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Mother Naked
The City of Durham, 1434. Out of a storm, an ageing minstrel arrives at the cathedral to entertain the city's most powerful men.
Mother Naked is his name, and the story he's come to tell is the Legend of the Fell Wraith: the gruesome 'walking ghost' some say slaughtered the nearby village of Segerston forty years earlier. But is this monster only a myth, born from the dim minds of toiling peasants? Or does the Wraith - and the murders - have roots in real events suffered by those fated to a lifetime of labour?
As Mother Naked weaves the strands of the mystery - of class, religion, art and ale - the chilling truth might be closer to his privileged audience than they could ever imagine.
Taking its inspiration from a single payment entered into Durham's Cathedral rolls, 'Modyr Nakett' was the lowest-paid performer in over 200 years of records. Set against the traumatic shadow of the Black Death and the Peasant's Revolt, Mother Naked speaks back from the margins, in a fury of imaginative recuperation.
Mother Naked is his name, and the story he's come to tell is the Legend of the Fell Wraith: the gruesome 'walking ghost' some say slaughtered the nearby village of Segerston forty years earlier. But is this monster only a myth, born from the dim minds of toiling peasants? Or does the Wraith - and the murders - have roots in real events suffered by those fated to a lifetime of labour?
As Mother Naked weaves the strands of the mystery - of class, religion, art and ale - the chilling truth might be closer to his privileged audience than they could ever imagine.
Taking its inspiration from a single payment entered into Durham's Cathedral rolls, 'Modyr Nakett' was the lowest-paid performer in over 200 years of records. Set against the traumatic shadow of the Black Death and the Peasant's Revolt, Mother Naked speaks back from the margins, in a fury of imaginative recuperation.
265 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 6, 2024
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September 20, 2024
This falls squarely in what has become my favourite genre over the last years: not historical fiction, but rather 'literary fiction that happens to be set in the past.'
'Mother Naked' is the name of a 'gleeman' or minstrel who travels Northern England's towns and villages in the late 14th century, entertaining villagers and noblemen .
One night he performs for Durham's highest dignitaries, and the novel consists entirely of this single, spectacular performance: one long monologue full of twists and turns, seemingly about a legendary evil spirit on a killing spree, but in fact a story that - to their chagrin - gradually appears to involve most of the dignitaries themselves.
It is fun, smart and the language is something special.
In parallel to reading Mother Naked, I listened to a new Henry V biography and it was great to have the background of the late 14th century.
4,5 - rounded up because this type of daring books deserve a bigger readership.
'Mother Naked' is the name of a 'gleeman' or minstrel who travels Northern England's towns and villages in the late 14th century, entertaining villagers and noblemen .
One night he performs for Durham's highest dignitaries, and the novel consists entirely of this single, spectacular performance: one long monologue full of twists and turns, seemingly about a legendary evil spirit on a killing spree, but in fact a story that - to their chagrin - gradually appears to involve most of the dignitaries themselves.
It is fun, smart and the language is something special.
In parallel to reading Mother Naked, I listened to a new Henry V biography and it was great to have the background of the late 14th century.
4,5 - rounded up because this type of daring books deserve a bigger readership.
March 25, 2025
Shortlisted for the 2025 Republic of Consciousness Prize, UK & Ireland, for small presses
Shortlisted for the Winston Graham Prize for Historical Fiction
Longlisted for the 2025 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction
The 1433-1434 ledger of the Bursar of Durham Priory recorded all payments into and out of the cathedral, including money spent on entertainment. Among the many performers that year, there was a single reference to one called Modyr Nakett: Mother Naked.
Mother Naked received one groat (four pence) for their act. This was the lowest payment to any performer in over two hundred years of surviving records.
Glen James Brown's debut novel Ironopolis was featured on the inaugural Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. It combines the political - the story of an (industrial North-eastern) working class community, gradually destroyed by both the decline of the steelworks and housing redevelopment - with real-life but still haunting events such as the Great Darkness of July 2, 1968 and the more magic-realist folklore of Peg Powler, from the Legends & Superstitions Of The County Of Durham.
The factual epigraph to Mother Naked, above, explains the creative origins of the author's equally fascinating second novel. This is set wholly in the late 13th and early 14th century, and any analogies of the then feudal system to our preseny day political system won't be found on the page, but, writing this on the day a billionaire PM announced unpaid national service, will be firmly in most readers' (and one suspect the author's) minds.
Pearl! cried I, What be YOU about?
Smashing this fukkit chest, what does it look like?
You wish shatter our sole annuity against retirement?
Mother, said he, if we do not burn it anon, we expire, not retire.
And he brought down the rock again and again until that beautiful chest was naught but splinter and spelk. As it burned, he huddled close to the fragrant, buttery flames. I did likewise.
Warm, Mother?
