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by Jerry Hunter, Джери Хънтър

От бойните полета на гражданската война в Англия и Ирландия до една мистерия, изгубена в горите на Северна Америка, пред нас се разкрива едно удивително приключение, свързано с опасностите на религиозния фанатизъм.

Ришарт Дафид се присъединява към Армията от нов тип на Оливър Кромъел и насилието, което тя води след себе си. Но могат ли неговите убеждения да преживеят зверствата по време на Английската гражданска война и кампанията на Парламента в Ирландия? Призован от бившия си командир да се отправи на пътешествие до Америка в търсене на изчезнала група уелски пуритани, той първо трябва да оцелее при пътуването, а след това - ако успее да намери изгубената общност - да разбере дали наистина са успели да изградят Царството небесно на Земята.

Джери Хънтър е роден в Синсинати, сега живее в Уелс и преподава в университета в Бангор. Първата му монография "Soffestri'r Saeson", изследване на използването на пророчеството като политическа пропаганда в епохата на Тюдор, е включена в списъка за книга на годината в Уелс през 2001 година. Книгата му "Llwch Cenhedloedd" е спечелила наградата Уелска книга на годината за 2004 година. Неговите изследвания са свързани основно с уелската история и Американската гражданска война, които са тема на повечето му книги.

304 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2019

About the author

Dr T. Gerald 'Jerry' Hunter is an American graduate of Cincinnati (BA), Aberystwyth (MPhil) and Harvard (PhD) and an award-winning Welsh-language writer.

Originally from Cincinnati, he now lives in Wales and has held academic posts at Cardiff and more recently Bangor University, where he is currently (2010) a Reader in the School of Welsh. He was a founding member of the pressure group Cymuned and is former editor of the Welsh Academi's literary periodical Taliesin.

His first monograph. Soffestri’r Saeson (University of Wales Press, 2000), a study of the use of prophecy as political propaganda in the Tudor age, was shortlisted for the Wales Book of the Year award in 2001. Llwch Cenhedloedd, (Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, 2003), which writes the history of the American Civil War based on Welsh-language evidence (mainly letters and other material written and published in Welsh on both sides of the Atlantic), won the Wales Book of the Year award in 2004. He has also published a book on the prominent Welsh American anti-slavery campaigner, Robert Everett: I Ddeffro Ysbryd y Wlad (Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, 2007), again drawing on a wealth of Welsh-language evidence mainly unused by historians. His interest in the Welsh-language history of his native United States has also led to the publication of an English-language volume Welsh Writing from the American Civil War: Sons of Arthur, Children of Lincoln (University of Wales Press, 2007). Most recently, he published a children's book, Ceffylau'r Cymylau (Gwasg Gomer, 2010) and won the Prose Medal at the 2010 National Eisteddfod for his novel Gwenddydd (Gwasg Gwynedd, 2010).

Hunter is a member of Gorsedd Beirdd Ynys Prydain, with the bardic name 'Gerallt Glan Ohio'.

Reviews

[Debra · Rating 4 out of 5]

"From the Civil War battlefields of England and Ireland to a mystery lost in the forests of North America, this is both a roaring adventure and a timely commentary on the dangers of religious extremism."

This is a historical adventure novel, taking place in the 1600's, which follows Rhisiart Dafydd from his boyhood until the later years of his life. Along the way the reader watches as Rhisiart falls in love, embraces Oliver Cromwell’s New Model Army and the violence it entails in the name of religion. We watch him through England's Civil wars and the campaign in Ireland.

When he is asked by his former commander to voyage to American to locate a group of missing Welsh Puritans, he agrees to go (did he have a choice?). The voyage is rough and ends in a shipwreck where he and a tomcat survive. He is helped by local Native American's and nursed back to help. He finds kinship with them and appears to relax and flourish while living among them. But he has been sent to complete a task, and he soon sets out to find the missing Puritans. The Native American tribe has assisted him in locating an English camp/settlement and have provided him with a map for "New Jerusalem"

Along his search he has many trials and when he finally makes it to New Jerusalem and becomes a part of the community. He is welcomed but things seem and feel a little off. He has a lot of questions and no one really wants to answer them. The villages are welcoming but also cautious. Is it because he is a newcomer, or do they have something to hide? This is where things really get interesting, so I will not say more about this part of the novel.

