At Hawthorn Time

May 18, 2015
In Harrison’s wondrous second novel (after Clay), disparate lives converge in a remote part of the British countryside. There’s Jack, a vagrant prone to poetic musing, living on seasonal work and eschewing the security of putting down roots. Then there’s Kitty and Howard, empty nesters grappling with the change in their relationship, especially after having left London for the countryside—a wish of Kitty’s that Howard agreed to after retiring from a business that he left in his son’s hands, without really thinking through what that would mean for him. Kitty, seeking solace in the local church and finding her artistic voice through painting, is also coming to terms with a past infidelity and a looming concern about her health. And then there’s Jamie, a young man with a warehouse job, finding his way in the world and hoping to better himself. A fateful accident brings the characters together, and Harrison’s prose paints a stunning picture of the landscape, as her characters wistfully find themselves wishing for a past they can never get back.

May 1, 2015
Harrison (Clay, 2013) describes the small details and grand scope of nature in the hills and forests of Lodeshill, a village north of London, where multiple narratives of longing and loss converge. The book ends and begins with the car accident that brings together disparate characters inhabiting the same landscape. Jack, who has been tramping for more than 20 years, returns to Lodeshill on foot, looking for seasonal work picking asparagus on one of its farms. Afraid of being caught skipping out on his prison release terms and arrested for trespassing, he sleeps in the woods and walks at night. Jack isn't just disconnected from other people; he's deeply in tune with the Earth's rhythms, noting them in journals; "it wasn't just about staying unseen; it was a way to immerse himself in a world that most people didn't know existed." Kitty and Howard, married transplants, don't know much about Lodeshill when they retire there to fulfill Kitty's dream of country living. An aspiring painter, she immerses herself in local customs and history while her husband struggles to find his place in the village and in his marriage. Jamie, a young man who grew up in Lodeshill dreaming of a life on its farms, works robotically at a warehouse job, putting his passion into customizing his car. The impending sale of a farm with significance for both Jack and Jamie casts a shadow over the plot's slow burn. Jamie's grandfather, a former prisoner of war, captures the reader's interest but is unfortunately one of many minor characters competing for attention. This elegant novel's true subject is its evolving pastoral setting, which is richer than its tableau of underdeveloped characters.

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June 1, 2015

Selected for Amazon's Rising Stars program for her debut novel, Clay, Harrison returns with a superb sophomore effort featuring four characters whose lives intersect in the rural village of Lodeshill, England. Howard and Kitty, a retired married couple, have moved from London to pursue Kitty's desire to paint. Howard remains ambivalent about the move, just one of the many factors driving the couple apart. Jamie, a young man, yearns to break free of his family ties yet feels connected to the environment. He shares this longing with Jack, an older, free-spirited wanderer best described as a vagrant. Though these characters are separate in thought, feeling, and ambition, the author draws them together with her detailed portrait of the countryside; each chapter commences with a one-line description of the natural surroundings. VERDICT Harrison presents a simple but compelling setting and way of life, expertly juxtaposed against the onslaught of development, technology, loss, death, and never-ending change that inflicts a thousand tiny cuts daily in the characters' personal armor. Ultimately an intimate but sorrowful tale that most libraries will want to include in their contemporary fiction collections.--Faye Chadwell, Oregon State Univ., Corvallis

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