Aye, said I, though churlishly.
Pearl sighed. Shall I tell thee thy problem?
Prithee do.
You dwell o'er much in the future.
Be that so wrong?
Staring into the Eyre that had once been a priceless Dyxover, Pearl said, For some folk, no.
But for the likes of us, futures must be razed to salvage any sort of present...
The novel is set in 1434 at Durham Cathedral. A Gleeman arrives at a banquet of the merchant's guild to entertain the revellers. But he is not who they expect - he explains that the expected performer, Melchior Blancflower, that legendary Gleeman who was one part of the fifth King Henry's court is indisposed. and he, Mother Naked, has come in his stead.
And rather than the tales of heroic exploits and daring deeds from Henry's court and foreign adventures that Melchoir would have told, my story take place much closer to hame that the blood-stomp't battlefields of France. Actually it unravelled right here, scant miles beyond Durham's city walls ...
The story he wishes to tell is:
The sorrowful, tragic tale of the Fell Wraith...
...Ah, judging by your faces, I see the name be known to some! Yet for those still in befuddlement, this dread creature goes by other titles. At Raby, they whisper of the Red Rape. In Monk-wearmuthe, the Jigging Ghost. Cestria speaks of Brok-Armed Annie. And only this past year, I heard a Priest in Shildon make this same monster the theme of his lesson after Mass, relaying the tale of the Segerston Wraith to his quaking parishioners. Segerston, said he, was a wicked village of idlers punish't by that undead fiend for its slothful denial of God, and was thus struck down...
...The crops putrefied...
...The manor house burn't to cinders...
...And the villagers butchered or else driven to frenzy, their minds smash't forever...
...Aye, friends, Segerston was near razed from the Earth. And it just occurs that Segerston was one of thine manors, Sacrist, be that true? Aye, I thought so. And though the Fell Wraith's name changes from town to town, the tale—the terror—remains the same. And where terror goes, balladry follows. Take this song I learn't from a Gleeman in Jarrow. Allow me to strum my psaltery in accompaniment
In heath and in gorse, barefoot moves she,
Gleeful `neath moonlight her terrible sallies.
For those whom misfortune bade them to see,
The crop-rotted fields her pestilence harries.
All life into death,
All death into fern.
Dance with her shadow,
As thy own manor burns...
The story Mother Naked tells is set in 1397, in the hamlet of Segerston, one of the manors of the Sacrist of the Cathedral, who is hosting the banquet alongside two special guests, his former Cellarer and his Master Mercer, also elder of the assembled Guild.
And Mother Naked's intention is to tell the real story of events behind the legends: the near destruction of Segerston in a fire, after the failure of the crops and the disintegration of the community, all blamed on a cursed Fell Wraith. But what I tell be no base ghost syory fit only fo the frightening of bairns. There be a grander purpose, Sacrist, one you should see in goode tyme.
Mother Naked's story, complete with various apparent diversion but often proving to be later relevant, then unfolds over the next 200 pages, and in real time over the course of the banquet, delivered to the increasingly intoxicated diners.
And it is one that shows the legend of the Fell Wraith is rooted in the implications and injustices of the feudal system of the time in Durham- villeins, cottars, and freemen; the Reeve elected by the hallmote juries; the Sacrist's demense administered by his Bailiff. All of which the story succeeds in conveying naturally and mainly by context rather than didactically - although given the priviliged nature of those listening, Mother Naked does have to remind them of some things.
The Parables of the Tares (Matthew 13:24–43) plays a key role, both metaphorically and literally i terms of the plant Lolium temulentum, aka darnel, which is often identified as the wheat-like weed to which Jesus referred.
The novel's narrative style has us hearing only the words, and songs, that Mother Naked delivers to the banquet. This is not a soliloquy or a speech delivered to silent listeners - it's direct and at times personal and there are clearly heckles, interruptions and strong reactions but we get only Mother Naked's counterreaction. It reminded me of how this was also done in the brilliant International Booker winning A Horse Walks into a Bar.
A fascinating and entertaining novel. It will be interested to see if the Orwell Prize picks this up next year, and it's narrative style may tip in into Goldsmiths' contention. I'd also be delighted if the press entered it into the Republic of Consciousness Prize.
The judges' citation
Set in the fifth century and narrated by an irrepressible bard called Mother Naked, this novel is bawdy, funny and tragic. The voice of Mother Naked is entirely authentic. Both an entertaining read and a serious work of historical fiction.
