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Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile
SHORTLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE 2019Longlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize 20192019 Walter Scott Prize Academy recommendationIf you tell a story oft enoughSo it become trueAs the nineteenth century draws towards a close, Mary Ann Sate, an elderly maidservant, sets out to write her truth.She writes of the Valleys that she loves, of the poisonous rivalry between her employer's two sons and of a terrible choice which tore her world apart.Her haunting and poignant story brings to life a period of strife and rapid social change, and evokes the struggles of those who lived in poverty and have been forgotten by history.In this fictional found memoir, novelist Alice Jolly uses the astonishing voice of Mary Ann to recreate history as seen from a woman's perspective and to give joyful, poetic voice to the silenced women of the past.
613 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 14, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
May 18, 2019
Many will be daunted by the prospect of a 613-page historical novel written entirely in verse and narrated in dialect by an unlearned servant from a cloth mill town in Gloucestershire. I had heard about this Unbound release already, but my interest was redoubled by its shortlisting for the Rathbones Folio Prize and the RSL Ondaatje Prize. Although I, too, was initially intimidated by the heft of the hardback that came through my door for review, I found that I could easily settle into the rhythm and – provided I had no distractions – read 40 or 50 pages of it at a sitting.
The text is presented as a document found hidden behind a panel in the tower room at Mount Vernon, a manor house outside Stroud, in 1938. From the very first lines, readers will be entranced: “If you tell a story oft enough / So it become true.” As an elderly woman in the 1880s, Mary Ann Sate looks back at the events of the 1820s and 1830s, a time of social turmoil and upheaval in the family for whom she worked, the Cottrells. Harland Cottrell, a doctor, had two sons, Ned and Blyth, who were three years apart and extremely different in personality. They vied for their father’s approval and for the love of Lucetta, Mary Ann’s closest friend. While Blyth left for London to study anatomy, Ned fell in with radical thinkers and got involved in the weavers’ strikes and riots.
Through it all, Mary Ann was an uneasy observer and eventually a reluctant participant, standing guard during the mill workers’ clandestine meetings. With unemployment rising amid the clamour for universal male suffrage, the scene was set for a climactic clash between the common people and the landowning class. Progress requires sacrifices, and even 60 years later, when she’s working for old Master Blyth, Mary Ann questions whether she made the right choices. Writing is a compulsion and a form of confession for her. In common with the religious thinking of the time, she believes the course of her life was pre-determined:
Whether it be God or fate or what not I know
But all is laid out
We are but stands of corn
Who chose not whether we be bathd in sun
Or beatd flat by storm
[…]
Such is the piebald nature
Of our God glorious world
As seen even in these short excerpts, the book has no punctuation, not even apostrophes, and biblical allusions, spelling errors, archaisms and local pronunciation (such as “winder” for window and “zummer” for summer) make it feel absolutely true to the time period and to the narrator’s semi-literate status. There are no rhymes in this free verse epic, but occasionally Mary Ann comes out with some alliteration, perhaps incidental, or particularly poetic lines (“The road ahead unravel / Like a spool of canary thread / Taking me always away”) that testify to her gifts for storytelling and language, even though she made her living by manual labour for some seven decades.
The manner of the telling makes this a unique work of historical fiction, slightly challenging but very worthwhile. It was a perfect book for me to start reading on a weekend when I visited Stroud for the first time – I could picture the Valleys and golden stone houses that are so precious to Mary Ann. I do hope that the novel’s prize shortlisting will bring it more attention. (Good luck getting your book club to consider it, though – if yours is anything like mine, people are unlikely to be willing to read a book of over 300 pages, let alone over 600.) I would particularly recommend it to fans of Jane Harris’s The Observations.
The text is presented as a document found hidden behind a panel in the tower room at Mount Vernon, a manor house outside Stroud, in 1938. From the very first lines, readers will be entranced: “If you tell a story oft enough / So it become true.” As an elderly woman in the 1880s, Mary Ann Sate looks back at the events of the 1820s and 1830s, a time of social turmoil and upheaval in the family for whom she worked, the Cottrells. Harland Cottrell, a doctor, had two sons, Ned and Blyth, who were three years apart and extremely different in personality. They vied for their father’s approval and for the love of Lucetta, Mary Ann’s closest friend. While Blyth left for London to study anatomy, Ned fell in with radical thinkers and got involved in the weavers’ strikes and riots.
Through it all, Mary Ann was an uneasy observer and eventually a reluctant participant, standing guard during the mill workers’ clandestine meetings. With unemployment rising amid the clamour for universal male suffrage, the scene was set for a climactic clash between the common people and the landowning class. Progress requires sacrifices, and even 60 years later, when she’s working for old Master Blyth, Mary Ann questions whether she made the right choices. Writing is a compulsion and a form of confession for her. In common with the religious thinking of the time, she believes the course of her life was pre-determined:
Whether it be God or fate or what not I know
But all is laid out
We are but stands of corn
Who chose not whether we be bathd in sun
Or beatd flat by storm
[…]
Such is the piebald nature
Of our God glorious world
As seen even in these short excerpts, the book has no punctuation, not even apostrophes, and biblical allusions, spelling errors, archaisms and local pronunciation (such as “winder” for window and “zummer” for summer) make it feel absolutely true to the time period and to the narrator’s semi-literate status. There are no rhymes in this free verse epic, but occasionally Mary Ann comes out with some alliteration, perhaps incidental, or particularly poetic lines (“The road ahead unravel / Like a spool of canary thread / Taking me always away”) that testify to her gifts for storytelling and language, even though she made her living by manual labour for some seven decades.
