Daniel, the narrator, and Cathy, his older sister live with their father in remotest Yorkshire. Their existence is primitive; their home basic, and hewn from their own hands. The story revolves around the trio’s life away from the input of others - alongside the dangers of land owner Mr Price’s control and threats.

In many ways, this is reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’ with its apocalyptic feel. Its themes are raw and harsh; the landscape unforgiving. But they battle through, leading a lifestyle far removed from that of so many others. The novel’s denouement is violent and tragic, in so many ways. Daniel, so innocent and needy, shows determination through the final section, leaving the reader needing and wanting more. This is well-deserved as a ManBooker shortlist title and I look forward to reading more of Fiona Mozley’s work.

An interesting and engrossing read. An unusual subject.

Fiona Mozley's debut novel Elmet was controversially shortlisted for the 2017 Booker Prize above a host of more established names. Having read 9 of the 13 longlisted novels, I think it thoroughly deserved its place on the shortlist, although I'm not surprised that it wasn't selected as the overall winner (simply because George Saunders's Lincoln in the Bardo is just so good). Daniel, who narrates the novel, and his sister, Cathy - a name which deliberately recalls Wuthering Heights - have had a simple if unusual childhood. Under the watchful eye of their Daddy, they've grown up in a house in the middle of a Yorkshire forest, learning to fend for themselves by making furniture, catching game with handmade bows and arrows, and growing their own vegetables. Daddy is an ex-boxer, a once-famous man on the underground fighting circuit, now retired after the disappearance of his wife. However, Daddy's strength of mind and body is still respected in the local community, and when he becomes involved in a local dispute about rent and wages, Daniel and Cathy's peaceful existence is threatened.

Elmet, despite having little obvious plot for its first two-thirds, is a mesmerising read which becomes difficult to put down once you race into its final chapters. Much has been written about Mozley's eye for landscape, but it was the characterisation that gripped me. Daniel, our narrator, is perhaps the least interesting of the trio who occupy the heart of the novel. A 'girly' boy who only very slowly realises that boys aren't meant to have long hair or wear shirts that show off their midriffs, his struggles with masculinity are fundamentally blunted by the protection from the hostile world offered by Daddy and by 'Daddy's friend', Vivian, who offers him scrappy education and a cozy home to retreat to for a few hours. What was interesting to me about Daniel wasn't his confusion about gender - which I didn't find especially original, as it's been handled more interestingly in novels like Sara Taylor's The Lauras - but the way in which his ultra-masculine Daddy seemingly accepts his feminine son unquestioningly. It would have been so easy to make this into yet another novel where a violent father tries to force a son into his own ideas of manhood. Instead, Mozley sets up a much more interesting scenario, creating a Daddy who, like Daniel, we passionately want to believe in - even if, by the end of the novel, we're questioning whether we still can.

Cathy, like Daddy, is an absolute triumph of a character. Again, she could easily have slipped into the cliche of a wild tomboy girl, but she's too firmly embedded in her own individuality. The vivid monologues that Mozley writes for a number of her characters are one of the most memorable aspects of Elmet, and Cathy gets all the best lines. She's viciously angry about womanhood. After meeting Vivian, she tells Daniel, in prose that distantly recalls the prose-poetry of Eimear MacBride's A Girl Is A Half-Formed Thing:

'Hers is the most horrible body I've ever seen... It's her hips. She's not even fat. There's no extra weight on her, but her hip bones are so large and wide that she can't move without considering them... God, it's disgusting. Can you imagine running with hips like that?... Muscles on your thighs being twisted as you're trying to run away and your knees trying to support those hips and your running thighs while trying to keep them in line with your feet. All of you trying to go forwards and bloody bones are holding you back. Jesus fucking Christ, I'd rather die.'

Cathy's concern with being able to run away becomes more and more obvious when we find out about the sexualised assaults she's already experienced, and the fear she feels when she hears about other women being raped and murdered. However, it's also an account of the pain of female puberty under patriarchy that is rarely heard in fiction; the sense that you are becoming something that you so passionately don't want to be, one of the 'women' who are assaulted and judged, oppressed and shamed. As Cathy says late in the novel:

'Sometimes I can't stop thinking about them. Sometimes I can't stop thinking about how I'm turning into one of them. I'm older now and soon my body will be like theirs. I dindt want to end up in a ditch... We all grow into our coffins, Danny. And I saw myself growing into mine.'