The publisher
Peninsula Press is an independent publisher of boundary-pushing fiction and essays formed by three booksellers in 2017 including Burley Fisher's Sam Fisher. Their initial call for submissions asked for "fiction that challenges norms (formal, aesthetic, heteropatriarchal, &c). Fiction that is literary because it pays attention to language, not because it is only about the nuclear family. We are interested in perspectives that have been traditionally consigned to genre" and their works include the brilliant Goldsmiths Prize winning Sterling Karat Gold, and the UK editions of Grimmish and Still Life. They have been longlisted 3 times, and shortlisted twice, for the Republic of Consciousness Prize
Shortlisted for the Winston Graham Prize for Historical Fiction
Longlisted for the 2025 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction
The 1433-1434 ledger of the Bursar of Durham Priory recorded all payments into and out of the cathedral, including money spent on entertainment. Among the many performers that year, there was a single reference to one called Modyr Nakett: Mother Naked.
Mother Naked received one groat (four pence) for their act. This was the lowest payment to any performer in over two hundred years of surviving records.
Glen James Brown's debut novel Ironopolis was featured on the inaugural Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. It combines the political - the story of an (industrial North-eastern) working class community, gradually destroyed by both the decline of the steelworks and housing redevelopment - with real-life but still haunting events such as the Great Darkness of July 2, 1968 and the more magic-realist folklore of Peg Powler, from the Legends & Superstitions Of The County Of Durham.
The factual epigraph to Mother Naked, above, explains the creative origins of the author's equally fascinating second novel. This is set wholly in the late 13th and early 14th century, and any analogies of the then feudal system to our preseny day political system won't be found on the page, but, writing this on the day a billionaire PM announced unpaid national service, will be firmly in most readers' (and one suspect the author's) minds.
Pearl! cried I, What be YOU about?
Smashing this fukkit chest, what does it look like?
You wish shatter our sole annuity against retirement?
Mother, said he, if we do not burn it anon, we expire, not retire.
And he brought down the rock again and again until that beautiful chest was naught but splinter and spelk. As it burned, he huddled close to the fragrant, buttery flames. I did likewise.
Warm, Mother?
Aye, said I, though churlishly.
Pearl sighed. Shall I tell thee thy problem?
Prithee do.
You dwell o'er much in the future.
Be that so wrong?
Staring into the Eyre that had once been a priceless Dyxover, Pearl said, For some folk, no.
But for the likes of us, futures must be razed to salvage any sort of present...
The novel is set in 1434 at Durham Cathedral. A Gleeman arrives at a banquet of the merchant's guild to entertain the revellers. But he is not who they expect - he explains that the expected performer, Melchior Blancflower, that legendary Gleeman who was one part of the fifth King Henry's court is indisposed. and he, Mother Naked, has come in his stead.
And rather than the tales of heroic exploits and daring deeds from Henry's court and foreign adventures that Melchoir would have told, my story take place much closer to hame that the blood-stomp't battlefields of France. Actually it unravelled right here, scant miles beyond Durham's city walls ...
The story he wishes to tell is:
The sorrowful, tragic tale of the Fell Wraith...
...Ah, judging by your faces, I see the name be known to some! Yet for those still in befuddlement, this dread creature goes by other titles. At Raby, they whisper of the Red Rape. In Monk-wearmuthe, the Jigging Ghost. Cestria speaks of Brok-Armed Annie. And only this past year, I heard a Priest in Shildon make this same monster the theme of his lesson after Mass, relaying the tale of the Segerston Wraith to his quaking parishioners. Segerston, said he, was a wicked village of idlers punish't by that undead fiend for its slothful denial of God, and was thus struck down...
...The crops putrefied...
...The manor house burn't to cinders...
...And the villagers butchered or else driven to frenzy, their minds smash't forever...
...Aye, friends, Segerston was near razed from the Earth. And it just occurs that Segerston was one of thine manors, Sacrist, be that true? Aye, I thought so. And though the Fell Wraith's name changes from town to town, the tale—the terror—remains the same. And where terror goes, balladry follows. Take this song I learn't from a Gleeman in Jarrow. Allow me to strum my psaltery in accompaniment
In heath and in gorse, barefoot moves she,
Gleeful `neath moonlight her terrible sallies.
For those whom misfortune bade them to see,
The crop-rotted fields her pestilence harries.
All life into death,
All death into fern.
Dance with her shadow,
As thy own manor burns...
The story Mother Naked tells is set in 1397, in the hamlet of Segerston, one of the manors of the Sacrist of the Cathedral, who is hosting the banquet alongside two special guests, his former Cellarer and his Master Mercer, also elder of the assembled Guild.
And Mother Naked's intention is to tell the real story of events behind the legends: the near destruction of Segerston in a fire, after the failure of the crops and the disintegration of the community, all blamed on a cursed Fell Wraith. But what I tell be no base ghost syory fit only fo the frightening of bairns. There be a grander purpose, Sacrist, one you should see in goode tyme.
Mother Naked's story, complete with various apparent diversion but often proving to be later relevant, then unfolds over the next 200 pages, and in real time over the course of the banquet, delivered to the increasingly intoxicated diners.