The manner of the telling makes this a unique work of historical fiction, slightly challenging but very worthwhile. It was a perfect book for me to start reading on a weekend when I visited Stroud for the first time – I could picture the Valleys and golden stone houses that are so precious to Mary Ann. I do hope that the novel’s prize shortlisting will bring it more attention. (Good luck getting your book club to consider it, though – if yours is anything like mine, people are unlikely to be willing to read a book of over 300 pages, let alone over 600.) I would particularly recommend it to fans of Jane Harris’s The Observations.
June 12, 2018
Whilst caring for her ill master, servant Mary Ann Sate writes her life story.
Oh! Just occasionally there comes a work of fiction that is beyond definition and beyond superlatives. Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile is one such book. It is, quite simply, exquisite. I was spellbound from the first word to the last. Alice Jolly has not written a book about Mary Ann Sate; rather she has become Mary Ann Sate and bewitched me by her writing. Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile is, in fact, not merely a work of fiction, but is a work of genius. I am not sure where to begin to review it.
When I opened the book and saw that there isn’t a single full stop in over 600 pages I was initially daunted, but the moment I started reading I found the rhythms and cadences of the writing are like a beating heart that mesmerises and enthralls and I could not tear myself away. Set out rather like a ballad or narrative poem Mary Ann’s vernacular voice is rich and vibrant. Her emotions, her life and her personality shimmer and resonate so that it is impossible not to want to read the next section and the next.
So often I was reminded of the most meritorious work of our literary heritage because Alice Jolly writes with unparalleled skill. Wordsworth’s The Prelude, the poetry of John Clare and Gerard Manly Hopkins and so many more, echo through such is the richness of Alice Jolly’s words. Every word is carefully crafted and not a syllable is extraneous to this glorious tapestry of politics, medicine, education, social history, geography and humanity. The poetic quality of the writing conveys place especially well and I loved the colloquial spellings and style.
But alongside the dazzling literary merit that underpins Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile is fabulous storytelling, wonderful characterisation and a sense of place and history that is utterly beguiling. Mary Ann’s accounts of her love for Ambrose, the brutality of her early childhood, her gradual unfolding of events and the truth all make for a compelling narrative that entertains completely. I loved finding out about life at the time from the perspective of this very ordinary, and simultaneously extraordinary, woman. I feel changed by reading about her because of her gratitude for the precious drops of joy in life. So often her words conveyed so perfectly how I have often felt but have been unable to articulate.
I think the story works so incredibly well because it has its foundations in meticulously researched historical detail and whilst everything in the book is filtered through Mary Ann’s perspective, all of the remaining characters are still completely vivid and believable. I particularly loved the comic relief so often provided Nettie and I hated Freda Woebegone with a passion that surprised me.
I’m finding it impossible to convey what an amazing book I think this is. Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile is astounding. It is literary, accessible and absorbing. I think it may be the most remarkable book I have ever read and I feel privileged to have done so. I urge everyone to read it so that their lives can be enriched as mine has been.
https://lindasbookbag.com/2018/06/11/...
Oh! Just occasionally there comes a work of fiction that is beyond definition and beyond superlatives. Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile is one such book. It is, quite simply, exquisite. I was spellbound from the first word to the last. Alice Jolly has not written a book about Mary Ann Sate; rather she has become Mary Ann Sate and bewitched me by her writing. Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile is, in fact, not merely a work of fiction, but is a work of genius. I am not sure where to begin to review it.
When I opened the book and saw that there isn’t a single full stop in over 600 pages I was initially daunted, but the moment I started reading I found the rhythms and cadences of the writing are like a beating heart that mesmerises and enthralls and I could not tear myself away. Set out rather like a ballad or narrative poem Mary Ann’s vernacular voice is rich and vibrant. Her emotions, her life and her personality shimmer and resonate so that it is impossible not to want to read the next section and the next.
So often I was reminded of the most meritorious work of our literary heritage because Alice Jolly writes with unparalleled skill. Wordsworth’s The Prelude, the poetry of John Clare and Gerard Manly Hopkins and so many more, echo through such is the richness of Alice Jolly’s words. Every word is carefully crafted and not a syllable is extraneous to this glorious tapestry of politics, medicine, education, social history, geography and humanity. The poetic quality of the writing conveys place especially well and I loved the colloquial spellings and style.
But alongside the dazzling literary merit that underpins Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile is fabulous storytelling, wonderful characterisation and a sense of place and history that is utterly beguiling. Mary Ann’s accounts of her love for Ambrose, the brutality of her early childhood, her gradual unfolding of events and the truth all make for a compelling narrative that entertains completely. I loved finding out about life at the time from the perspective of this very ordinary, and simultaneously extraordinary, woman. I feel changed by reading about her because of her gratitude for the precious drops of joy in life. So often her words conveyed so perfectly how I have often felt but have been unable to articulate.
