Page 86 - All About History - Issue 26-15

REVIEWS

All About History on the books, TV shows and

films causing a stir in the history world

THE SAGE OF WATERLOO

The battle of Waterloo through the eyes of a rabbit
Author Leona Francombe Publisher WW Norton Price £11.99 Released June 2015
nimalsplayarichpartinthehistoryof descriptive as William becomes more comfortable no mention of the actual rabbits that lived at
literature. From Wind In The Willows to withhisgift.Thesedetailedpassagesarecrucial Hougoumont during the battle, something that
Watership Down, authors through the to the book, because otherwise it would be a little would have provided an issue-free link with the
ages have delighted in bringing voiceless like a magician building up a magic trick and not past that didn’t rely on reading the wind.
A creatures to life. Despite this, only Black providing the final flourish of revealing your card. Overall, this is an enjoyable, easily readable book,
Beauty and War Horse spring to mind as a Afewlibertiesmayhavebeentakenwiththetruth albeit with quite a bizarre premise. It’s unlikely to
books written from a first person – or animal fordramaticeffect,butoverallFrancombehas enter the pantheon of great animal literature, but
– perspective. It can be speculated that this is successfully created a rich account of the trials and is an entertaining, unique take on a key event in
because of the difficulty of being able to truly tribulations of the battle. human history.
delve into the mind of a being that we know so However, Francombe’s narrative does Jamie Frier
little about. While it’s easy to say Mr Toad looked occasionallyringalittlefalse.Attimesshemakes
sad, it is a whole new challenge to say what he William a little “The constant thread
truly felt. This, however, is the challenge Leona human, at one of mystery keeps the
Francombe set herself in her debut novel, The Sage casually mentio
Of Waterloo. The book follows the life of the story’s the probability reader enthralled”
narrator, William, who lives at Hougoumont Farm, hisfamilymem
the setting of one of the most crucial clashes of the being eaten wit
Battle of Waterloo. cranberry sauce
The rabbits in this story live today but connect and potatoes.
to their ancestors from two centuries earlier by Thereisalso
listening to the wind in the trees and p
the stories through the generations. Wh
to scoff at the idea that mere animals a
read the echoes of the past, Francombe
case forward that animals are much mo
with nature than we are.
William, the protagonist of Francomb
is a rare white rabbit who is one of the
group, along with the matriarch Old Lav
has this ability to see what really went
otherwise nondescript Belgian town 20
William’s tale is mostly concerned w
the farm, now neglected save for the to
occasionally come to gaze on the site o
defeat at the hands of Wellington. The
generally quite slow but every now and
bursts into life with unexpected action,
mimicking the nature of rabbits. The co
thread of mystery about the past, both The farmhouse Hougoumont
played host to fierce fighting
distant, keeps the reader enthralled thr
between Napoleon and
Francombe intersperses her novel with Wellington’s troops
to the battle, which get stronger and mo
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