And it is one that shows the legend of the Fell Wraith is rooted in the implications and injustices of the feudal system of the time in Durham- villeins, cottars, and freemen; the Reeve elected by the hallmote juries; the Sacrist's demense administered by his Bailiff. All of which the story succeeds in conveying naturally and mainly by context rather than didactically - although given the priviliged nature of those listening, Mother Naked does have to remind them of some things.
The Parables of the Tares (Matthew 13:24–43) plays a key role, both metaphorically and literally i terms of the plant Lolium temulentum, aka darnel, which is often identified as the wheat-like weed to which Jesus referred.
The novel's narrative style has us hearing only the words, and songs, that Mother Naked delivers to the banquet. This is not a soliloquy or a speech delivered to silent listeners - it's direct and at times personal and there are clearly heckles, interruptions and strong reactions but we get only Mother Naked's counterreaction. It reminded me of how this was also done in the brilliant International Booker winning A Horse Walks into a Bar.
A fascinating and entertaining novel. It will be interested to see if the Orwell Prize picks this up next year, and it's narrative style may tip in into Goldsmiths' contention. I'd also be delighted if the press entered it into the Republic of Consciousness Prize.
The judges' citation
Set in the fifth century and narrated by an irrepressible bard called Mother Naked, this novel is bawdy, funny and tragic. The voice of Mother Naked is entirely authentic. Both an entertaining read and a serious work of historical fiction.
The publisher
Peninsula Press is an independent publisher of boundary-pushing fiction and essays formed by three booksellers in 2017 including Burley Fisher's Sam Fisher. Their initial call for submissions asked for "fiction that challenges norms (formal, aesthetic, heteropatriarchal, &c). Fiction that is literary because it pays attention to language, not because it is only about the nuclear family. We are interested in perspectives that have been traditionally consigned to genre" and their works include the brilliant Goldsmiths Prize winning Sterling Karat Gold, and the UK editions of Grimmish and Still Life. They have been longlisted 3 times, and shortlisted twice, for the Republic of Consciousness Prize
April 12, 2025
Excellent. One of those books where its brilliance slowly reveals itself.
December 15, 2024
It’s 1434 in Durham, and a minstrel with the unusual name of ‘Mother Naked’ is performing for an audience of wealthy, powerful men. With many digressions, he tells the story of a murderous ghost – the Fell Wraith – and, in doing so, reveals a personal connection to the tale. It’s tricksy and clever, and despite a very different setting, has similar political undercurrents to Brown’s previous novel Ironopolis. It’s a great way to tell a timely story that doesn’t feel overly didactic. However, I have to admit the use of pseudo-Middle English meant this was quite slow going for me. I feel a bit guilty hoping that Brown writes another contemporary novel next... this was good; it’s just that Ironopolis was truly incredible!
September 18, 2024
A bravura performance by Mother Naked and Glen James Brown and the best history lesson I can imagine. Although it is essentially a monologue, it paints a vivid picture with a large cast of characters, so don't fear that it will feel tedious or claustrophobic. This Mother Naked was paid a pittance, but it wasn't for lack of talent! I don't want to say anything specific about the story or characters - going into it as innocent as possible will make it even better. I would love to see this as a movie - what a great challenge it would be!
October 22, 2025
BRILLANT. Magnifiquement sombre. Traduction plus qu'impeccable, elle est incroyable et restitue à merveille l'ambiance et l'atmosphère de l'époque ! A lire absolument plutôt que les blockbusters de la rentrée littéraire qui n'ont pas besoin des libraires pour se vendre. Il vaut mieux soutenir les petites maisons. Ce livre en est l'exemple.
October 3, 2024
medieval court jester goes on revenge rampage? IT'S LIKE THIS WAS MADE JUST FOR ME, AS THE PERFECT AUDIENCE. i fucking LOVED THIS i cannot stop talking about it
September 9, 2024
I loved this book. Mother Naked, a traveling minstrel or gleeman, has arrived in Durham to entertain the city’s leaders on the feast of St Godric in 1434. He promises them the story of the Legend of the Fell Wraith, a ghastly ghost who ravaged a nearby village 40 years prior.
The tales Mother Naked tells to the gathered men is apologetically political, but the message to readers is unapologetically political: the wealthy continue to exploit the poor and feel entitled to do so.
Although the injustices and humiliations endured by the 14th century villeins, who were bound to a lord and his land in exchange for the use of small plots for their sustenance, were infuriating, the stories Mother Naked weaves of his own long life and the mysteries unraveled make for a great read, one the reader will enjoy far more than the men of Durham. Highly recommended!
The tales Mother Naked tells to the gathered men is apologetically political, but the message to readers is unapologetically political: the wealthy continue to exploit the poor and feel entitled to do so.