I think the story works so incredibly well because it has its foundations in meticulously researched historical detail and whilst everything in the book is filtered through Mary Ann’s perspective, all of the remaining characters are still completely vivid and believable. I particularly loved the comic relief so often provided Nettie and I hated Freda Woebegone with a passion that surprised me.
I’m finding it impossible to convey what an amazing book I think this is. Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile is astounding. It is literary, accessible and absorbing. I think it may be the most remarkable book I have ever read and I feel privileged to have done so. I urge everyone to read it so that their lives can be enriched as mine has been.
https://lindasbookbag.com/2018/06/11/...
April 8, 2019
I adored Alice Jolly's memoir, Dead Babies and Seaside Towns, and was keen to try some of her fiction. Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile was the only work which I could source through my library, and it intrigued me very much. In this work of historical fiction, which is told entirely in free verse, Jolly introduces us to the elderly maidservant Mary Ann Sate, who is working at the turn of the nineteenth century. It is described as a 'fictional found memoir', and I found the approach which Jolly took to her story and protagonist most interesting.
I enjoyed Jolly's writing; it feels both modern and old-fashioned, and reminded me somewhat of Nell Leyshon's impactful novella The Colour of Milk. Gorgeous, and often quite startling imagery, is produced throughout, and the traditional approach of chapters within the structure does help to make the 600-page story a little more accessible. The style did take a little while to get into, as no punctuation whatsoever has been used, and there is little which denotes the changing of scene, speaker, or ideas. Jolly has also included a lot of colloquialisms, which help Mary Ann's voice to come across as authentic. I very quickly got a feel for her, her life, and the time in which she was living. In some ways, Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile is a remarkable piece of fiction.
Whilst being very well researched, and having a strong historical foundation, there was a real drawback for me with Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile. It was rather too long, and I felt as though the repetition which exists throughout made the story lose a lot of its impact. Jolly has certainly demonstrated that she is a very talented and versatile writer, and she definitely maintained the narrative voice well. Had it been shorter and more succinct, I more than likely would have given it a 4-star rating.
I enjoyed Jolly's writing; it feels both modern and old-fashioned, and reminded me somewhat of Nell Leyshon's impactful novella The Colour of Milk. Gorgeous, and often quite startling imagery, is produced throughout, and the traditional approach of chapters within the structure does help to make the 600-page story a little more accessible. The style did take a little while to get into, as no punctuation whatsoever has been used, and there is little which denotes the changing of scene, speaker, or ideas. Jolly has also included a lot of colloquialisms, which help Mary Ann's voice to come across as authentic. I very quickly got a feel for her, her life, and the time in which she was living. In some ways, Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile is a remarkable piece of fiction.
Whilst being very well researched, and having a strong historical foundation, there was a real drawback for me with Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile. It was rather too long, and I felt as though the repetition which exists throughout made the story lose a lot of its impact. Jolly has certainly demonstrated that she is a very talented and versatile writer, and she definitely maintained the narrative voice well. Had it been shorter and more succinct, I more than likely would have given it a 4-star rating.
December 27, 2020
A treasure to be savoured.
July 27, 2021
As the nineteenth century draws to a close, Mary Ann Sate, an elderly maidservant, sets out to write her truth.
She writes of the places she loves, the places she calls home. The truth of her employer's two sons and of a devastating choice.
Everything is from Mary Ann’s perspective, the views of a woman. An ‘Imbecile’.
Initially, I didn’t think I could write this review as I was feeling confused. I wanted to keep this magical feeling all to myself, yet share its brilliance with everyone at the same time! Talk about conflicting emotions!
I am literally dumbstruck by Jolly’s characters, plot and writing style. The whole package has knocked me for six! This can’t possibly be a work of fiction, it felt all too real.
Mary Ann, I want you to exist. I want you to tell me more. I want to read and listen to your story over and over. It’s like you sing it to me. I joined you in your rhythm, I felt your pain, your passion, anger and fear. Strength and dedication.
600+ pages, written without punctuation, in a poetic short form prose is some achievement. I was scared to start this book, it’s so unique, I was worried I wouldn’t connect with it. How wrong was I?! After maybe 20 pages, I was completely hooked. However, I could only read 40-50 pages or so in one sitting and then needed time to rest and digest.
‘If you tell a story oft enough
So it become true’
The style created such atmosphere, it brought it to life one word at a time. Many were written phonetically, for example, windows were ‘winders’, summer was ‘zummer’.
Gruesome scenes were written with beauty.
‘I sees what a musket can do
When it blasts in a mans face
The blackened flesh the splintered bone
See straight through into the globe of the head
Dark deep red the teeth there
Tiny chips like white still bright like stars
Blown inward’
Do you see what I mean? The imagery it creates is so vivid.
This next piece made me stop. And think. And re-read. And stop. And think.
‘Sudden it all clear as drops of dancing water
The words flow away from me
I know them all
My eyes fly down the lines
Inside I am leaping’
‘For I can read
I can read proper without stopping
Can hear the rhythm inside me
Know what the next word is
Even afore I come to it’
I remember the moment as a child when I suddenly had the realisation that I could read.
