Book Review

The Dorset Arms…. by Bonx Trigwell

Is an entertaining blend of History and the Paranormal, fact and fiction, comedy and pathos. In telling the story of the eponymous East Grinstead ale-house over a 1419 year period, it revolves around the lives of five central real-life characters, all of whom had some close connection with the Dorset Arms, and many of whom met a tragic end in or around the pub. Past and present merges as their ghosts return to haunt the place, and although the pub undergoes various rebuilding and renovations, history, it seems, can never be truly reconstructed…

This is a great idea for a book, and it has many fine qualities. The stories themselves are often poignant- Mary Sumner’s tale, for example, really captures her sweet innocence, her warm if tentative friendship with Lady Sackville and the ‘pain in her heart’ when, pregnant and in deep despair, she takes her own life. The sad stories of Edward Jones and Jonathan Lancaster highlight the horrors and futility of war, while that of Anne Tree is a grim reminder of the dangers of religious fanaticism, and even the roguish Wilfred Bumble elicits our sympathy when he meets his horrible end in the tunnels.

The modern tales also have their moments of drama (e.g. in * 1991* Steve and the lads have a wild old time at the 101 club, and in *1996* we witness the demise of Andrew and Beth’s once loving relationship), and they tie in neatly with the ghost stories. The ending *2666*, is quite cleaver, Trigwell envisages, with a cynical political eye, an apocalyptic England in which the Dorset Arms is now derelict and the five ghosts, now past all earthly pain, sit down to a hearty meal.

Overall, this is a good read, rich in both comedy and tragedy. . By Pen Press.

Bonx Trigwell www.mrbonx.com

07969016137

E-mail Bonx@mrbonx.com

45 High Street, East Grinstead, West Sussex RH19 3AS UK.