Although the injustices and humiliations endured by the 14th century villeins, who were bound to a lord and his land in exchange for the use of small plots for their sustenance, were infuriating, the stories Mother Naked weaves of his own long life and the mysteries unraveled make for a great read, one the reader will enjoy far more than the men of Durham. Highly recommended!
September 22, 2024
Sad, sharp, & riveting with tinges of The Count of Monte Cristo.
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 19, 2025
4,5 ! j'ai vraiment hésité avec 5...
November 9, 2025
ÇA j’ai pas pris le temps d’en parler mais c’était TROP bien !!! c l’histoire d’un ménestrel en Angleterre au début du XVe, un peu inconnu au bataillon, qui s’incruste dans le banquet des nobles et du sacristain de la grande ville du coin.. il leur impose un peu son récit, celui d’un village de la région, tout en rétablissant la vérité sur ce qu’il s’est passé là-bas, et n’omet surtout pas de rappeler à certains les actes et les décisions qui ont été prises par leurs soins et qui ont mené à cette tragédie.. c’est PIQUANT, IRONIQUE à souhait, ça parle de lutte sociale et de conditions de vie et de travail déplorables, toute sa logorrhée est absolument délicieuse j’ai adoré !!!!!!
January 14, 2026
4.5*
Mother Naked is a fascinating book. Despite starting slowly, the payoff is so worth it. Genre-wise, it feels like folk horror, but the horror lies not in olungodly beasts and creatures but in the human heart, exploitation, and class oppression.
The whole time, I wondered what would have changed had their been more solidarity among the villagers instead of the feuding and solitary struggling going on. It was the time of the Peasant Uprising, but these villeins chose their own interests and vengeance over the common good, which led to their demise.
However, this book still mostly criticises the system more than the individual. Particularly, the church takes centre stage as the institution most severely judged. Until now, I never quite realised how deep their abuse of the common people went. Keeping them ignorant of the bible, squeezing them to their last penny and threatening them every other second with hell and Godly wrath. The fearful obligation with which the people were following their priests every word.
Living in capitalism, one sometimes forgets the societal systems preceeding ti were different but not necessarily better. Still, it was sad seeing the people of Sergeston rejoice in the end over the introduction of something like capitalism. They think that this is so much better than what came before.
Mother Naked is a tale of men-made monsters. A tale betimes almost too dark and painful for me. But also one that constantly impressed me. I loved the twists and revelations we got, masterfully foreshadowed and yet shocking every time. The ending filled me with vengeful glee and catharsis. Although, I am wondering, where is Mother Naked now? What happened to him? How did he live on? How did he eventually die? A truly great character of a truly great book.
Mother Naked is a fascinating book. Despite starting slowly, the payoff is so worth it. Genre-wise, it feels like folk horror, but the horror lies not in olungodly beasts and creatures but in the human heart, exploitation, and class oppression.
The whole time, I wondered what would have changed had their been more solidarity among the villagers instead of the feuding and solitary struggling going on. It was the time of the Peasant Uprising, but these villeins chose their own interests and vengeance over the common good, which led to their demise.
However, this book still mostly criticises the system more than the individual. Particularly, the church takes centre stage as the institution most severely judged. Until now, I never quite realised how deep their abuse of the common people went. Keeping them ignorant of the bible, squeezing them to their last penny and threatening them every other second with hell and Godly wrath. The fearful obligation with which the people were following their priests every word.
Living in capitalism, one sometimes forgets the societal systems preceeding ti were different but not necessarily better. Still, it was sad seeing the people of Sergeston rejoice in the end over the introduction of something like capitalism. They think that this is so much better than what came before.
Mother Naked is a tale of men-made monsters. A tale betimes almost too dark and painful for me. But also one that constantly impressed me. I loved the twists and revelations we got, masterfully foreshadowed and yet shocking every time. The ending filled me with vengeful glee and catharsis. Although, I am wondering, where is Mother Naked now? What happened to him? How did he live on? How did he eventually die? A truly great character of a truly great book.
October 10, 2025
Après le coup de cœur pour Ironopolis, Glen James Brown m'embarque à nouveau dans son dernier roman qui allie une forme inventive à un récit percutant.
Mother Naked est un ménestrel, qui remplace au pied levé son éminent confrère Melchior Blanchflower pour une soirée de divertissement devant les puissants et marchands de Durham. Un ménestrel qui a réellement existé et qui a été payé un groat pour sa prestation, soit la plus petite somme jamais dépensée pour un spectacle. Pourquoi ? Peut-être parce qu'il décide de raconter la légende locale du spectre de Segerston, qui permet à l'auteur de déployer ses talents de conteur dans ce long monologue de cent courts chapitres. Bien évidemment, la légende n'est pas qu'une légende, c'est l'occasion de parler de la famille Payne au cœur d'un monde paysan en colère. Entre rivalités et jalousies, Mother Naked chante un drame social où les puissants asservissent les pauvres, où les paysans se retournent les uns contre les autres, pris dans les filets de la misère et de la servilité.