Elmet is an interesting novel that would probably have slipped by unnoticed if not for the Booker - It was Evocative, subtle, and poetic. I was particularly captivated by the fact that the narrative is so controlled - it approaches many things, yet subtly retreats while leaving a haunting impression of what is left unwritten. This Book will stay with me for a long time.

Visceral, inventive and utterly compelling this dark tale of survival, love and revenge in the mythical land of Elmet (modern West Yorkshire) is a brilliant debut. The ending is drawn-out and so harrowing I nearly couldn't read it, but I still had to stay up late to finish it!

A well-written and descriptive book. I have to admit, the way the book was set out, with the young boy looking for his sister and then zooming far back into the past, did confuse me but I found this book so enthralling and detailed in the way it was written. Reminds me of the quiet before the storm.

This was surprisingly good read. I liked the blurb and I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It’s told through Daniel who’s a teenager living with his sister and father in a remote woods in the Yorkshire which his dad built himself; they eat what they hunt and live simply off the land.

It all comes to a halt when they are told they’re trespassing and need to move on, things get heated, threats are given to Daniels father and it all comes to a head in a shocking and violent climax!

It was a beautifully written book and an absolute pleasure to read.

This is an absolutely gripping and absorbing read and particularly accomplished for a first novel. The characters are intriguing with a timeless quality, although the setting is a fairly contemporary Yorkshire one. The family is deliberately set apart in its nature and lifestyle because of a largely unspoken mysteriousness that seems to follow and blight them for acceptance of and by the world in general,. The novel is highly unusual but manages to draw the reader into the strangeness and old-fashioned rhythms of their lives, making us care about their progress and their fate. A well-written, at times poetic, book which will remain long in memory after the last page has been turned.

This bleak and violent story tells of a father and two children, Cathy and Daniel, and their fight for survival in a remote part of Yorkshire. It is the fourteen-year-old Daniel who provides the narrative.

They are a dysfunctional family, on the very edge of society. It is never quite clear whether they are Travellers, or Gypsies, or just plain outsiders who do not fit into a modern way of living. John, the father, is a big bruiser of a man, who has earned his living by being a fighter. Now retired from fighting, he has made a life for himself and his children and built them a house in an isolated spot. They have become self-sufficient, living off the land, eating their own vegetables, shooting what they need for meat. When money is needed John earns it by offering protection to those who need it. Everyone is fearful of him, but he is a good and protective father to his children. Cathy is like her father, tough, fearless and strong. Daniel, by contrast, is sensitive and nervous, preferring to stay at home, and there is a subtext of his sexuality which is never fully explained. From the outset, I was worried by the children calling their father ‘Daddy’. This is such a conventional term and it jarred when the author was so plainly telling us that these people were outsiders and their lives were unconventional. Pa, or Fa, would have been more fitting. Daddy smacks of ‘The Railway Children’.
The real action of the story starts when the rich man about town, Mr Price, tries to take over the land and throw John and his family off it. This leads to John’s confrontation with the bully and the shocking and violent climax.

I found this a difficult book to get into, particularly the first half. The second half was more compelling as it moved towards the predictable but grim ending. There wasn’t much joy to be had and none of the characters was particularly likeable. The contrast between the rich and poor, the bullies and the underdogs was made clear, but it was difficult to feel empathy with any of them. Mr Price was the obvious villain with no redeeming features at all. The descriptive passages which made up most of the book were poetic and detailed, but were so long they held up the progress of the story, particularly at the beginning. I personally found the violence at the end almost too horrific to read.

At times this felt like a ‘creative writing’ exercise and I am surprised it was Booker Prize material. However, as a debut novel, it was promising and I’m sure this novelist will have great success in the future.