This book was originally published in Welsh and then translated into English. The book also does not follow a chronological order. The story jumps around from one timeline to the next. Thankfully, the chapters are titled with the year you are reading; however, there was one point in the story where I became confused and had to go back and check what time I was reading. So, my advice is make sure to read the chapter heading before reading each section.

This book felt as if it were part non-fiction and part fiction. I enjoyed the parts of the story where the book was more fiction. I especially enjoyed when the main character of Rhisiart Dafydd, was with the Native American's and in the village trying to figure out what was going on. New Jerusalem, in a way, felt as if it were Salem, MA. Read it and you will see what I mean. The town has secrets as does it members and this was the most intriguing part of the book for me.

I enjoyed the later part of the book more than I did the beginning. There is a lot of information in the beginning about religion in England in the 1660's and the religious wars which resulted (not to mention the plague). I found that once he made his way to American and the story no longer jumped around, I found I enjoyed the book more.

Historical, educational, epic and atmospheric.

I was provided with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

See more of my reviews at www.openbookpost.com

[Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent...
One of my best readings for this year!!!

The 16 hundredths with their religion and wars in Europe.
Sicknesses and plagues harvesting thousands of lives...

New England and a settlement disguised and engulf in religion...
A Welsh soldier battling his inner demons send to unearth a gloomy and murderous mystery in the New World.

What are the residents of New Jerusalem hiding?
Come and see for yourself...

[Cynthia Hilston · Rating 5 out of 5]

If history teaches us one thing, it’s that humanity never really changes. We don’t seem to learn from our mistakes. History repeats itself.

Dark Territory is historical fiction and was written in Welsh, originally published under the title Y Fro Dywyll, and was translated by Patrick K. Ford.

The novel opens with a former soldier named Rhisiart Daffyd walking through the noisy, sometimes harrowing, streets of 1656 London. Among the sights and sounds of the living, death stares back through mounted heads on pikes, a stark reminder of where we are all headed. The climate is chilling, despite the children running through the streets, the vendors selling their wares, and life continuing on as a man who has seen his fair share of death walks these cobbled streets. I am right there with Rhisiart, an invisible set of eyes on his shoulder. The description of the streets of London is done so vividly, with such beautiful detailed language, that the reader really gets a sense of what life was like then.

Rhisiart Daffyd served in Oliver Cromwell’s Army of the Saints and has come to London under the summons of his former commanding officer, John Powel. Powel has gotten word of a settlement in America that has drifted from the Calvinist views being upheld in Cromwellian England, and he wishes to send Rhisiart to the new country to investigate and report back to him.

Rhisiart boards the ship Primrose. He is surrounded by Englishmen, the only other Welshman an older man named Owen Lewys. Some of the best dialogue in the book occurs between these two during the voyage. Having witnessed, and taken part in, so much death during the war, Rhisiart questions his beliefs. The faith he once adhered to is no longer true for him. He and Owen, who his a Quaker, discuss passages in the Gospel of John, where the light within every man is written about. Rhisiart dismisses Predestination, believing it ludicrous that God would select some souls for damnation and others for salvation prior to their births. Rather, he believes now that God’s light shines within all people, even though humanity is flawed. He keeps quiet about his views aboard the ship, however, as he and Owen are in the minority.

A storm rages at sea as the ship approaches land. It hits rocks, leaving Rhisiart and a black tom cat named Nicholas the only survivors.

The novel then gives us the backstory of Rhisiart, from the time he was a boy and lost both of his parents, raised by his sister Alys and his uncle, to when he started apprenticing under a blacksmith. There is lovely narrative about Rhisiart working words into the objects he crafts. It is during this time that he develops his belief in what Cromwell professes. He marries the blacksmith’s daughter, Elisabeth, but he soon goes off to war.

