Hatter’s Town
In the early 18th century, at a time of great poverty, there are men without conscience who want to grab everything they can, no matter what the consequences for those around them. Such a man is Abraham Blunt, a hat maker of Adderstown. His aim is to enclose the common land upon which the working poor depend for their food, and to force them into virtual slavery. A petition is signed and is to be taken to London by the preacher, Joseph Wilding, but Blunt does not want it to arrive.
Blunt’s daughter Susanna is in love with Wilding, and he with her, but he believes her to be too far above him. When circumstance throws them together, disaster follows. There are friends who will help, and enemies who will hinder. Spies, thieves, whores and villains all have their part to play.
Fraud, brutality, and spite are rife amongst those who should have the welfare of the common people in mind; the poor are depicted as good and honest, or driven to vice as a way of surviving. This is a relentlessly dark and twisting tale based loosely upon real events that took place in a Warwickshire village. The hatting business, so detrimental to workers’ health, is explained well. The abuse of the court system, and indeed of the legal system in general, by those who hold the power is used to good effect by Blunt and his friends.
Counter to that is the decency and desperation of the common people, whose only desire is to feed their families.
The book is not without its errors, and new characters are introduced too late in the story in order to satisfy a plot device, while the brief epilogue is unnecessary. Such matters apart, it is a well-researched book which involves the reader in the hopelessness of the plight of those without power.
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