Donkey Boy: Volume 2 of "A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight"

A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight #2

by Henry Williamson

"A Chronicle of Sunlight" tells the story of an English family from late-Victorian times to World War II. This volume follows Phillip Maddison's boyhood against a background of the Boer War and the growth of women's suffrage. Has Phillip inherited his paternal grandfather's waywardness?

Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Henry William Williamson was an English soldier, naturalist, farmer and ruralist writer known for his natural history and social history novels, as well as for his fascist sympathies. He won the Hawthornden Prize for literature in 1928 with his book Tarka the Otter.

Henry Williamson is best known for a tetralogy of four novels which consists of The Beautiful Years (1921), Dandelion Days (1922), The Dream of Fair Women (1924) and The Pathway (1928). These novels are collectively known as The Flax of Dream and they follow the life of Willie Maddison from boyhood to adulthood in a rapidly changing world.

Reviews

[Paul Christensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

As Victoria’s death sees a shift in the nation
The story shifts slowly from father to son,
Exploring intensely a young boy’s relation
To father, reaching depths few writers have done.

[Peter Johns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Initially I didn't like this book because of the gooey sentimentality about small children in the first 100 pages but it picks up well and I will reading more from this series

[PAUL DEWSON · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second volume in the Chronicles of Ancient Sunlight. Here we follow the twists and turns in the young life of Phillip Maddison up to the age of eleven. His unruly behaviour leading to a difficult relationship with his father Richard. This in turn puts a severe strain on Richard's relationship with his wife Hetty who dotes on the young Phillip.
These family dramas are played out at a time when the country is moving from the Victorian to the Edwardian era. A time of change, uncertainty and social upheaval. Captured brilliantly by Williamson whose writing is both poetic and at times brutal.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my second time of reading this book. I enjoyed it as much as the first time. I cannot imagine a better book about growing up in a London suburb over 100 years ago, and would recommend Henry Williamson's epic but neglected Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight series.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second time of reading this wonderful saga. The first time was in the 1970s, and I just had to reread these books before I get too old!

[Mondrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't get through the whole of the chronicles of ancient sunlight which i think is the complete set but i got through the first 3 or 4. These are all brilliant. the history of henry W is incidental to what he did with these books. They rank up there with graves goodbye to all that as a description of the first world war. The sheer detail from a man who was there, the way he has put that experience down to the level of the person is phenomenal. The character is the soldier who tries to make a reasonable life when he is exposed to the sheer unbelievable horror of war. Set in a situation where he comes back from these experiences and finds the world at home is still going on as usual. And he tries to fit in. Henry is a master writer and the books are unsung masterpieces. The canvas is almost too large to describe. In some ways it fits into diary of a nobody which is a comedy in the first 2 or three. But this is no comedy and there is no relieving the pressure and poignancy of the experiences from the first sad glad army of 1914 right through to the end.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

More beautiful writing from Williamson, tracing the early childhood of Philip, who I assume is going to be the protagonist for the remaining 13 books in the series and is probably quite autobiographical. Excellent descriptions of childhood, family dynamics, etc. Glad I discovered this.