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A Castle in England
A collaboration between writer Jamie Rhodes and the National Trust, A Castle in England is a unique and fascinating graphic fiction project inspired by Scotney Castle in Kent.
Using the rich history of this fourteenth-century castle as a starting point, Rhodes has created five short stories that take place over different eras in the castle's past: The Labourer (Medieval), The Priest (Elizabethan), The Smuggler (Georgian), The Widow (Victorian), and The Hunter (Edwardian). Each of these stories has been illustrated by experienced comic and graphic novel artists Isaac Lenkiewicz, Briony May Smith, William Exley, Becky Palmer, and Isabel Greenberg, creating a visually striking graphic collection that is steeped in historical context.
Jamie Rhodes is a London based writer working in screen, prose, and comics. He studied Philosophy at Manchester Metropolitan University, where he focused on Heideggarian studies and Phenomenology. He later trained as a script reader and co-founded the filmmaking collective, Donkey Stone Films, in Nottingham. Jamie has been supported by: EM Media, IdeasTap, Arvon Foundation, Spread the Word, and the Arts Council England. He is the author of Dead Men’s Teeth, launched at the British Library in 2014.
Using the rich history of this fourteenth-century castle as a starting point, Rhodes has created five short stories that take place over different eras in the castle's past: The Labourer (Medieval), The Priest (Elizabethan), The Smuggler (Georgian), The Widow (Victorian), and The Hunter (Edwardian). Each of these stories has been illustrated by experienced comic and graphic novel artists Isaac Lenkiewicz, Briony May Smith, William Exley, Becky Palmer, and Isabel Greenberg, creating a visually striking graphic collection that is steeped in historical context.
Jamie Rhodes is a London based writer working in screen, prose, and comics. He studied Philosophy at Manchester Metropolitan University, where he focused on Heideggarian studies and Phenomenology. He later trained as a script reader and co-founded the filmmaking collective, Donkey Stone Films, in Nottingham. Jamie has been supported by: EM Media, IdeasTap, Arvon Foundation, Spread the Word, and the Arts Council England. He is the author of Dead Men’s Teeth, launched at the British Library in 2014.
141 pages, Hardcover
Published August 15, 2017
4 people are currently reading
630 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
November 25, 2017
I liked the concept of telling stories about the people inhabiting one castle in five different eras, but I found the execution far too frustrating to enjoy. The art and writing combined to make most of the stories difficult to follow or completely opaque unless one read the introduction and the notes afterward. It smacks of, "If you have to explain why a joke is funny..."
And frankly, if you're going to include a historical context for each story in order to explain it, how about including a historical context for the bloody castle at the heart of the book. Would it have hurt to include some actual photos or a layout of the castle and the manor house that was constructed later? Maybe include a map showing where it is located? Or maybe explain what a "folly ruin" is if you're going to use the term repeatedly and address how that modification altered the original structure?
And frankly, if you're going to include a historical context for each story in order to explain it, how about including a historical context for the bloody castle at the heart of the book. Would it have hurt to include some actual photos or a layout of the castle and the manor house that was constructed later? Maybe include a map showing where it is located? Or maybe explain what a "folly ruin" is if you're going to use the term repeatedly and address how that modification altered the original structure?
June 25, 2017
3.5 stars. The drawings are irregular and sometimes confusing, but the accompanying texts are really informative and give a real sense of time and place. It overall works in giving a feel of the passing of time and the historical circumstances around it, as well as how castles affected the people around them. The edition is beautiful, as it is usually the case with Nobrow.
August 1, 2017
Thanks to the publisher for a hardcover copy!
I thought this was such a cool idea for a graphic novel: the writer researched archives and collections of Scotney Castle in Kent, and then created 5 individual stories from the castle's history, each with a different illustrator. If you don't like a particular artist, you know you'll be moving on quickly to another. For anyone who is curious about exploring graphic novels, this would be a great way to dip your toe into them.
I thought this was such a cool idea for a graphic novel: the writer researched archives and collections of Scotney Castle in Kent, and then created 5 individual stories from the castle's history, each with a different illustrator. If you don't like a particular artist, you know you'll be moving on quickly to another. For anyone who is curious about exploring graphic novels, this would be a great way to dip your toe into them.
August 16, 2017
Interesting history and stories, but the graphic novel sections are done in a way that i often couldn't make sense of the story until i got to the text pages afterward that explained the actual historical facts adapted to make the story. It's a combination of simplistic art style and just plain confusing sequencing, and i could have loved this book if i were able to make sense of the graphic novel sections as stand-alones.
