Martin Farrell

by Janni Howker

At a time when Scotland is ruled by feuding families, violence and superstition are rife. When Martin Farrell, a poor peat-cutter's son finds he is the joint heir of the two most powerful families in the land, he is caught up in their bloody hatred.

Genres: Historical Fiction

86 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Janni Howker is a British author who has written several award-winning adult and children's books; she has also adapted her work for the screen. Howker has worked across the UK running creative writing workshops for adults and children, and is involved in several arts development programmes.

She lives in the north of England, where many of her books are set: most notably Martin Farrell, which tells the tale of a boy caught in the midst of the bloody feuds of the Border Reivers.

Reviews

[Heather Cawte · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to hear the author read from this before it was published. Although marketed as a children's book, it is written with wonderful rhythm and poetry, and is a dark tale of the Border reivers in England and Scotland in the seventeenth century. Wonderful stuff.

[Marc Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

A captivating dark tale from the Border reivers’ period written with a gentle rhythm and occasional rhyme. The drama is recounted through a storyteller who speak with a light Borders’ dialect, and whose embellishments and imaginings often wander into the fantastic. It’s criminal this book isn’t more widely read. Janni Howker writes so, so well.

[Stephen Hackett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished this - for some reason I missed it when it came out, but I've loved all of Janni Howker's work. This was terrific - in very few pages, and with a small cast of characters, she creates a whole and utterly engrossing world, and a compelling drama. It is a ballad in prose, which would lend itself perfectly to being performed 'live' in the manner of Julian Glover's 'Beowulf'.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extraordinary, poetic fable of the Scottish 'reaver' period. Told through dialect, intense imagery and with searing emotion. A real find in a miscallaneous collection on display outside a second hand bookshop.

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This caught me by surprise. Has there ever been a worse front illustration on a book? As bad as the cover is, it at least served the purpose with me to be expecting a competent children’s historical fiction. I wasn’t expecting a full-scale bringing to life of centuries of northern and Scottish storytelling and balladry. This evokes sagas and ballads; the Minstrelsy of the Scottish Borders, Patrick Spens, Lord Randall and many another ballad or tale.

Written in a style I found unique; a flawless combination of prose and metered verse. The beat of a song and the clarity of prose gives it the intimacy of being there in the chimney corner, on the settle with the cup of wine as the minstrel tells his tale and holds you through to the end.

This book must be read out loud, ideally with the accents of Northumbria, Roxborough and Dumfries. I’ve been a fan of Janni Howker as a teacher of English. Now I’m simply a fan as a reader.

[Moris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a weird read. The language is strange, and difficult to comprehend, but the story is very interesting. I picked up this book when i was 14, when English was a foreign language to me, from which I learned bizarre new words like "nosegay", "venison" and "starveling". There was something ultra special about this novella that I carefully wrapped the hard cover with a sleeve. I don't remember what it was, other than that I struck gold with this random pick at the now-defunct bookshop at Sarawak Plaza. It has been 21 years since then, and I want to read it again, now that English is no longer that much of an issue with me. Problem is the book is tucked somewhere between other ancient tomes in our family home, collecting dust and probably possessed by a wild spirit.

[Waller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating voice in this novel - like nothing else I've ever read. It's never really clear whether some things that happen are the embroidery of the storyteller or outright fantasy, though the story overall seems realistic.