Hangman's Beach

by Thomas H. Raddall

Book by Raddall

Genres: Canada, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Novels

421 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

1903-1992

Reviews

[Michael Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hangman's Beach is Raddall at his absolute best. Historical fiction at its finest. Raddall has an amazing talent for constructing an engaging story around actual historical events and bringing the period alive in vivid detail, including the dialogue which so often misses the mark in most historical fiction. Also, his research and attention to detail is second-to-none.

[Craig Rowland · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought Hangman’s Beach by Thomas H. Raddall when Mark and I visited Nova Scotia two years ago. During that trip Mark’s sister Patsy and her partner Jim took us on a boat trip to McNabs Island. The island, as well as the surrounding area including the Northwest Arm, Melville Island and Deadman’s Island serve as the settings for this novel, which was written in 1966. I am happy to have paid a visit to McNabs Island and to know the area around the Northwest Arm as it helped me grasp a sense of place that Raddall depicts. The title refers to a real-life location on the west of the island (known as Maugers Beach) where during the Napoleonic Wars delinquent sailors were hanged. Gibbets were erected on this beach and dead men were left to hang there, with their bodies only released from the nooses after they had decomposed. This phalanx of gibbets served as a warning to all sailors that insubordination of any kind would not be tolerated.

The novel tells a story about island inhabitant Peter McNab, his family and those that live with them. With such a gruesome sight of corpses hanging from gibbets (and the possible, but never mentioned, wafting odour of rotting flesh) to share one’s island home, the McNabs learn quickly to “look the other way” and despite having so much death on their doorstep they all avoid that part of the island. The action takes off when Ellen Dewar, a homely and shy ward of Peter meets and falls in love with Michel Cascamond, a prisoner-of-war who was apprehended for other crimes but tries to keep on the down-low the fact that it was he who shot and killed Lord Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar.

The action is slow at first–yet exciting nonetheless–and takes off after Cascamond assaults Dewar’s fiancé and leaves him for dead. Fearing that he will be executed, Cascamond steals a boat and flees, only to be captured and imprisoned on Melville Island. His adventures on the run and then scheming a prison break will keep you on your toes.

Hangman’s Beach was a compact paperback of 421 pages laid out in a small font. In spite of this unattractive appearance the book was a delight to read. I was thoroughly captivated by Raddall’s dialogue: he wrote all of what Peter McNab said in Scots, so I thank my knowledge of Scrabble vocabulary –which features such acceptable words as frae, guid, sae and tae, among others–for being able to easily understand it all. I could hear McNab’s voice as he spoke. The other characters spoke in what I considered realistic words–not any of this 200-year-old highfalutin dialogue between married people who never address each other by their first names–and Raddall did not shy away from writing about the sexual urges of sailors, which must have preoccupied their minds.

The novel, already secondhand with a cracked spine when I bought it, suffered during my recent Florida vacation where I finished reading it while suntanning on Miami Beach. In Key West I inadvertently set it down on a table with a wet surface, and then regrettably gave it a second dunking when I left it in the bottom of my backpack and piled something wet on top of it. I never intended to keep the book after I read it, and two people are eager to read it next (Mark is reading it now, and then I will give it to my library friend Rob). So this small $4.50 investment will see three readers and I now have a new author with multiple works to explore.

[Fraser · Rating 4 out of 5]

“What a blessing to live as we do, where nothing ever happens.” - Ellen, Hangman’s Beach

So many a Haligonian has thought exactly that, I imagine. I lived in Halifax for four years and while I knew a little of the grotesque history of McNab’s Island, I had never given it much thought. Raddall here provides some (largely imagined) context to the gory displays we see in our Halifax museums.

In literature, historical fiction has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. The weaving of fictional heroes with actual historical events as backdrops (along with the odd historical figure in the periphery) can always drum up my interest even in the absence of any true literary merit; Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe series comes immediately to mind. Hangman’s Beach falls into some of the pitfalls of its genre: most notably exposition that sometimes borders on clumsy, but this minor transgression is offset with the occasional brilliant philosophical nuggets uttered by the characters: “For a sailor the world is wide. But one day it shrinks to a spot beneath the feet of one woman, and all the rest is emptiness.”

Like Randall’s The Nymph and the Lamp, this is essentially a Nova Scotian romance. The titular landmark has little consequence to the central story and was probably included by Randall as a marketing gimmick; who wouldn’t want to read a book with both “hangman” and “beach” in the title? If you are a fan of historical fiction, you will probably enjoy this book. If you are Nova Scotian, you will also probably enjoy this. For a Nova Scotian fan of historical fiction, this is indispensable reading.

[Christina Yorke · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've enjoyed in ages. Raddell captures Halifax and area beautifully in this historical account of McNab's Island. Focusing on the lives of Peter McNab, a generous Scottish businessman, and Cascamond, a French officer hiding a tremendous secret, Hangmans Beach is set during the Napoleonic Wars in Halifax Nova Scotia, Britain's only fortress and navel base of all of North America. The book gives wonderful lessons on the creation of Nova Scotia's capital and the importance of the French prisoners at the time. With American ready to declare war on Canada the men must examine their loyalties and do what is needed to survive.

[George Hodgson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good adventure featuring some Canadian history.

[Liz Sdraulig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hangman's Beach is a real place in Halifax NS. This book takes you back there...

[Avriljl · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a Halifax resident, having been to MacNab's Island and know many of the other locations well, I found it fun to be able to visualize the surroundings as I read the story. Also enjoyed putting the surroundings in historical context. I was quite surprised that it turned out to hinge around a romance. Kept me interested to the end. I would look out other novels by Raddall. I have read "The Nymph and the Lamp" which I enjoyed greatly. I put Hangman's Beach behind this latter read.

[Catherine]

Great so far... had to stop when I moved though and returned it to the library. Should finish it soon before I forget the story!

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Johanna Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the way the history of Halifax is woven into a great story.