I mean read, properly, with flow. Tell the story, not just say the words. I was reading the Ladybird book ‘The Gingerbread Man’ to my Mum, who had always encouraged me. I remember the excitement I felt when I read the final page. I’d read a whole book!! I was buzzing!
You probably know by now how I enjoy dark elements in books and this was no exception. Magic and brutality entwined just so.
‘The evening now is all about red and gold
Down through the vegetables we go
Will she push me in the pig pen
Or throw me in the well’
I’m going to have to stop there I want to continue loving this haunting and poignant book by myself. I’ve told you enough. Wouldn’t want you to think I’m…
‘…a slany Jezebel strumpet
Flowsing hussy trollop’
…now, would I?!
Thank you so much to Alice Jolly for my gifted copy and for writing the most breathtaking story I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Also to the publisher, Unbounders, who saw beyond the norm and opened their arms and minds wide to embrace and publish this incredible book.
She writes of the places she loves, the places she calls home. The truth of her employer's two sons and of a devastating choice.
Everything is from Mary Ann’s perspective, the views of a woman. An ‘Imbecile’.
Initially, I didn’t think I could write this review as I was feeling confused. I wanted to keep this magical feeling all to myself, yet share its brilliance with everyone at the same time! Talk about conflicting emotions!
I am literally dumbstruck by Jolly’s characters, plot and writing style. The whole package has knocked me for six! This can’t possibly be a work of fiction, it felt all too real.
Mary Ann, I want you to exist. I want you to tell me more. I want to read and listen to your story over and over. It’s like you sing it to me. I joined you in your rhythm, I felt your pain, your passion, anger and fear. Strength and dedication.
600+ pages, written without punctuation, in a poetic short form prose is some achievement. I was scared to start this book, it’s so unique, I was worried I wouldn’t connect with it. How wrong was I?! After maybe 20 pages, I was completely hooked. However, I could only read 40-50 pages or so in one sitting and then needed time to rest and digest.
‘If you tell a story oft enough
So it become true’
The style created such atmosphere, it brought it to life one word at a time. Many were written phonetically, for example, windows were ‘winders’, summer was ‘zummer’.
Gruesome scenes were written with beauty.
‘I sees what a musket can do
When it blasts in a mans face
The blackened flesh the splintered bone
See straight through into the globe of the head
Dark deep red the teeth there
Tiny chips like white still bright like stars
Blown inward’
Do you see what I mean? The imagery it creates is so vivid.
This next piece made me stop. And think. And re-read. And stop. And think.
‘Sudden it all clear as drops of dancing water
The words flow away from me
I know them all
My eyes fly down the lines
Inside I am leaping’
‘For I can read
I can read proper without stopping
Can hear the rhythm inside me
Know what the next word is
Even afore I come to it’
I remember the moment as a child when I suddenly had the realisation that I could read.
I mean read, properly, with flow. Tell the story, not just say the words. I was reading the Ladybird book ‘The Gingerbread Man’ to my Mum, who had always encouraged me. I remember the excitement I felt when I read the final page. I’d read a whole book!! I was buzzing!
You probably know by now how I enjoy dark elements in books and this was no exception. Magic and brutality entwined just so.
‘The evening now is all about red and gold
Down through the vegetables we go
Will she push me in the pig pen
Or throw me in the well’
I’m going to have to stop there I want to continue loving this haunting and poignant book by myself. I’ve told you enough. Wouldn’t want you to think I’m…
‘…a slany Jezebel strumpet
Flowsing hussy trollop’
…now, would I?!
Thank you so much to Alice Jolly for my gifted copy and for writing the most breathtaking story I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Also to the publisher, Unbounders, who saw beyond the norm and opened their arms and minds wide to embrace and publish this incredible book.
February 26, 2022
Did not realise what I was getting into with this book. I was ready for a nice historical not knowing this was free verse in a unique dialect of the MC. Once I got used to the format I was engrossed. Very interesting to see this female perspective at a time where there were little options for women and the effects of the industrial revolution. Hoping this will have an audio book at some point because I feel it would be even better as spoken word.
August 25, 2019
Social unrest, the rise of feminist ideas during industrial-revolution Britain seen and described from the perspective of a woman in service without any rights and means to set herself free. It's conveyed in an original way, compelling and moving!
August 5, 2019
We do not know the date of Mary Ann's birth: she dies in 1887, leaving behind a manuscript hidden in the wall of the house of her employer. This novel is written in Mary Ann's idiosyncratic style: it uses her spellings and dialect, and takes the form of either a very long narrative free-verse poem, or a strangely laid-out novel. Mary Ann has a hare-lip, and is considered by those around her to be "simple", though it is clear that she is anything but: astute, loyal and sensitive, she writes about those around her and the events that shape her life with clarity and insight. Mary Ann's voice and the narrative style employed by Jolly are the most successful parts of the work: often, the reader feels as though she has entered Mary Ann's mind, and Jolly captures the valleys of Stroud and Gloucestershire with much beauty and originality. The passage in which Mary Ann discovers poetry, I found particularly moving --
That the first time I see poetry writ down
It does all go from left to right
I see now it must
But not all the space is filld up
The words have their own pattern
Make a picture on the page
The space that is writ
Speak as loud as the space that is not
I cannot read them right but I like to see
The spaces and all that lie in them
Soon soon I will read them correct
I see the path ahead long and steep
Rising through many tight knit trees
Lit all the way with bright lanterns
So one may step on boldly
I must work and work
I meant to cut that quote earlier -- but I find the whole piece so moving that I was unable to find a place to cut! For me, as someone who writes poetry, it is one of the best descriptions of what poetry can achieve that I've ever read -- and I also really enjoy it as a physical / metatextual discussion of what poetry does on the page and what that means. It's also a great example of how effective Jolly's use of free-verse can be, and how it captures Mary Ann's voice and perspective.
