Golden Hill by Francis Spufford

Golden Hill by Francis Spufford

Any book with its lowest book club score in the sevens and highest from four members of the club in the eights must have something going for it. There was a general consensus that this was a very entertaining and enjoyable book and it was not surprising therefore that on a cold and frosty evening in January 2017 in the ancient hostelry of Ye Foxe and Badgerre in Wellowe we were informed that the book had just been awarded the Costa best first novel award for 2016.


Mr Smith turns up in 1746 New York City with its population of 7000 with a financial instrument which if honoured has the vast value of £1000. During the next 60 days whilst he awaits encashment of this bond by one of the nascent banking families of the City our hero stumbles through a number of amusing and sometimes frightening experiences which paint an authentic and vivid picture of life in the city at that time. In double quick time the story takes Smith to the coffee houses of the city, a frightening mugging scene on bonfire night, an emerging love interest, an early New York amateur dramatic performance, imprisonment in the local fort and a duel with swords on the common at dawn.

Perhaps the greatest compliment to the author should be awarded for his ability to set the scene in time and space in a most interesting and engaging way stimulating the imagination. The description of the city’s dark alleyways, the noise from the rigging of the nearby sailing ships, the scene in a crowded smokey coffee house and a frightening pursuit through the narrow alleyways are imaginatively and evocatively described and were appreciated by all. The author clearly has an in depth historical knowledge enabling him to weave the details of life at this time into an almost completely plausible story.

The book stimulated discussion about the social “glue” which kept this small mixed community of people living together. Here on this small tip of Manhattan Island were living Dutch and English, Catholic and Protestant, social elite and commoners and yet generally they all seemed to "rub along together" pretty well. Yet only a hundred miles away people lived in fear of their lives from attacks by the French and native Indians. At that time no police force was yet in existence to keep order in the settlement.

Of the minor criticisms several didn’t really grasp the descriptions of the money settlement arrangements and embryonic banking system that had established itself in New York to honour a “bill” written on a piece of paper in London which might take six weeks to cross the Atlantic and then sometimes would be lost by shipwreck.

Others questioned the implausibility of the storyline in respect of Smith's lineage which was only revealed as the final denouement to the story and the likelihood that his racial identity would not have been immediately detected by the untrusting New Yorkers.

Finally the other most appreciated feature of the story was the authors skilful and amusing writing style and innovative use of period English yet which read like comprehensible modern prose and not text from Shakespeare. Some of the best examples have been picked out for us by one of our most avid international contributors from the subcontinent.

• “Once, Mrs Tomlinson might have had a fresh, or ingenuous, charm. Now – said the judgement of the women’s gaze, at least, upon her six-and-forty years – she trembled, like a plum already fermenting, about to burst in a mess of juices.”

• “How hard it is to describe a desirable woman without running into geography! Or the barnyard. Or the resources of the fruit-bowl.”

• “the stupid things humanity was wont to do, in the grip of desire, and men proverbially.”

And when the narrator (Tabitha) capitulates to the reader on not having the skill to describe the rules and formalities of a duel of honour:
• “ But really, this is useless, and no more enables the reader to see the battle, than if I shouted numbers at you; which, indeed, I appear to be doing. The truth is, that I am obliged to copy these names for sword-fighting out of a book, having no direct experience to call upon. I throw myself upon the reader’s mercy, or rather their sense of resignation. Having previously endured this tale’s treatment of the game of piquet, and of the act of love, they may with luck by now expect no great coherence in the reporting of a sword-fight.“

All in all a jolly good read that was enjoyed by every book club member . As well as an entertaining story this was an interesting insight into life and customs in New York at the time.