September 14, 2022
Unfortunately this graphic novel left a lot to be desired. The stories felt like reading plaques in a museum (just historical facts without any life or flourish added), and the artwork was messy, fragmented and hard to follow. I liked the concept, but didn’t feel like it was executed well.
January 20, 2018
I enjoyed this quite a lot. It places a single castle, Scotney Castle, within the context of English history by telling five individual stories set at the castle, ranging from Medieval to Edwardian, each researched from the historical record.
The stories are also each illustrated by a different artist and at the end of every story is two pages of text that gives the details of the story and further information.
As much as I enjoyed the concept, I didn’t like the artwork. Despite being drawn by five different artists, the artwork all felt the same, which was probably reinforced by the orange and black coloring used for all of them.
I could pretty much follow the stories, except for the third one, set in the Georgian era. With that one, I was unable to differentiate between the characters and understand the action until I read the text at the end.
Despite not loving the artwork, I still am happy I read this and I particularly appreciated the list of books for further reading, divided by era, found at the end of the book.
The stories are also each illustrated by a different artist and at the end of every story is two pages of text that gives the details of the story and further information.
As much as I enjoyed the concept, I didn’t like the artwork. Despite being drawn by five different artists, the artwork all felt the same, which was probably reinforced by the orange and black coloring used for all of them.
I could pretty much follow the stories, except for the third one, set in the Georgian era. With that one, I was unable to differentiate between the characters and understand the action until I read the text at the end.
Despite not loving the artwork, I still am happy I read this and I particularly appreciated the list of books for further reading, divided by era, found at the end of the book.
October 14, 2020
What a frustrating book: the idea is wonderful (vignettes of life in a British castle through history interpreted by different artists) and it’s beautifully written... but.... BUT... why the hell have Nobrow, a respected publisher of alternative comics and artists credited this to the writer and not the artists? They’re mentioned but not on the cover or spine or back. And that’s maddening because the beauty of the book is well researched, simple stories - and their historical context - interpreted in very different ways (and the art IS sublime and nicely use different styles to tell the tales) so why aren’t the artists given full credit? So annoying
February 18, 2021
Unfortunately, not even Isabel Greenberg’s illustrations could make me bear this.
January 16, 2022
3 stars but leaning towards 2.5 - very interesting idea, nice stories, informative, but perhaps not entirely my style.
December 23, 2017
There is so much potential in this title, from the concept showcasing the history of the residences of a single castle (I love histories); the artist contributions (showcasing 5 different creators/whose styles matched beautifully the historical context they each represented); to the unusual peach and tan colour palette (which I actually thought was quite splendid). I was pretty excited about it -- but it fell so very flat. Where could this have faltered?
The biggest detriment to this comic was the commission status of it: paid for by the National Trust and Arts Council England. A commissioned work where money issued furthers the idea of arts and history. This isn't a bad thing, but in the context of comic books and graphic novels greatly affects the creation process and henceforth, the reading experience. It was not written for the public, but FOR its commissioners.
As a Canadian I often pick up comic books commissioned by the Canadian Arts Council. And this same sentiment holds true. But at least in these instances, they are telling the story of my country, and they are expressing it with a Canadian sensibility. These works are more innately understood when it is your own country paying for it. But this isn't. It's foreign to me. And any potential subtle "cultural-isms" are lost on me.
The reading experience of this is like a friend returning from vacation and I'm now stuck watching a slide show of the experience. Looking at a photo of people standing around. Having to listen to an explanation of what is happening not in the picture, but behind the camera. This is not a good time.
Each of the five stories that make up this book require extensive explanation to be understood. The illustration isn't doing it's job. One of the first questions I ask myself when I'm evaluating sequential art works is "If I take away the text, can I understand this?" The answer is a fervent "no". And this work has FIVE sets of text: The family tree to start, a quote at the beginning of each story to set the mood, the text represented in the comic to give the characters speech, the brief history of the events to give context to the story, and the brief history of the family history currently residing at the castle to explain the action.
All but the family tree and quote at the beginning are essential to understanding this work. Remove any of the others, and this work crumbles into nonsensical gibberish.
If you think about it in the reverse... "If I take away the art, can I understand this?" The answer is definitely "yes". But who would want to read the scant historical summary that remains?
There are so many good things about this comic, but the fact that the art requires instruction at this intense of a level is a problem.