The text falls flat for me in a few ways -- Jolly's exploration of Mary Ann is an attempt to give voice to those in history who are often overlooked -- as Mary Ann says "Should we not rather study / Those things are evr the same // There are always winders to be cleaned" -- but she also inserts tension into the narrative by having Mary Ann foreshadow terrible future events, and discuss mysteries and secrets. The foreshadowing weighs too heavily on the text, and when the events are revealed, they are unsatisfying and don't live up to the portentous discussion. Perhaps this is because Jolly fails to fully realise Mary Ann's emotions surrounding these events. Jolly also gives a great deal of attention to a certain period in Mary Ann's life -- from age 10 - 25, approx -- but then covers the rest of Mary Ann's life very rapidly. I think this does a disservice to Mary Ann, and it would have been more effective to simply not tell the reader what happens next, and allow the narrative to end when the events with which Jolly is concerned come to a close.
Overall, I found parts of this book incredibly uplifting and moving, and other parts rather a slog. I'd recommend it to readers who are interested in a feminist reading of industrial history, and to lovers of free-verse, but there are elements to the text which will frustrate some readers.
That the first time I see poetry writ down
It does all go from left to right
I see now it must
But not all the space is filld up
The words have their own pattern
Make a picture on the page
The space that is writ
Speak as loud as the space that is not
I cannot read them right but I like to see
The spaces and all that lie in them
Soon soon I will read them correct
I see the path ahead long and steep
Rising through many tight knit trees
Lit all the way with bright lanterns
So one may step on boldly
I must work and work
I meant to cut that quote earlier -- but I find the whole piece so moving that I was unable to find a place to cut! For me, as someone who writes poetry, it is one of the best descriptions of what poetry can achieve that I've ever read -- and I also really enjoy it as a physical / metatextual discussion of what poetry does on the page and what that means. It's also a great example of how effective Jolly's use of free-verse can be, and how it captures Mary Ann's voice and perspective.
The text falls flat for me in a few ways -- Jolly's exploration of Mary Ann is an attempt to give voice to those in history who are often overlooked -- as Mary Ann says "Should we not rather study / Those things are evr the same // There are always winders to be cleaned" -- but she also inserts tension into the narrative by having Mary Ann foreshadow terrible future events, and discuss mysteries and secrets. The foreshadowing weighs too heavily on the text, and when the events are revealed, they are unsatisfying and don't live up to the portentous discussion. Perhaps this is because Jolly fails to fully realise Mary Ann's emotions surrounding these events. Jolly also gives a great deal of attention to a certain period in Mary Ann's life -- from age 10 - 25, approx -- but then covers the rest of Mary Ann's life very rapidly. I think this does a disservice to Mary Ann, and it would have been more effective to simply not tell the reader what happens next, and allow the narrative to end when the events with which Jolly is concerned come to a close.
Overall, I found parts of this book incredibly uplifting and moving, and other parts rather a slog. I'd recommend it to readers who are interested in a feminist reading of industrial history, and to lovers of free-verse, but there are elements to the text which will frustrate some readers.
August 30, 2021
Original, tender, sometimes humorous.
I love an author who is brave enough to take a risk, and Alice Jolly certainly does that here. Not a single punctuation mark exists throughout the book, and while this takes a few pages to adapt to, it soon becomes second nature.
How the author sustained the main character's voice as well as she did is an extraordinary feat. Most admirable. I defy you not to fall in love with Mary Ann Sate, who is everything but an imbecile.
I love an author who is brave enough to take a risk, and Alice Jolly certainly does that here. Not a single punctuation mark exists throughout the book, and while this takes a few pages to adapt to, it soon becomes second nature.
How the author sustained the main character's voice as well as she did is an extraordinary feat. Most admirable. I defy you not to fall in love with Mary Ann Sate, who is everything but an imbecile.
August 7, 2018
Written whilst caring for her ailing master, Mary Ann Sate, puts pen to paper and tells her life story. A story that is lost only to be uncovered some years later during a house renovation.
Set out to look like verse (you could be forgiven for initially believing this to be an extended poem) and with not a single full stop in its 600+ pages. Brave and ambitious; yes, but, it worked to great effect ... once you got used to the rhythm.
Meticulously researched, tackling sweeping social change; seamlessly weaving social commentary in a sprawling, evocative, very human story that swept me away. Its heroine utterly beguiling; her voice authentic; ordinary and yet simultaneously extraordinary. This is well worth a look if you are looking not only for some good historical fiction but also something that is deliciously different.
Copyright .... Tracy Terry @ Pen and Paper
Disclaimer .... Read and reviewed on behalf of the author, no financial compensation was asked for nor given.
