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The Polished Hoe (Paperback)

by Austin Clarke (Author) "My name is Mary ..." (more)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 480 pages
  • Publisher: Harper Paperbacks; Reprint edition (Jun 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0060557621
  • ISBN-13: 978-0060557621
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 13.2 x 3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 1,034,706 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Toronto Star

‘An unqualified masterpiece’ --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.


Ottawa Citizen

'A magnificent, breathtaking plunge into the secret depths of human relations . . . a wonder-filled gem’ --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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My name is Mary. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

2 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary novel, 29 Mar 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: The Polished Hoe (Paperback)
A long, langorous account of marvellous ambition. Though the time frame is a single night, the novel seems to embrace the whole history of a thinly disguised Barbados. The voice of Miss Mary-Mathilda is wonderfully realized, the rhythms reverberating in your head long after you put the book down. Thoroughly deserves all the prizes it's won.
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3 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars An intense read, 27 Feb 2009
By Mister Hobgoblin (Edinburgh, Scotland) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)      
This review is from: The Polished Hoe (Paperback)
The Polished Hoe is an intense read. Most of the novel is the form of a dialogue between Mary Mathilda, the mistress of Mr Bellfeels and the Sergeant. It is implied that Mary-Mathilda has killed Mr Bellfeels and called the police to confess, although the exact circumstances remain fairly obscure.

What follows is a claustrophobic analysis of history, race and slavery in Bimshire (Barbados). The issues are complex, and social status seems to depend on the exact racial mix - and slavery having led to few people having exclusively black heritage or exclusively white heritage. We assume that Mary-Mathilda is black, and we assume that Mr Bellfeels is white, but these assumptions are challenged as the discourse unfolds. Secret after secret comes pouring out. Bimshire has been a seething pot of discontent, resentment and double standards and the lid is taken off.

Much of the narrative is timeless - it feels as though it might as well have been set in the 1850s as in the 1950s such is the enduring power of the departed white ruling class; the prejudice; the inequality in society. In this context, the Sergeant is torn between his duty as a policeman to solve crime and bring perpetrators to court; and his duty to his people - the people of African heritage - who are fighting against decades, centuries even, of injustice. Meanwhile, we are reminded that across the water in the USA, segregation was alive and well.

The novel is told in strong Bimshire patois, and this can be a little offputting, although one does become acclimatized to it. What is more disturbing, perhaps, is realizing ones own prejudices as one imagines that the patois is a sign of unsophisticated people. In truth, the philosophical concepts that Mary-Mathilda and the Sergeant cover are very complex and the arguments, although set out in patois, are rigorous.

This is an intense, claustrophobic read. It isn't quick. It isn't a page turner. It's like a James Kelman of the Caribbean. But it does pose profound questions and does offer real insight into the legacy of white colonialism.
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