[ About The Newer World ]
I knew as I made my way home that there was no home. All the old things. . . were gone forever.
Against a rapidly shifting landscape, Tennyson Bouguereau – freed man, devoted brother, nascent singer, conflicted soldier and wanted man – journey to find meaning and belonging. From the relative safety of home in Tennessee with his sister Rosalee, he is offered the possibility of a whole new life in Nashville, until a surprising trip to Victorian England changes everything.
Exquisitely rendered, and with a rich cast of characters, The Newer World is a lyrical, visceral novel about what it is to survive, and what might be lost along the way.
[ My Review ]
The Newer World by Sebastian Barry publishes September 10th with Faber & Faber and is described as ‘an immersive and unforgettable novel of one man’s life in the aftermath of the American Civil War’.
There are currently a few active discussions surrounding The Newer World and the fact that Irish writer Sebastian Barry has chosen to write from the viewpoint of a Black American slave. Obviously I cannot attest to the authenticity of this world he creates but what I can say is that it is a most striking and poignant piece of work. Having previously read Days Without End and A Thousand Moons, the first two books in this series featuring Thomas McNulty and John Cole, I was enthusiastic to continue my reading of this unsettled period, but this time through the eyes of Tennyson Bouguereau, an acquaintance of McNulty and Cole.
Now an older man, Tennyson looks back at his life and all he has witnessed. He has clarity with some of his memories and other periods of time seem more of a blur to him so he passes over them more swiftly. As a young boy he recalls a father he never knew, the tragic loss of his mother and the harrowing scenes of what he witnessed when his beloved sister Rosalee was brutally assaulted. As freed slaves, the Bouguereau children lived on a Lige Magan’s farm alongside McNulty, Cole and Cole’s adopted daughter Winona, a young Lakota Indian. This rather eclectic gathering lived harmoniously following the civil war but the legacy of those tumultuous times lingered at a more local level, leaving Tennyson and Rosalee very exposed.
After a particular incident, Tennyson travels to Nashville, with assistance, in order to start a new life for himself. He is reticent to leave Rosalee and the rest of his unorthodox family behind, but with no real choice, he joins a bible group of singers, a choir, where he uses his voice to make a living. ‘It seemed like we had restored to the cold earth her natural sense of faith. Everyone said we were God’s messengers.’ Polished up and a little more educated, Tennyson feels a distance forming between his roots and what he has now become. He is unsure of who he is, confused about where his future will be and where he will spend it.
He joins the army, with his best friend George. He refers to the famous Lakota Ghost Dance and The Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890, where approximately 300 men, women and children of the Lakota tribe were barbarically murdered, ‘the day the end of the world came quicker than I thought.’
Following the army, Tennyson continues his journey through life. This stunning account encourages the reader to almost believe that they have been invited to a private viewing of the personal diary of a witness to these extraordinary times. If you have previously read Sebastian Barry’s work you will have high expectations when you pick up a copy of The Newer World and it doesn’t disappoint. In a recent article in The Times, Sebastian Barry mentioned how he just couldn’t let this story go and, as a fan, I am very pleased that he made that choice. It seems like a perfect finale to this series, wrapping up this turbulent period in American history.
The Newer World is an unflinching and profound novel, one that leaves a lingering sense of being witness to something so much bigger that one can ever truly comprehend. It is a sweeping and sombre tale, a fitting conclusion to this remarkable trilogy.
[Thank you to Faber & Faber for a copy of The Newer World in exchange for my honest review]
[ Bio ]
Sebastian Barry was born in Dublin in 1955. Laureate for Irish Fiction 2018-2021, his novels have twice won the Costa Book of the Year award, the Independent Booksellers Award and the Walter Scott Prize. He had two consecutive novels shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, A Long Long Way (2005) and the top ten bestseller The Secret Scripture (2008), and has also won the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Prize, the Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and others. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin. He lives in County Wicklow.
