Cuddy

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From life in a brutal eighteenth-century coiners gang ( The Gallows Pole) to a late 1980s public obsession with crop circles ( The Perfect Golden Circle); where do you get your limitless inspiration from?

Although the later sections (a second-person account of the construction of Durham Cathedral, a Murder in the Cathedral-type play set in the 1650s, the excavation of his remains in the 1820s, a young man and potential descendant in 2019 Durham named Michael Cuthbert) feel pretty pretentious and less than essential, it's neat that a similar female character (Edith or Edie in later sections) recurs.Cuddy is the ninth novel from Benjamin Myers, who was born in Durham and now lives in West Yorkshire. Its central character is St Cuthbert, the unofficial patron saint of the north of England. St Cuthbert was born in Northumbria, became a monk, rose to become abbot of Lindisfarne, and then lived for many years as a hermit. There is a Prologue which is set at the time of the death of Cuthbert in 687. Book 1 moves to 995. Cuthbert’s remains have been moved several times to avoid Viking raiders and they are on the move again with a group of monks plus a few others on the lookout for a final resting place. Book 2 moves to 1346 and is set in and around the cathedral and its masons and tells the story of Eda and her violent husband who is an archer fighting the Scots. There is an interlude set in 1650 when Cromwell was fighting in Scotland. Following the Battle of Dunbar three thousand Scotsmen were imprisoned in the Cathedral, 1700 of them died. The interlude takes the form of a play with the Cathedral itself as one of the characters. Book 3 is set in 1827 when Cuthbert’s remains were disinterred and is basically a Victorian Ghost story in the tradition of M R James: the ghosts being previous characters. Book 4 is set in 2019 and concerns Michael a young labourer caring for his dying mother. A labouring job at the Cathedral leads to new horizons but the past is ever present. Women’s voices are at the forefront in the first two books, the last two focus on men who don’t have faith. Allan, Nina (9 March 2023). "Cuddy by Benjamin Myers review – a visionary history". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 . Retrieved 24 March 2023. Tom-Gallon Trust Award 2014". Society of Authors. 8 May 2020. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. The styles of the novels differ and each reader will likely find a different part appeals. The first section is perhaps the most innovative, with prose poetry mixed with a story told from attributed quotes from various sources, ancient and modern, on which Ben Myers has drawn. The latter aspects was one of the book’s highlights for me, but the prose poetry it’s weakest element, albeit one that put Cuddy in dialogue with Letty McHugh’s brilliant Barbellion Prize winning The Book of Hours.

But the book’s highlight by some margin is the final novel, set in the present day, a moving meditation on familial love, caring for a parent with a terminal illness, zero-hours contracts, social mobility, particularly the area of cultural capital, and on religious faith. The writing is so beautiful even when some of it makes little sense. As you read you initially feel impressions of the story rather than discerning any plot but as the parts move on the stories become more concrete. After finding some of the earlier parts a bit hard to fully engage with I eventually fell into the story completely and couldn’t stop reading.Myers, Benjamin (3 January 2020). " 'I was half-insane with anxiety': how I wrote myself into a breakdown". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077 . Retrieved 3 January 2020– via www.theguardian.com. Cuddyis a bold and experimental retelling of the story of the hermit St. Cuthbert, unofficial patron saint of the North of England. Benjamin Myers wins Gordon Burn Prize". Newwritingnorth.com. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014 . Retrieved 12 August 2014. Myers’s prose and verse are arresting, if sometimes rather pretentious. He speaks powerfully about a well-loved northern figure. But the real Cuthbert can best be found in the anonymous biography written on Lindisfarne just after the first relocation of his much travelled bones.

Book four, an account from a visiting professor in 1827, who has no love of the uncultured north. He is there for the opening of Cuthbert’s tomb once more. This time the decorative casket that has held the saint’s body for eight hundred years is ruined. Myers has written this in the flamboyant wordy style of the period, catching the nuances effortlessly. There wasn’t even really a script. Much of the series is born out of workshops, improvisations, and an acting and directorial approach that is entirely fluid. He starts with the out-line for a scene, and then builds it up from there. It is a unique approach – some might call it chaotic – but as a fellow Capricorn (we are considered the lone stubborn goats forging their own path high up on the hill-side), I completely respect and understand his approach. One of total creative control, but aided by collaboration. Myers’ short story ‘The Folk Song Singer’ was awarded the Tom-Gallon Prize in 2014 by the Society Of Authors and published by Galley Beggar Press. His short stories and poetry have appeared in dozens of anthologies.

On writing in the 8th century

Chosen as a book to watch out for in 2023 by The Times, Observer, Guardian, Irish TImes and Scotsman** Myers, Benjamin (2002). American heretics: rebel voices in music. Hove: Codex. ISBN 1-899598-23-5. OCLC 50175926. Book II tells of masons repairing the cathedral stonework in 1346 and makes the saint an actor in condemning an abusive husband. The third book offers a pastiche of an M. R. James ghost story, set in 1827, when a sceptical professor finds his confidence in science challenged at the opening of the saint’s tomb. And, in the final part, a young labourer, Michael Cuthbert, has his own encounter with the numinous when unexpectedly given work in the cathedral while his mother lies dying at home.