On retrouve donc les thématiques sociales chères à l'auteur, une peinture réaliste et historique de la paysannerie au 15e siècle en Angleterre, avec tout ce que cela implique au quotidien. Mais on retrouve aussi son amour pour le travail d'écriture, avec un récit/monologue très théâtral qui nous plonge dans cette représentation d'un soir, ainsi que son penchant pour le réalisme magique et l'importance du folklore dans le quotidien d'une classe socio-économique. Les légendes font partie du tissu social et permettent de dévoiler ce qui se joue véritablement entre les membres de cette société. Bref, c'est un chef-d'œuvre et j'ai hâte de lire le prochain roman de l'auteur !
Mother Naked est un ménestrel, qui remplace au pied levé son éminent confrère Melchior Blanchflower pour une soirée de divertissement devant les puissants et marchands de Durham. Un ménestrel qui a réellement existé et qui a été payé un groat pour sa prestation, soit la plus petite somme jamais dépensée pour un spectacle. Pourquoi ? Peut-être parce qu'il décide de raconter la légende locale du spectre de Segerston, qui permet à l'auteur de déployer ses talents de conteur dans ce long monologue de cent courts chapitres. Bien évidemment, la légende n'est pas qu'une légende, c'est l'occasion de parler de la famille Payne au cœur d'un monde paysan en colère. Entre rivalités et jalousies, Mother Naked chante un drame social où les puissants asservissent les pauvres, où les paysans se retournent les uns contre les autres, pris dans les filets de la misère et de la servilité.
On retrouve donc les thématiques sociales chères à l'auteur, une peinture réaliste et historique de la paysannerie au 15e siècle en Angleterre, avec tout ce que cela implique au quotidien. Mais on retrouve aussi son amour pour le travail d'écriture, avec un récit/monologue très théâtral qui nous plonge dans cette représentation d'un soir, ainsi que son penchant pour le réalisme magique et l'importance du folklore dans le quotidien d'une classe socio-économique. Les légendes font partie du tissu social et permettent de dévoiler ce qui se joue véritablement entre les membres de cette société. Bref, c'est un chef-d'œuvre et j'ai hâte de lire le prochain roman de l'auteur !
March 11, 2025
Teesside author Glen James Brown is one of our upcoming North of England writers, inevitably compared to Benjamin Myers with this novel and its historic links to Durham Cathedral.
Modyr Nakett (Mother Naked in old English) was recorded as being a wandering minstrel who was paid one groat, or four pence, in the cathedral's bursar accounts from 1433-34. He is the inspiration for this piece of historical and yet speculative fiction. Written in the medieval idiom this is a tale of class tensions, not short on violence.
The aging minstrel, the titular Mother Naked who narrates throughout, arrives at the cathedral to entertain the city’s most powerful men. He has come to tell the story of the Legend of the Fell Wraith, about a gruesome ‘walking ghost’ some say slaughtered all of the nearby village of Segerston forty years earlier. But is this a myth, or do the murders he speaks of have roots in real events.
It doesn’t quite live up to its explosive first quarter, though it is throughly entertaining and validates Brown’s place as one of the country’s up and coming young writers.
Interestingly for fellow Cumbrians, the minstrel speaks of his wandering further west, in Westmoreland, and to the Appleby Fair.
Modyr Nakett (Mother Naked in old English) was recorded as being a wandering minstrel who was paid one groat, or four pence, in the cathedral's bursar accounts from 1433-34. He is the inspiration for this piece of historical and yet speculative fiction. Written in the medieval idiom this is a tale of class tensions, not short on violence.
The aging minstrel, the titular Mother Naked who narrates throughout, arrives at the cathedral to entertain the city’s most powerful men. He has come to tell the story of the Legend of the Fell Wraith, about a gruesome ‘walking ghost’ some say slaughtered all of the nearby village of Segerston forty years earlier. But is this a myth, or do the murders he speaks of have roots in real events.
It doesn’t quite live up to its explosive first quarter, though it is throughly entertaining and validates Brown’s place as one of the country’s up and coming young writers.
Interestingly for fellow Cumbrians, the minstrel speaks of his wandering further west, in Westmoreland, and to the Appleby Fair.
January 16, 2026
In winter, I often want to read something about the Middle Ages. The cold and darkness somehow set my mind on the Dark Ages.
Thanks to the cover that caught my eye, I chose this book while crawling through some lists on this website.
And am I ever so glad I did. This book is purely brilliant.
It is brilliantly written, if you are not afraid of your "aulde"s and your "thyne"s.
