The Ballad of Castle Reef

by Honor Tracy

156 pages. Book and Jacket are both in Very good condition throughout. For Generations The Barracloughs Of Castle Reef Have Been Soldiers. But Now Francis, Only Son Of Major Barraclough Wants No Part Of It.

156 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1979

About the author

Honor Tracy is the pseudonym of Lilbush Wingfield, who was a British writer, born at Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk.

Tracy joined the British Women's Auxiliary Air Force from 1939 to 1941, working in the intelligence département, then she was attached to the British Ministry of Information during the Second World War, from 1941 to 1945, as a Japanese specialist. She worked for The Observer newspaper as a columnist and as a long-time foreign correspondent. She wrote also for The Sunday Times and for the British Broadcasting Corporation. Tracy is best known as a travel writer. Her novels satirize British-Irish relations and Ireland itself with wit and occasionally bitterness. Her best-known novels are The Straight and Narrow Path (1956), The Quiet End of Evening (1972), and The Ballad of Castle Reef (1979). Her best-known travel book is Winter in Castille (1973).

She settled in Achill Island, Co. Mayo, Ireland and died in 1989 in Oxford, England.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first, and likely my last, Honor Tracy novel. It's a shame as she definitely has the skill of writing good satire, and has some devasting turns of phrase. The opening page, for example, discusses the "long melancholy saga of decline and decay" of the British army: there was "the pampering initiated by Florence Nightingale, for instance, and the abolition of flogging."

But a PD Wodehouse she certainly is not. Wodehouse works because he is satirising the upper classes. Tracy does not work because she is satirising the occupied Irish, repeatedly portraying them as inept, illogical, and buffoonish. The British ruling class, on the other hand, while reflecting some unfortunate buffoonery of their own, need to step into their role as benevolent lords and masters. This novel was published in 1970 but the ideas that underpin it seem much older. It reads as out of date on publication.

The story centres on Francis Barclough and his new wife, an American named Marigold. Francis' father unexpectedly dies and instead of leaving the manor to his son he leaves it to his butler (life interest only), because he thinks (correctly) that Francis is not appreciative of the land or his role in the community. By watching the ineptitude of the butler (note: lower class), Francis finds that these decisions come naturally to him - he is born into the role and by the end of the book he is ready to take up the mantle.

Marigold is written to provide an outsider's perspective on the relationships and tensions in Ireland, particularly between the Irish and the British, and she does fill this role from time to time. However, her openly racist remarks about Black Americans are so disturbing it's difficult to see her as neutral or sympathetic.

A really ugly portrayal of the British class system and the justifications of occupation. I wouldn't have finished it except it is a very short and quick read.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A whimsical story of a newly-wed heir who's thrown a curveball when he learns that his father bequeathed the estate to the family butler.

[Contrarywise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps the most enjoyable of all the author's books, this novel tells the story of a young man who comes home to Ireland when his father dies, only to find that his disappointed parent has left the family estate to his manservant. He brings with him his young American wife, and together they face one hilarious contretemps after another. Don't miss the hunt ball!