In Tod of the Fens (published 1928), author Elinor Whitney creates a story connecting a group of men living in the low-lying fens of Lancashire, England with the happenings in the neighboring medieval town of Boston (see information on Wikipedia about Boston, England). With a distinct Robin Hood feel, the novel’s men in the fens are prone to tricking people of the town for their own amusement, although Whitney’s story lacks any sense of purpose behind their trickery compared to the Robin Hood tales.
The perspective shifts throughout the novel. Narrative perspects include these: the people in the fens, a stranger named Dismas, the guard at the town gates, Joanna Tilney (the daughter of the most wealthy man in town), and even more. The multiple perspectives give the entire book a confusing feel (especially at first) and it’s hard to say who the “main” character should be.
To add to the confusing perspective shifts, the author attempts to capture Medieval English dialogue. The men in the fens were low-class so their dialogue was even more difficult to follow. The plot- and dialogue-driven book was not nearly as poorly written as Cedric the Forester, but it still was irritating to read. It makes the story feel even more muddled.
Tod seems like he is (or should be) a young man of character, but many of the rascals he associates with in the fen don’t seem completely honest. Here’s my understanding: When the man Dismas is held up by the group, Tod convinces the group to let Dismas show his own penchant for playing tricks instead of being robbed. Tod and Dismas make a wager that Dismas will pull of as many tricks as he can in a certain time frame. At the appointed hour, Dismas returns to explain the many tricks he’s done, including stealing the keys to the town’s coffers from the pockets of five different town leaders.
Meanwhile, back in town, Joanna begins a courtship with a young man who is the son of a merchant soon to set sail. Since her father is one of the men who had a key stolen, she becomes to determined to find out where all five keys went. Thus, the town scenes focus around the two teenagers, as well as the politics of Mr. Tinley’s situation as being suspected of stealing the town’s treasure. The end of the book also incorporates a situation where one of the five town leaders absconds with the town’s coffer and helps the Easterlings (German merchant sailors) to steal much of the town’s wool.
Confused yet?
I still may be summarizing the story wrong. It’s a book I’d have to reread to truly make sense of.
The book had a strange feel to it. The men living in the fens didn’t seem like positive characters. They were low-class and the challenge to play tricks on people seemed an odd one. Are they restless robbers? Why, then, is the supposedly good Tod with them? In the end, Dismas turns out to be a young Prince Hal (Prince of Wales) in disguise, and so of course, all the keys and riches of the town are restored and everything is put to rights in the end. But the entire adventure seemed odd and confusing from beginning to end. I didn’t like Tod himself very much. The only two teenagers (Joanna and her young man) were the most interesting part, but Joanna’s role seemed arbitrary if we consider the secret identity of Dismas as being an interesting “twist.” What child could relate to this confusing book?
In short, very little about Tod of the Fens engaged me as a reader. I love historical fiction and the setting seemed an interesting one. But the strange message coming from the plot-driven book seemed only to be one of having fun at the expense of others. I had a hard time forcing myself to finish reading Tod of the Fens.
One odd fact I learned is that the young man Tod is called so because of his bushy clump of hair, which somewhat resembles a “tod” of sheep’s wool (28 pounds apparently?). Stolen wool is a key part of the novel’s end, so his name seems apropos.
Tod of the Fens was a Newbery runner-up (later redesignated as a Newbery Honor) in 1929. I rate it “OKAY” and say “DON’T BOTHER.”
Newbery rating scale: FANTASTIC | REALLY GOOD | PRETTY GOOD | OKAY | BLAH
What to do with this Newbery: KEEP IT AND READ IT | MAYBE IF YOU HAVE TIME | DON’T BOTHER