It is brilliantly structured. The story just weaves and doesn't let you go. I did forsee the ending, but my satisfaction at it was still great and warm.
It's brilliantly charged with emotions. Oh my god, I don't remember the last time I felt such rage and such pity while reading! Or when I discussed the book I read with so many people, wanting just to vent my emotions.
It is indeed a powerful manifesto of the working classes, but it is not cheesy, or loud, or false. It is moving and truthful.
And if you ever need a reason to hate church as an institution, look no farther. You will simply despise it without ever hearing a bad word said against it in the book.
Brilliant!
Thanks to the cover that caught my eye, I chose this book while crawling through some lists on this website.
And am I ever so glad I did. This book is purely brilliant.
It is brilliantly written, if you are not afraid of your "aulde"s and your "thyne"s.
It is brilliantly structured. The story just weaves and doesn't let you go. I did forsee the ending, but my satisfaction at it was still great and warm.
It's brilliantly charged with emotions. Oh my god, I don't remember the last time I felt such rage and such pity while reading! Or when I discussed the book I read with so many people, wanting just to vent my emotions.
It is indeed a powerful manifesto of the working classes, but it is not cheesy, or loud, or false. It is moving and truthful.
And if you ever need a reason to hate church as an institution, look no farther. You will simply despise it without ever hearing a bad word said against it in the book.
Brilliant!
dnf
July 30, 2025I have seen from the first dozen pages how the story of the fell wraith is going to slowly unravel into a story of those with power causing harm and destruction to their neighbors due to greed. I feel like I am going to be waiting for the book to catch up to itself if I continue to read. Unfortunately, despite enjoying the writing and the premise, I don’t think this book is for me. Seeing as it is told from the mouth of a storyteller to a gathering of people, there are not really characters to connect with because the happenings are slowly being detailed, anecdote by anecdote, with a distance from the emotion and people.
December 17, 2025
J’ai adoré ! Un roman plutôt original, où l’on suit le récit d’un ménestrel, découvrant au fur et à mesure comment son histoire résonne avec son auditoire et s’entre mêle au réel… on est porté du début à la fin !
September 24, 2025
Une pépite
C’est rythmé, musical, poétique, entraînant !
Une réflexion sociologique transposable à notre époque avec une monté en tension qui se tient tout au long du roman.
C’est rythmé, musical, poétique, entraînant !
Une réflexion sociologique transposable à notre époque avec une monté en tension qui se tient tout au long du roman.
October 14, 2025
Mother Naked président?
January 14, 2026
Video review to follow
September 27, 2025
4.5
L’histoire est prenante, on lit d’une traite !
Beau travail de traduction !
L’histoire est prenante, on lit d’une traite !
Beau travail de traduction !
September 7, 2025
banger en fait
August 28, 2024
Surprised how much enjoyed this one (margate bookclub read!)
June 10, 2024
Honestly this was better than I expected! The story was engaging and really made me think - unsure about the historical accuracy (because I know nothing about this time in England) but really an interesting read!
September 7, 2024
Compelling storytelling. Witty sarcasm turns to violent rage against the system (highly relevant for today).
October 18, 2024
4.5 Stars.
It is 1397, and a peasant 'gleeman' (a wandering bard/orator) Mottyr Naked, recounts the tale of the destruction of his home to its ultimate destroyers. With total commitment to its style, this book is delivered as one vitriolic monologue in 'Auld English'.
As the book twists and winds, the expectation is of one massive, cathartic reveal. Instead Brown breaks down the story, and each twist that a lesser writer would have made the central 'punch', is one in a stage of many. The identity of Mottyr, of the fell wraith Annie, the lingering presence of Pearl Eye and the Mercers, are all slowly teased out and revealed, bringing new questions. The structure is superlative, where the information given to the audience, embedded and reader, is expertly controlled and unveiled.
Further, the ideas of the text are also incredibly enticing, appealing to the reader's sense of justice and delivering a very satisfying ending. The notions of medieval class, with its hierarchical ordering, and the interaction of faith and vassalhood, is stretched and drawn out throughout the book with a seething awareness of the injustice it perpetuates. Mother Naked is not just the story of one man's cunning revenge, and transmogrification from 'mysterious stranger' to 'avenging son', but of a class hatred and scrabble for justice.
To go from the scant springboard of the historical recorded performance of 'Mottyr Naked' in 1433-4, to this story, is stunning.
It is 1397, and a peasant 'gleeman' (a wandering bard/orator) Mottyr Naked, recounts the tale of the destruction of his home to its ultimate destroyers. With total commitment to its style, this book is delivered as one vitriolic monologue in 'Auld English'.
