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Set in two time-periods, 1909-10 and 1914-15, The Corncrake is a historical novel which tells of a family living in England who are half-German and half-English.
Most of our knowledge of the First World War is dominated by the horrors of the trenches: the Somme, Passchendaele and Verdun. But tumultuous events were also happening at home. Inherited consciousness has reduced these events to tales of bereavement, the dreaded telegram at the door, and women working in factories.
The Corncrake addresses other forgotten iniquities, of the war being fueled and prolonged by forces little talked about today. These include hatred stirred up by irresponsible newspapers inventing stories of atrocities; and by the Church of England preaching the glories of sacrifice and service of God, King and Country, thereby creating a mentality of wanting to continue the war for the sake of those who'd already died.
The novel has an unusual structure. It has no chapters, but rather it has more than 150 scenes, each narrated by one, two, three or occasionally all four members of the Hall family. I knew it would be possible to identify each character solely by their unique voice the moment they spoke; and so it has proved. This powerful technique enables the reader to enter the heads of the main characters, so that love, conflicts and misunderstandings are conveyed directly by the characters themselves as events happen.
In an early draft, The Corncrake was long-listed for the Daily Telegraph's Novel in a Year competition. It was described by the head of a leading firm of literary agents as 'an exceptionally original novel'. The Corncrake has been heavily revised since.
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