And then... to rub salt in that wound...
The formatting of this text! Each story has the text handwritten in the style of the art/artist (wonderful). The histories unfortunately do not follow in the same style. Instead they are presented using a small textbook-like font on blank white pages (from a graphic novel stand point is incredibly boring to look at), each paragraph numbered (for no apparent reason but to perplex me greatly) with one small illustration from the preceding comic (for no apparent reason but to remind me that the summary has some relationship to the previous story). It just didn't make sense, and didn't match in the slightest the graphic portion of the work.
If you want to read a work that gets it right, I'd recommend going for 750 Years in Paris by Vincent Mahé instead.
The biggest detriment to this comic was the commission status of it: paid for by the National Trust and Arts Council England. A commissioned work where money issued furthers the idea of arts and history. This isn't a bad thing, but in the context of comic books and graphic novels greatly affects the creation process and henceforth, the reading experience. It was not written for the public, but FOR its commissioners.
As a Canadian I often pick up comic books commissioned by the Canadian Arts Council. And this same sentiment holds true. But at least in these instances, they are telling the story of my country, and they are expressing it with a Canadian sensibility. These works are more innately understood when it is your own country paying for it. But this isn't. It's foreign to me. And any potential subtle "cultural-isms" are lost on me.
The reading experience of this is like a friend returning from vacation and I'm now stuck watching a slide show of the experience. Looking at a photo of people standing around. Having to listen to an explanation of what is happening not in the picture, but behind the camera. This is not a good time.
Each of the five stories that make up this book require extensive explanation to be understood. The illustration isn't doing it's job. One of the first questions I ask myself when I'm evaluating sequential art works is "If I take away the text, can I understand this?" The answer is a fervent "no". And this work has FIVE sets of text: The family tree to start, a quote at the beginning of each story to set the mood, the text represented in the comic to give the characters speech, the brief history of the events to give context to the story, and the brief history of the family history currently residing at the castle to explain the action.
All but the family tree and quote at the beginning are essential to understanding this work. Remove any of the others, and this work crumbles into nonsensical gibberish.
If you think about it in the reverse... "If I take away the art, can I understand this?" The answer is definitely "yes". But who would want to read the scant historical summary that remains?
There are so many good things about this comic, but the fact that the art requires instruction at this intense of a level is a problem.
And then... to rub salt in that wound...
The formatting of this text! Each story has the text handwritten in the style of the art/artist (wonderful). The histories unfortunately do not follow in the same style. Instead they are presented using a small textbook-like font on blank white pages (from a graphic novel stand point is incredibly boring to look at), each paragraph numbered (for no apparent reason but to perplex me greatly) with one small illustration from the preceding comic (for no apparent reason but to remind me that the summary has some relationship to the previous story). It just didn't make sense, and didn't match in the slightest the graphic portion of the work.
If you want to read a work that gets it right, I'd recommend going for 750 Years in Paris by Vincent Mahé instead.
February 22, 2018
As with any collection of short stories (or short graphic fiction), this is a bit of a mixed bag. I greatly enjoyed the art/stories of a couple of these, found a couple more to be rather unengaging, and felt the last to be incomprehensible in its artistic depiction of the tale—a shame, since I believe that one had the potential to be the most exciting.
As for the historical aspect, this is more a history of England than a history of a castle, and while it's mildly interesting as such, I had been hoping for something a little more dependent on the castle for its storytelling lens. The castle is present in all these tales, but only occasionally does its existence seem to matter.
As for the historical aspect, this is more a history of England than a history of a castle, and while it's mildly interesting as such, I had been hoping for something a little more dependent on the castle for its storytelling lens. The castle is present in all these tales, but only occasionally does its existence seem to matter.
September 20, 2017
The history portions of the book are well written and show solid research. The concept of the book as a whole is also very cool. Unfortunately, I felt many of the illustrated portions were a bit confusing in the way they were plotted and I wasn't always a huge fan of the art styles used throughout.
October 30, 2017
I liked the history of the castle and families. However the colors chosen made the graphics hard to read and follow.
September 12, 2017
This is a cute quick read I won through GoodReads. It takes one castle in England and tells various stories of the people inhabiting it from the Middle Ages through to the Victorian Era. Each story is told through graphic storyboards with a historical context and specific background about the castle at the time. Some of the illustrated stories were confusing and relied heavily on the factual afterward for complete understanding, but I enjoyed the book over all. It is a nice light historical read.
