How does Jeremiah Mount, the dealer in pornography, come to be the lover of the Duchess of Albemarle and the colleague of the great Samuel Pepys? In Pepys' Diary, Jem Mount plays a shadowy role, but in Jem's own memories Sam looms large. Friends and drinking partners at first, they become vicious rivals for fame and women. In his struggle to survive and triumph over his adversary in a rackety world, Jemm stumbles into many trades: chemist, butler, soldier, secretary and, now and then, lover.This 'newly discovered autobiography' - with its disconcerting echoes of our own time - takes its dubious hero from the shaky days of Cromwellian England, through the unbuttoned license of the Restoration, to the panic of Monmouth's Rebellion and the Jamaica sugar boom. (19981216)
Jem (and Sam): A Revenger's Tale
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This is a novel that wears its learning lightly. The extensive research is woven seamlessly into the plot and illuminates the setting (Philippa Gregory Independent )
This is a marvellously vivid and enterataining evocation of Cromwellian and Restoration England. Mount paints from a rich palette, but the brushwork is stylishly economical... When is a historical novel not a historical novel? When it is written by Ferdinand Mount. He is in danger of giving the genre a good name' (Ian McIntyre The Times )
The story smoothly takes in the Dutch wars, the Plague and Fire... It includes hellish episodes in a groaning Bedlam, as well as sylvan scenes of sport and the superior delights of the metropolis... Mount gives JEM a fluent, allusive prose with a period flavour that avoids pastiche...vivid...powerful (Sunday Times )
This is a marvellously vivid and enterataining evocation of Cromwellian and Restoration England. Mount paints from a rich palette, but the brushwork is stylishly economical... When is a historical novel not a historical novel? When it is written by Ferdinand Mount. He is in danger of giving the genre a good name' (Ian McIntyre The Times )
The story smoothly takes in the Dutch wars, the Plague and Fire... It includes hellish episodes in a groaning Bedlam, as well as sylvan scenes of sport and the superior delights of the metropolis... Mount gives JEM a fluent, allusive prose with a period flavour that avoids pastiche...vivid...powerful (Sunday Times )
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Full of engaging, amusing, and above all human characters, this novel also boasts a vividly presented narrative of a turbulent era. Mount manages to keep the reader intrigued as Jem careers from bawdy houses to Oliver Cromwell's inner circle, from Dutch Wars to Jamaica, from political intrigue to treasure hunting. The characters with whom he treats run the gamut of all levels of society and include Samuel Pepys, the pirate Henry Morgan, and even the "Emperor of China," as Jem's fortunes vacillate.
The author manages to employ a light hand and fine wit as he he juggles the demands of sweeping narrative, historical research, and intriguing characters, and succeeds in keeping the reader both entertained and fascinated by the period and its depiction. Mary Whipple
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
There has always been a great debate among historians as to what history should be: a collection of dates; original documents; conjecture based on facts. But none of these will tell you how it actually was to live in a past era. The bravest way to do it, if the most dangerous, is through fictional history, attempting a contemporary view of an onlooker. This Mount does to brilliant effect, impersonating a real-life distant ancestor who appears in Pepys's diary.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
This book covers a very interesting period of time, depicted in various novels over the last two years (e.g. Instance of the Fingerpost and Ex Libris), the 17th century in Britain. Told from the perspective of Mr Jeremiah Mount, a salesman of pornographic material, we get his lifestory bit by bit. The further you get in the novel, the more sympathy you feel for Mr Mount who's life gets heavily influenced by a charactre of huge historical imporante, Samuel Pepys... Every step Mr Mount takes leads him to Mr Pepys and Sam turns into his worst nightmare... coming to haunt him... or is all this just in his imagination.
I read through this novel finding a new delight after every page-turn.... fans of historical fiction should not let this novel go unnoticed!
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