Le Morte D’Arthur was a medieval masterpiece, responsible for our enduring fascination with the tales of Camelot, Merlin and the Round Table. Yet so little is known about its author, the intriguing ‘knight prisoner’ Sir Thomas Malory. Into this breach steps author Toby Clements, employing the same sweeping, swashbuckling style familiar to all lovers of the Arthurian legend to shed light on its enigmatic writer.
A Good Deliverance introduces us to Malory just as he’s about to be unceremoniously thrown back into Newgate prison for a crime no one will disclose and which he can’t remember committing. While incarcerated, the dejected nobleman whiles away the lonely hours by divulging his life story to the surly lad who brings him his dinner.
And what a life it was, one which dutifully ticked off many classic milestones of the Middle Ages: Henry V, Joan Of Arc, Agincourt. Or rather, it would have included Agincourt if only our beleaguered hero hadn’t been too busy defecating into a ditch to actually pick up his sword. As irreverent as it is wildly entertaining, the novel achieves the holy grail of historical fiction by using wit and warmth to bring the past roaring back to life.
A Good Deliverance, Toby Clements (Faber)
Price: £18.99. Info: here
words RACHEL REES