Set out to look like verse (you could be forgiven for initially believing this to be an extended poem) and with not a single full stop in its 600+ pages. Brave and ambitious; yes, but, it worked to great effect ... once you got used to the rhythm.
Meticulously researched, tackling sweeping social change; seamlessly weaving social commentary in a sprawling, evocative, very human story that swept me away. Its heroine utterly beguiling; her voice authentic; ordinary and yet simultaneously extraordinary. This is well worth a look if you are looking not only for some good historical fiction but also something that is deliciously different.
Copyright .... Tracy Terry @ Pen and Paper
Disclaimer .... Read and reviewed on behalf of the author, no financial compensation was asked for nor given.
July 27, 2019
Do not be put off by the fact this stunning book is written in short form prose that looks like poetry.
It is one of the most stunning books I have read for some time - I loved everything about it.
It deserves all the prizes & more.
Historical fiction at its absolute finest and I am still thinking about Mary Ann Sate now days after finishing it.
It is one of the most stunning books I have read for some time - I loved everything about it.
It deserves all the prizes & more.
Historical fiction at its absolute finest and I am still thinking about Mary Ann Sate now days after finishing it.
August 10, 2025
Really loved this. Interesting, lyrical narrative voice. Very evocative of place (Stroud!! It's something of a love letter to its lovely hills and valleys) and time (late 1800s). Though the writing is spare, it's also wonderfully fleshed out and expansive... This oxymoronic quality kind of carries through the themes and the main protagonist, who is a small, poor girl, and who is frequently described as being 'simple' and 'deformed', yet who writes and enjoys reading John Clare and Dickens. Constantly underestimated by people, she is the kind of character I feel like might have been a one-line filler/extra in another novel, to demonstrate the poverty of a poor town or something. Her voice is so convincing and I really warmed to her character. I love that the author's characterisation doesn't fall into stereotypes, but remains subtle, and ultimately memorable, throughout.
Idk, the book is just great and I would definitely recommend. Don't be put off by the page count. By Mary Ann's own admission, she enjoys some space around words on a page, so it's basically 320 pages spread over 640 ;)
Idk, the book is just great and I would definitely recommend. Don't be put off by the page count. By Mary Ann's own admission, she enjoys some space around words on a page, so it's basically 320 pages spread over 640 ;)
February 24, 2021
Purporting to be a "found document", this is a 600-page novel in blank verse, narrated by the titular Mary Ann, an orphaned serving girl with a hare lip who recounts her life from her childhood the 1820s through to old age. Mary Ann, despite her limited schooling, is very far from being an imbecile - she is indeed an intelligent and perceptive chronicler of events, with a distinctive and unforgettable narrative voice in which archaisms and Gloucestershire dialect mingle.
This passage, in which Mary Ann discovers the joy of reading, gives a flavour:
Then come the time just afore Christmas
I remember it well
As was oft the case I was clearing away
Certain books after all else is left
So I come to pick up
The story of How Paradise Was Lost
By Mr John Milton
I have seed it afore
Yet the words all cling together
Lock me out in misunderstanding
Now I pick it up and read
Of mans first disobedience and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree who mortal taste
Brought death into the world
Sudden it all clear as drops of dancing water
The words flow away from me
I know them all
My eyes fly down the lines
Inside I am leaping
For I can read
I can read proper without stopping
Can hear the rhythm inside me
Know what the next word is
Even afore I come to it
Ask and it shall be given
Seek and ye shall find
Knock and it shall be opend unto you
Strange the joy of it must shine
On my skin for when Mr Harland Cottrell
Come in say Come Mary Ann
Tis v late
Clear up
Then stops for he sees and comes ovr
What do you read he says
I look up at him then
Oh how I would like to
Fling my arms round he
I can read I say
Read anything any book all in this room
I can read them all now
If there's a better description of the joy of reading I've yet to meet it.
The 580 pages flow by as we are caught up in Mary Ann's story of her life and that of her master and his two sons, Ned and Blythe. Wonderful descriptions of the first stirrings of industrialisation and the social upheavals it brought in its wake.
This passage, in which Mary Ann discovers the joy of reading, gives a flavour:
Then come the time just afore Christmas
I remember it well
As was oft the case I was clearing away
Certain books after all else is left
So I come to pick up
The story of How Paradise Was Lost
By Mr John Milton
I have seed it afore
Yet the words all cling together
Lock me out in misunderstanding
Now I pick it up and read
Of mans first disobedience and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree who mortal taste
Brought death into the world
Sudden it all clear as drops of dancing water
The words flow away from me
I know them all
My eyes fly down the lines
Inside I am leaping
For I can read
I can read proper without stopping
Can hear the rhythm inside me
Know what the next word is
Even afore I come to it
Ask and it shall be given
Seek and ye shall find
Knock and it shall be opend unto you
Strange the joy of it must shine
On my skin for when Mr Harland Cottrell
Come in say Come Mary Ann
Tis v late
Clear up
Then stops for he sees and comes ovr
What do you read he says
I look up at him then
Oh how I would like to
Fling my arms round he
I can read I say
Read anything any book all in this room
I can read them all now
If there's a better description of the joy of reading I've yet to meet it.