When he returns from war a broken man who now questions everything he believed in, having witnessed atrocities, including the Battle of Naseby in 1645, he hopes to settle down. The “little plague” darkens his family’s doorstep, killing Elisabeth and his unborn child.

I was devastated right along with Rhisiart. Despite the atrocities he has participated in, he is still a man who loves and thought he was doing right for his homeland. It’s no wonder he takes on the mission Powel entrusts him with, seeing as he has no one keeping him in England any longer.

The book switches back to 1656. Once Rhisiart comes ashore, he is cared for by some Native Americans. There aren’t many of them at all, and the one who speaks English tells him how many of their tribe died from diseases from the settlers. The kindness of the Native Americans toward Rhisiart shows more of true Christian (or otherwise) charity than any of the characters in the book, despite they aren’t Christian. This truth is resonates with Rhisiart and does with me as well. It is heartbreaking to look back on history and see how the Native Americans were driven from their land, in some cases, and how such things still occurs today, both in America and globally. The refugee crisis in the world today comes to mind. To show kindness and generosity to your fellow person is in the spirit of what is at the heart of Christianity, the whole to do what Jesus did. To show mercy, understanding, love.

I think this is what strikes Rhisiart, both in his discussion aboard the Primrose with Owen Lewys and with the Native Americans. More than ever, he doesn’t believe in the Calvinist doctrine. He sees it for the manmade construct it is, not a divine ordinance...although he still has a mission to see through.

He regains his strength while in the care of the Native Americans. They give him a map to the settlement Powel told him to seek. Rhisiart travels several days through the woods in the dying fall and arrives at New Jerusalem. By the name alone, you can be sure this settlement believes it is God’s kingdom on Earth.

Rhisiart settles there for several months, befriending some (blacksmith Griffith John Griffith and his son, Ifan, and young, pregnant widow Rebecca) and at odds with others (namely the Elder, Rhosier Wyn). He learns some secrets about the corrupted ways the leaders of New Jerusalem carry out what they believe is divine justice. His beliefs are challenged more every passing day, and as Rebecca’s pregnancy nears its end, dread overcomes the reader, wondering how this is all going to end.

We have seen the crimes and wars done in the name of religion over the centuries, including the accurate historical representation in Dark Territory. So much unnecessary violence and death has resulted over disagreements. The whole “I am right, you are wrong” mentality and the pride of believing one’s way is the only true way puts up walls between people, between nations, and it tears down the Golden Rule. In theory, it should be simple to follow the path of love, to treat others as you wish to be treated, even in our human imperfection.

We can look at the serious nature of the English Civil Wars of the seventeenth century and the harsh beliefs of the Puritans in America and believe we have come so far from those ways of thinking, but a quick look around the world today paints a different story.

Dark territory, indeed. This novel shows the journey, the struggle, the life of one man in the midst of religious wars and tyranny. It forces us to look deep within ourselves and examine our hearts, our beliefs, to trod the path today through dark territory.

This novel is one of those rare gems that hooked me from the beginning. The themes are important for anyone to realize and think about. This is one of those masterpieces that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

[Helen Hudson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've just finished reading this book in the original Welsh - Y fro dywyll. I'm sure the translation is true to the original. It was chosen by my book club. It's beautifully written, erudite, complex and for me, and I suspect for some others reading it, somewhat intellectually challenging. It's full of the nuances of 17th century religious thinking, sometimes at length but the story itself is compelling and I found, despite myself, that towards the end I was unable to put the book down. O.K. so I enjoyed it. However, I'm an ordinary Welsh speaker and no intellectual and I felt that people like me are not Jerry Hunter's target audience.
This is a book written for a small percentage of a small and beleaguered population. I have a feeling that this small percentage of highly educated, top of the pile, Welsh speakers are all that matters and I find that, in relation to the survival of the language, profoundly depressing.
I'm nevertheless delighted that non Welsh speakers have a chance to appreciate a modern Welsh novel.

[Elaine Maul · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written book that evokes the fervour that must have been present in the time of the English Civil war. Fantastic characters; I couldn't put it down!