Benjamin Myers’ new novel profoundly re-imagines a history of England’s North through the enduring influence of seventh century ascetic monk Saint Cuthbert, affectionately nicknamed ‘Cuddy.’ Comprising four novellas in varied literary forms, the legacy of Cuddy describes the ley line connecting these stories across time.
995: the ‘haliwerfolc’, a wandering community of monks who protect Cuddy’s remains, are joined by Ediva, a young woman given to visions in which she speaks to the saint and finds the site of his final resting place.
1346: Eda, the wife of a brutish archer, is charmed by a stonemason whose devotion to his work on Cuddy’s cathedral introduces the possibility of an escape from the incessant violence of her existence.
1827: a snobbish academic from Oxford reluctantly journeys north for an unknown project at Durham cathedral. As the reason for his being there is revealed, he is hounded by a spirit who warns him to ‘let history lie!’
2019: Michael is a young tradesman struggling to support himself and his ailing mother on the outskirts of Durham. When offered work at the cathedral, he meets a group of stonemasons who tend to the tower in a form of communion with those who came before. The sense of ‘lineage’ and connection Michael feels offers a way forward.
Throughout Cuddy, names and deeds call down the centuries in a steady reverberation, like voices in song. Messages leak through the fabric of time, carved in stone or through hauntings that shake one’s reasoned foundations. Most notably here, acts of faith, compassion and of human connection – acts that embody Cuddy’s life – are found in ordinary people.
I have long been captivated by Myers’ writing, his way of piercing right into the marrow of story. In Cuddy, he has written perhaps one of the great novels of England’s North. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