The 580 pages flow by as we are caught up in Mary Ann's story of her life and that of her master and his two sons, Ned and Blythe. Wonderful descriptions of the first stirrings of industrialisation and the social upheavals it brought in its wake.
July 29, 2019
We are but stands of corn
Who chose not whether we be bathed in sun
Or beatd flat by storm.
Those are the stories history never writes
Only the pressing onwards stride of progress
So tis understood
Who will evr speak for them
When will their voices be heard
This book is what I see as a Middlemarch about the poorer classes. It has echoes of Wuthering Heights too, especially towards the end.
Mary Ann Sate is the protagonist, narrator, and verse diarist, who has written a charming, at times brutal, and at times very funny memoir of her life. “Soil, soul and sin”, as she calls it. Alice Jolly brilliantly brings to life some of the things you read about impoverished lives in the C19th, and particularly female lives. She gives a voice to a maid of all work, a voice which is largely invisible in history, by having Mary Ann teach herself to read over years, and then teach herself to write, and then to place a memoir where it will be found and transcribed in 1938 - a century or so after the main events of the novel.
The humour is endearing
... Surely rumour has not travelled
As far as Mr Harland Cottrell
Gone up through his ear trumpet
He was anyway as I make clear
Able to hear some noise like a mouse shuffle
Though not a drum banging
Jolly encompasses the span of Chartism, romantic poetry, religious belief and superstition, disability, industrialisation, the Poor Law, and the Reform Act, in a way that is never dry; an incredible achievement.
I guess I had a slight problem with the way some of the verse was lyrically beautiful and yet some of it was quite clunky, but then I suppose that reflected Mary Ann’s character very well.
I read the book in four sittings; don’t be put off by its size, it’s a fairly easy read. Don’t be put off by the total lack of punctuation either. It doesn’t impede a fluent and brisk reading pace.
I loved it. It speaks truth and it weaves so many gripping stories into an arching narrative. Just a lovely absorbing read.
September 3, 2020
This book is written in verse, which may sound off putting but really, it is very easy to get into and the rhythm is lovely once you do.
The story is heart rending at times. Poor Mary Ann! How she suffered at times but rose above it by sheer force of will and her solid Christian faith.
The book has a very melodramatic start, very Brontesque with Mary Ann, a child of no more than 7 years and an orphan being dropped off by a coach and horses in the middle of nowhere, in a snowstorm, to be picked up by her new adopted father on his horse. We are not told what has led Mary Ann to take this journey, whether her adopted family knew of her or whether they were just persuaded to take a child from the workhouse. Unfortunately, I did find this to be a weakness in the story as throughout I was expecting there to be explanation, however simple or short, as to how she came to be taken in by the Woebegones.
This tale could have been unremittingly depressing but the author makes a good job of drawing the character of Mary Ann, how she makes the best of what little she has. Unfortunately those around her rarely live up to Mary Ann's hopes and expectations for them, but she finds support and kindness for all that. There is a big twist towards the end which, for some unknown reason I had not expected, that added to the enjoyment of the book for me.
I did not understand why, at the end, Mary Ann is described as "Imbecile". She often seems to be regarded as a little simple. However, in the story she learns to read and write and in the end earns her living through her literacy, so this is puzzling.
I didn't really know what to expect but I really enjoyed this book, and I'm glad I read it.
The story is heart rending at times. Poor Mary Ann! How she suffered at times but rose above it by sheer force of will and her solid Christian faith.
The book has a very melodramatic start, very Brontesque with Mary Ann, a child of no more than 7 years and an orphan being dropped off by a coach and horses in the middle of nowhere, in a snowstorm, to be picked up by her new adopted father on his horse. We are not told what has led Mary Ann to take this journey, whether her adopted family knew of her or whether they were just persuaded to take a child from the workhouse. Unfortunately, I did find this to be a weakness in the story as throughout I was expecting there to be explanation, however simple or short, as to how she came to be taken in by the Woebegones.
This tale could have been unremittingly depressing but the author makes a good job of drawing the character of Mary Ann, how she makes the best of what little she has. Unfortunately those around her rarely live up to Mary Ann's hopes and expectations for them, but she finds support and kindness for all that. There is a big twist towards the end which, for some unknown reason I had not expected, that added to the enjoyment of the book for me.
I did not understand why, at the end, Mary Ann is described as "Imbecile". She often seems to be regarded as a little simple. However, in the story she learns to read and write and in the end earns her living through her literacy, so this is puzzling.
I didn't really know what to expect but I really enjoyed this book, and I'm glad I read it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 17, 2019
This is a quite astonishing achievement. You really get to know the eponymous lass with her simple straightforward views and the challenges of a changing world the assail her. The conceit of the manuscript being discovered and typed up by a subsequent occupant of her final home entirely convinces, fictional though it is.
I’ve given the book four stars. Had the book had a glossary of dialect words I’d have given it all five, I felt it to be that good. Like Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange you need to persist through the early chapters to get a feel and understanding for the idioms. The Burgess book contains a glossary of the invented slang the author used. Any subsequent edition of Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile should consider this issue. Many of the dialect words can not even be found online.
Altogether a fine piece of writing with a very tangible sense of period.