As the book twists and winds, the expectation is of one massive, cathartic reveal. Instead Brown breaks down the story, and each twist that a lesser writer would have made the central 'punch', is one in a stage of many. The identity of Mottyr, of the fell wraith Annie, the lingering presence of Pearl Eye and the Mercers, are all slowly teased out and revealed, bringing new questions. The structure is superlative, where the information given to the audience, embedded and reader, is expertly controlled and unveiled.
Further, the ideas of the text are also incredibly enticing, appealing to the reader's sense of justice and delivering a very satisfying ending. The notions of medieval class, with its hierarchical ordering, and the interaction of faith and vassalhood, is stretched and drawn out throughout the book with a seething awareness of the injustice it perpetuates. Mother Naked is not just the story of one man's cunning revenge, and transmogrification from 'mysterious stranger' to 'avenging son', but of a class hatred and scrabble for justice.
To go from the scant springboard of the historical recorded performance of 'Mottyr Naked' in 1433-4, to this story, is stunning.
July 16, 2024
The more I read the more I loved it. It's a medieval monologue that unfolds like a Poe story mixing the tragic and comic with horrors ordinary and extraordinary. I'd love to see this as a one man performance on stage.
April 11, 2025
But what I tell be no base ghost story fit only to the frightening of bairns. There be a grander purpose, Sacrist, one you should see in goode tyme.
Set in 1434 at Durham Cathedral, Mother Naked is delivered as a monologue by its title character, the minstrel Modyr Nakett—a real historical figure who once performed at the Cathedral and, according to the records, was paid the lowest sum of any entertainer: a mere four pence (roughly £10 in today’s money). Mother sets out to tell the tale of the Fell Wraith, a legendary creature that supposedly destroyed the nearby village of Sergeston some 40 years earlier. But he quickly warns his audience: this is no simple ghost story. In fact, it may not be a ghost story at all.
And this is no ordinary audience either. Gathered for the feast of Saint Godric at Durham Cathedral are the Sacrist, head of the Church, and members of the Mercer (Merchant) Guild. If you know anything about feudal society, you know how rigid and hierarchical it was. Peasants not only had to work their lord's land before tending to their own, but they also had to pay for the privilege and live under an unyielding set of rules. Religion played a central role in maintaining this order, preaching that each person’s station in life was divinely ordained and not to be questioned.
Though we no longer live under feudalism, the parallels are hard to miss. Despite being set in the early 15th century, Mother Naked reads as a pointed reflection of our own times. It’s unsettling how little has changed. Even though I picked up the book knowing it was meant to comment on contemporary issues, I did feel the parallels were sometimes a little too on the nose—but then again, maybe the times really haven’t changed that much.
My only other critique is that the ending felt a bit too tidy. Throughout his tale, Mother Naked veers off into side stories and digressions, all of which ultimately come together in the end. These tangents—which often involve other supposed supernatural events—eventually reveal rational explanations and feed into the story’s larger message: that myths and legends often mask more mundane (but no less important) truths. Still, as everything neatly clicks into place, it begins to feel a little too grand, a little too orchestrated.
But then I remembered—this is a story told by a 15th-century minstrel. It’s not a contemporary novel where we expect ambiguous endings and morally grey characters. And if you look back at the quote at the top, you'll notice it’s written in Shakespearean—or rather, early modern—English, from the 16th century, about a hundred years after the historical Modyr Nakett lived. Which raises an intriguing question: are we reading Mother Naked’s performance as it happened, or are we reading a later retelling? After all, isn’t the author himself a kind of minstrel too?
All in all, I highly recommend this book. It’s short, and despite being written in a stylized, Shakespearean register, it’s surprisingly readable and quick to get through.
4.75
January 3, 2026
Such a fun read! It offers the very best historical and moral lessons that a book set in the late Middle Ages makes possible, what with Lollardy, the Black Death, and rural unrest and reform. I never got to study this period of history formally, so dipping into it through this novel has only whetted my appetite. It’s just absolutely genius to tell the tale as a monologue - it is there that the horror of the story lies, more so than some of the gruesome images conjured by Mother.
The mentor mentee relationship between Pearl Eye and Mother Naked feels reminiscent of that between the monks William and Adso in The Name of the Rose. I think articulating the tensions of the time through such a relationship works brilliantly as a narrative form.
I can’t understate how movingly the daily struggle of the villeins is painted. There’s a line about how the poor can’t even afford to dream about the future because they are ‘one groat from the grave.’ I think it does justice to the psychological consequences of class differences that endure to this day.
The mentor mentee relationship between Pearl Eye and Mother Naked feels reminiscent of that between the monks William and Adso in The Name of the Rose. I think articulating the tensions of the time through such a relationship works brilliantly as a narrative form.
I can’t understate how movingly the daily struggle of the villeins is painted. There’s a line about how the poor can’t even afford to dream about the future because they are ‘one groat from the grave.’ I think it does justice to the psychological consequences of class differences that endure to this day.
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