Martha Peake: A Novel of the Revolution

By Patrick McGrath

Master storyteller Patrick McGrath--author of the critically acclaimed novel Asylum and a finalist for England's prestigious Whitbread Prize for fiction--once again spins a hypnotic tale of psychological suspense and haunting beauty. Set among the teeming streets and desolate wharves of Hogarth's London, then shifting to the powder-keg colony of Massachusetts Bay, Martha Peake envelops the reader in a world on the brink of revolution, and introduces us to a flame-haired heroine who will live in the imagination long after the last page is turned.

Settled with our narrator beside a crackling fire, we hear of the poet and smuggler Harry Peake--how Harry lost his wife, Grace, in a tragic fire that left him horribly disfigured; how he made a living displaying his deformed spine in the alehouses of eighteenth-century London; and how his only solace was his devoted daughter, Martha, who inherited all of his fire but none of his passion for cheap gin. As the drink eats away at Harry's soul, it opens ancient wounds; when he commits one final act of unspeakable brutality, Martha, fearing for her life, must flee for the American colonies. Once safely on America's shores, Martha immerses herself in the passions of smoldering rebellion. But even in this land of new beginnings, she is unable to escape the past. Caught up in a web of betrayals, she redeems herself with one final, unforgettable act of courage.

Superbly plotted and wholly absorbing, Martha Peake is an edge-of-your-seat shocker that is crafted with the psychological precision Patrick McGrath's fans have come to expect. A writer whose novels The New York Times Book Review has called both "mesmerizing" and "brilliant," McGrath applies his remarkable imaginative powers to a fresh and broad historical canvas. Martha Peake is the poignant, often disturbing tale of a child fighting free of a father's twisted love, and of the colonists' struggle to free themselves from a smothering homeland. It is Patrick McGrath's finest novel yet.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jan 5, 2011
• ISBN: 9780307764454

Patrick McGrath

Patrick McGrath was born in London and grew up near Broadmoor Hospital, where for many years his father was a Medical Superintendent. He has lived in various parts of North America and spent several years on a remote island in the north Pacific. He moved to New York City in 1981. He is the author of The Grotesque Spider, Dr. Haggard's Disease, Asylum, and Martha Peake. He lives in New York and London and is married to actress Maria Aitken.

Reviews for Martha Peake

[thejohnsmith · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An interesting story of a young woman her father and their troubled relationship. The story moves from the family tragedy of a Cornish smuggler who reinvents himself as a story-teller raising his daughter in London. Life is not easy though and the relationship between Father and Daughter goes bad. The daughter escapes to America in time for the start of the American Revolution. She enjoys some happy times in the New World but it is not all good. An Interesting but not a compelling read.

[bookmarque · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Martha Peake is a bit of a departure for McGrath. While it does have gothic elements and deals with mental aberration, that is not the focus. The focus is the story of Martha and Harry Peake, English father and daughter on the cusp of the American Revolution. The story itself is interesting, but I found the framework clumsy and obvious, something I’ve never encountered in a McGrath novel.Spoilers ahoy-Harry is a brash Cornish smuggler and is horrifically injured in a fire that kills his wife and most of his children. His broken back is set badly and he is disfigured for life and unable to work. In his depression and underlying need to punish himself for the tragedy he displays himself as a poetry reading freak to the locals. This catches the attention of a renowned anatomist Lord Drogo. They meet and the anatomist has evil designs on Harry’s twisted skeleton. With the help of his slimy assistant Clyte, Drogo ensnares Harry’s imagination and plots his downfall. He will do anything to acquire Harry as specimen.At least that’s what we’re led to believe by our unreliable narrator, Ambrose Hill, the nephew of the former apprentice to said famous anatomist. At first we believe that the tale is largely true, but hearsay times two makes for a muddy tale. By the end, the line between what the nephew wishes to be true in his romantic heart and what might actually be true is completely shattered.The basic facts hold however; Harry succumbs to drink and his binges bring out the worst in him. He literally goes out of his mind and attacks Martha, despite his intense love and devotion to her. She runs to the only place she can think of, Drogo Hall, and throws herself on the mercy of the apprentice, William Hill. Hill hides her in the house and turns Harry away when he comes looking. As a permanent solution, Hill arranges for Martha to sail to America to live with her aunt Maddy. Before she can flee, she goes to her father in the grounds, moved by his vigil outside Drogo Hall. He is drunk as usual and this time his attack is completed and Martha knows she is pregnant.Once in America, she falls into the manipulative hands of her aunt’s husband Silas who immediately begins a plot to set her up. He totally plays her and once she’s married to his son, Adam, begins to put her in the line of fire, literally. It’s clever and totally heartless what he does to her. A martyr to the cause of the American Revolution. What a perfect symbol to keep morale high. By now our nephew is completely in love with Martha Peake. He draws her story out of his elderly uncle and fills in the blanks himself. He’s so under the spell that Drogo still haunts his pile of a mansion and hears footsteps outside his locked door and keeps his pistol ready. Of course it isn’t Drogo who haunts the mansion, but Peake. Harry Peake. When he finally realizes the fact of this, his breakdown is nearly complete. Overall this is a very good story; a tragedy through and through despite its flaws.

[msbaba · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Martha Peake: A Novel of the Revolution by Patrick McGrath was a big disappointment. I brought the book with me on a short trip because I had thoroughly enjoyed Asylum by the same author. That was a riviting, neogothic, psychological horror-thriller. This book is a strange mix of neogothic and historical fiction—something McGrath has never done before. Unfortunately, the author does not succeed in making these two genres work together. If I analyze the book in segments, they appear to succeed, but as a whole, the book did not hold my interest. Mostly, I was put off by the awkward way the author chose to tell the story. I could not get into either main character—the narrator or the historical character of Martha Peake. I was always aware of the narrator imagining and creating the history. I couldn’t focus on Martha’s story without thinking how the narrator could be getting her whole story absolutely wrong. Evidently, this was just what the author needed us to do; he wants us to question the story. In the end, there are some unexpected twists. But the telling was all too awkward and unconvincing. I got bored long before I finished, and I had to force myself to finish. I do not recommend this book. But I like the author well enough to give him another try if he sticks to neogothic horror in a contemporary setting