I’ve given the book four stars. Had the book had a glossary of dialect words I’d have given it all five, I felt it to be that good. Like Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange you need to persist through the early chapters to get a feel and understanding for the idioms. The Burgess book contains a glossary of the invented slang the author used. Any subsequent edition of Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile should consider this issue. Many of the dialect words can not even be found online.
Altogether a fine piece of writing with a very tangible sense of period.
May 1, 2021
Mary Ann Sate by Alice Jolly is a fantastic book. Especially poignant for those of us with 19th-century agricultural forbears who had to deal with the advent of mechanisation. It’s one of the best books I’ve ever read, and I’ve read thousands. Alice captures — and even invents — language which is realistic (to me, at least) of an agricultural novel set in the 1840s. Terrific characters, and an unexpected twist. An absolute stunner. I help crowdfund lots of Unbound books; I regret not supporting this one. Read this book!
January 11, 2022
You must overcome your bias and be prepared to read a novel of over 600 pages in verse form. Marie Anne Sate and the entire novel are a revelation and a delight - a surprisingly enthralling read. Set in the first half of the 19th century, we are left to fathom out the world and the people who inhabit it through the eyes of Marie Ann Sate, a stunted child servant with a cleft palate. Stroud is Marie Ann’s Jerusalem, seductive both in the beauty of its pastoral landscape, populated by angels, but also tormented by the threatening presence of the satanic textile mills.
April 10, 2021
Spellbinding
I found at first this story was difficult to follow because of the form it was written in but after a while it began to have a certain rhythm to it. The intertwining of lives was very interesting and the surprise ending was a surprise yet also expected in a way. Enjoyed reading this book.
I found at first this story was difficult to follow because of the form it was written in but after a while it began to have a certain rhythm to it. The intertwining of lives was very interesting and the surprise ending was a surprise yet also expected in a way. Enjoyed reading this book.
July 21, 2019
I did not finish the book . I got half way though and just felt it may be great but I didn’t like much about the characters. The poetry writing style did not make it easier. I have given it a 3 star rating as had not finished it and that seemed to reflect where I would end up.
September 2, 2019
One of the most remarkable books I have ever read. At the start I found the free verse style hard to deal with, but that soon passed and indeed became an essential part of the sincerity of the protagonist's voice. A story of much pain and sadness, shot through with moments of dazzling beauty.
September 3, 2020
This was such an original format and I am glad my local library put it on display. The prose takes some getting used to, but once you do it gives an extra dimension to the voice of Mary Ann Sate.
Loved it!
Loved it!
Read
April 26, 2020I loved this. The voice of Mary Ann, though beautifully poetic, is so real I felt I knew her.
May 28, 2019
Remarkable
The novel is brave in its telling; to write such a sweeping history in not only poetic verse but the vernacular of an 'Imbecile'.
The novel is brave in its telling; to write such a sweeping history in not only poetic verse but the vernacular of an 'Imbecile'.
April 14, 2025
This is a book that grabs you from the get go! Don't be put off by the way it's written - in verse and without punctuation - or the length of it! It's one of those stories that sticks with you as it's so unique and the author has done such a wonderful job in bringing the world of this elderly maidservant to life - so much so that you're full of emotion as you read her words and it transports you back in time while she comments on the ever changing world she lives in.
Women like this never had a voice so it's such a clever way of telling a story set at the end of the 19th century and centring around her experiences as she works and struggles through life. The things she sees, the hardships faced and the compassion shown too - it's beautifully captured in the verses and once you get in the flow of the language and writing style then you are utterly captivated and immersed in the times. Highly recommended!
Women like this never had a voice so it's such a clever way of telling a story set at the end of the 19th century and centring around her experiences as she works and struggles through life. The things she sees, the hardships faced and the compassion shown too - it's beautifully captured in the verses and once you get in the flow of the language and writing style then you are utterly captivated and immersed in the times. Highly recommended!
December 18, 2024
This is undoubtedly one of the best books I’ve ever read. The writing is superb. This review is completely limited by my inferior use of and interpretation of the English language. The insight in to Mary Ann Sate’s thoughts , views, observations is brilliant. I am seriously considering starting at the beginning as the writing is so rich. This is the Booker prize that never was. It should have been shortlisted. YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK. I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed every single page of this writing, this character, this story, this author.
August 30, 2019
Outstanding
Rarely, books get better and better as you read them. This is one such. I had some very minor, immediate difficulty with the format. That lasted but a few pages. More lengthy was a slight degree of confusion about time, location, chronology. But I wasn’t that bothered. The story was too well told, too interesting. Finally, it was simply pleasure. I read a lot of books. Enjoy most. Very, very few are as good as this.
Rarely, books get better and better as you read them. This is one such. I had some very minor, immediate difficulty with the format. That lasted but a few pages. More lengthy was a slight degree of confusion about time, location, chronology. But I wasn’t that bothered. The story was too well told, too interesting. Finally, it was simply pleasure. I read a lot of books. Enjoy most. Very, very few are as good as this.
April 2, 2021
Not my cup of tea. Abandoned it very early on
Read
November 5, 2021gave up at page 78
February 1, 2023
Audiobook 10/10 no notes
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