July 10, 2017
Cool project: it's a biography of place more than people, with short comics set in different time periods over the life of a castle -- I love the juxtaposition of history and imagery. I understand why the short synopses are at the end of each comic, and I think they add a lot, but I wish more of the story was more apparent in each comic section. I also really appreciate the variety of comic artists involved.
Advanced reader's copy provided by edelweiss.
Advanced reader's copy provided by edelweiss.
January 22, 2018
3.5 but I'm feeling charitable so upping it to a 4. Some of the stories were a bit hard to follow, and I wish it had been longer. The explanations after the comics were interesting (the Historical Context sections), but I wish they hadn't repeated the same explanations at the beginning of each comic, making me read the same thing twice (I hate that). I also wish they had picked another colour than then burnt orange used throughout. So, why a 4, instead of a 3? I like historical comics, and I liked the last two in particular ("The Window", and "The Hunter") a lot.
September 17, 2017
I don't have a lot of experience with graphic novels, but I do with English history, so I thought this would be a good way to try something new without it being completely foreign to me. I had a hard time telling the story just from the illustrations, I definitely needed the historical notes at the end of each one to make sense of it. However those notes did a good job of explaining both the historical circumstances and the story that was being told about the family living in the castle.
October 12, 2017
One author, five artists, five different stories about historical events that occurred in and around Scotney Castle in Kent, England. The writing is sometimes oblique to a fault, but the notes attached to each story do a fine job of filling in the blanks, encouraging re-reading - and the art is a charming array of different styles. Well worth an evening of your time.
February 4, 2021
Great concept poorly done. I couldn’t understand any of the stories until I read the explanation afterwards. I was wishing for more info about the castle itself. Photographs would have been amazing, or even just a sketch and general overview.
August 31, 2024
A lovely read and a really interesting approach, looking at the families connected to Scotney Castle in Kent over the last millennium. Beautiful illustrations and really interesting historical context for each story
September 10, 2017
I love Nobrow press. I love the five illustrators hired for this National Trust project. I love English history and moody castles with varied pasts. I also love the idea of 5 stories that represent different time periods set in the same castle. The stories themselves could be disjointed and something about it just did not feel like it came together properly. Still ... I kind of loved it just because and I recommend you check it out if you love the same things.
December 23, 2017
Some interesting history, but wasn’t fond of the art/storytelling.
Read
November 4, 2025(after being mounted on a spike) Simon Sudbury‘s head can still be seen on display in kent 635 years later --- WHAT. peasant revolt slay
September 7, 2019
I love the idea of this book, and the history of the castle, but was disappointed by the exectution of the graphic novel stories, which I found hard to read.
June 4, 2017
This was ok, but not great. I wasn't really taken by the illustrations. Although each chapter was done by a different artist, they all have a similar tone and feel to them. I didn't really like the coloring, and found some of the drawings hard to follow. The stories were interesting, but unfinished, which is the way of history. I would have liked a map to show exactly where Scofield Castle is located. Not awful, but nothing to sing about either.
November 14, 2017
This was a really cool idea to tell five different stories from a castle's very long history, but the stories themselves were kinda short and just ended before you could get a sense of what was going on. The author's notes were more informative than the stories. However, having five different artists was cool and it helped emphasize the passage of time and different periods of history. Interesting book, overall.
January 3, 2018
A graphic novel anthology very thematically similar to 750 YEARS IN PARIS in that it a series of 5 stories centered around a single castle in Kent, ranging from the Peasants' Revolt in the 1380s to the Edwardian era. Each story is by a different artist, and were inspired by the real people who lived at Scotney Castle, as well as diaries, letters, and artifacts from the castle's collection. A fascinating and intriguing little book.
August 16, 2018
I want this for a gig--someone to let me live in a castle for a year; and to do all of the research for me about said castle; and to let me wander all about the holloways (what a delicious word!) and byways of the area; and to feed me; and to do genealogical listings of the family for me; and then I will write up 4 stories about all of this; and someone else (4 someone elses) will illustrate them for me! It would be amazing!
This however, isn't. Strictly my opinion. I didn't enjoy all of the illustrators, and the stories were oddly disjointed and didn't flow together (not enough continuity between the years, events, family members) for me.
This however, isn't. Strictly my opinion. I didn't enjoy all of the illustrators, and the stories were oddly disjointed and didn't flow together (not enough continuity between the years, events, family members) for me.
September 18, 2017
I only wish it had been longer!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews