold in
design, meticulous in detail, it
is Illuminated by a genuine reli-
gious spirit. all the more moving
for being scarcely spoken. The
author, historian whose erudi-
ton is matched by imagination,
says in a foreward that it is
IAN attempt to introduce a
reader into q world" Such q
brilliant attempt. might add,
that readers will not be merely
introduced but veritably lost
In it.
The central historical fact of
The Man on a Donkey" is the
Pilgrimage Of Grace, that re-
luctant amateur, and iil-starred
rising by the gentry and Com
mons Of Northern England who
were stirred to resist the sup
preston Of the abbeys while
insisting on their allegiance to
King Henry VIII. The whole
character Of their gentle cru
Sade was reflected in the char
acter Of their great captain.
Robert Aske. a merry, small.
one-eyed Lincolnshire lawyer,
who thought that good inten-
tions, plainly spoken. would pre-
vail against the ego of the King
and the avarice Of his ministers.
His was the cruel dilemma of
the true Englishman who was
deeply Catholic, too.
For the Tower
Other leaders were more COM
plexly motivated. Lord Darcy,
for instance. Of the silver hair
and frosty blue eyes. wanted to
save his soul, but preferably also
his skin. When 1t came to the
choice. there was a tug on the
thread that had led him in his
youth to join the crusades, and
he was also for the tower.
Atmosphere" is too mild for
what Miss Prescott conjures up
in her story of five people caught
in the terrible struggle between
spiritual and temporal power.
This Is a total recreation of
Tudor England, the intriguing
court. the serene softness of the
Priory Of Marrick, the jolly ale
houses, the seething streets.
What they wore, ate, said, and
the ground they walked on, the
very air they breathed-all this
is woven into the pageantry.
Her characters are just as init
mately realized.
Brilliant Writing
Miss Prescott's style has the
flexibility needful to such widely
varying scenes and people. She
writes ringingly of the councils
Of the Pilgrims. the quarrels be-
tween Robin Aske and his vim
dictive brother. She writes
poignantly of the infinitely
touching Julian Savage, base
born gentlewoman whose whole
life is a secret love for Aske. and
who knows from the beginning
Of her battered existence that
disaster is the true order of life.
Miss Prescott describes with
tart compassion the sour, spoiled
priest. Glib Dawes, af1ame with
the New Learning, and sorely
infected with the pride of the
unhoping Christian. Her great
est portrayal. however, is CHS
label Cowper, the worldly prior
eSS Of Marrick, a Shrewd woman
who bargains desperately for
the salvation Of her Abbey, not
for the love of God or for the
religious life. but out of a pas
sion for power as great as
Cromwell's.
Moving through this host of,
great and lesser folk is the half
mad serving woman, Malle.
Fetched to the Abbey as a mer-
maid. she stays on to learn Of
Christ. Who thereafter is real
and present to her. All listen
to her accounts of visions for
possible political import, though
never to the message of love
which she mouths endlessly.
'The Man on the Donkey" has
such integrity, quality, humor
and humanity as to dwarf other
current historical fiction. A tow
ering accomplishment, grand
and piercing, 1t ought to live
just as long as people retain
their curiosity about life in an
other troubled era.
M. Meg.
Mr.. Wicker's' Window