Jane

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review

This grim tale of a family on the edges of society confused me in that I wasn't sure if it was set in the present day, or some part of the 20th century. John, a prize fighter, has built a home in the forest where he brings up his son and daughter. They have little to do with their neighbours and the children don't really fit in at school, or with their peers. The tale takes a dark turn when the local landowner wants them out, and their is clearly some history there. I enjoyed the book to some extent but found the characters difficult to like or empathise with, and the ending didn't satisfy.

Delighted to receive this book. Loved the beautiful and evocative writing which this author seems to do so well. Definitely atmospheric with echoes of Ted Hughes poetic descriptions of his native northern landscape. Her realistic character portrayal enhances the book further. And is well deserving of the excellent reviews it has already received.

Elmet is an unexpectedly thrilling novel, i devoured the last half of it in one sitting as tension rose and events spiralled towards the conclusion. There’s a lyrical drive to the descriptions of the land, of people, of food; one that both grounds the action in a recognisable and relatable yorkshire setting, but also makes one look at the simplest objects afresh. The central relationships are well articulated, with as much to be drawn from what is not said as to what is made explicit. This is by no means a ‘dry’ Booker nominee, it’s alive with feeling and tells a gripping story.

Elmet is about the life of a father and his two children living in a shack he built in a wood. It is an unconventional life on the fringe of society. They are poor with no support but from some money the father wins from prize fighting. He sets his own standards which are demanding for the children but do not always fit with what society expects. There are conflicts and an all but inevitability that it will come to a violent end. Daniel, the son and narrator, has to continue searching both for his inner self and for his sister.
Thought provoking, Elmet is a good, if uncomfortable, read. I shall await with interest Fiona Mozley's next book

Literature is full of less than conventional families. One such recent book was My Absolute Beauty, a book that enthralled and disturbed in equal measure. Add to this list Elmet, and the story of Daniel who is heading north, looking for someone important.

The story is told in flashback. Daniel and his older sister Cathy live in a house built by their father when he’s back from the unlicensed fighting he did to earn money. Their father told them that the land had been their mother’s and so the house he built on it was theirs, come what may. But the outside world has a way of intruding into all families and a rich and immoral landowner is soon staking his own claim to their little paradise. The outcome is violent and disturbing and the story is so very well written.

I loved Daniel, identified with him, but I admired Cathy who was harder and sadder than any child should have to be. Ms Mozely made the forest come alive for me and I was deeply youched by the ending.

This is a brilliant book and greatly deserved it’s Booker Prize nomination.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3 Stars

Thank you to Netgalley and JM Originals for providing me with a copy of this book.

This book is all about family which I thought was great however, I felt as though the story was missing something but I can't quite put my finger on it. Despite this I did enjoy reading it and couldn't put it down. Some people in their reviews have said that this book is best read in one or two sittings to get the most out of it, I totally agree with this.

Well done Fiona Mozley for creating a really good book. I would recommend this book.

This is stunning , reminds me of On The Black Hill by Bruce Chatwin , it occupies an unspecified time has characters who inhabit the story and build an emotional charge for the reader . It is hard to put down and has a sense of sadness that completely overtakes the reader. One of the best books i have read in years

Wonderful debut novel. I enjoyed the setting, the characters and the language. This is a unique and yet simple story. Very quick read, because I couldn't put it down. Very thoughtful discussion of people’s rights to the land, and of family relationships.
My thanks to Net Galley for my advance copy in exchange for an honest review

Elmet took me by surprise - I felt the author had captured the essence of the Yorkshire village where the book is set excellently - you could almost reach out and feel the trees and smell the damp earth and fires from the house where the narrator, Daniel, lives with his father and sister. Nothing about this family is conventional, Daniel's father is a bare knuckle fighter who lives by standards of a bygone age that don't fit in the modern world. He's built a house on land that he doesn't own - but feels that morally he does. His way of bringing up his children is different to say the least, but for Daniel and his sister it seems to work and although their world is in many ways narrow, they seem to be content until outside forces disrupt it. Human nature at its best and its worst is explored in this book and I loved it.

I really loved reading this book, even though for some reason I found that it was nothing like what I expected it to be. Honestly, I thought it was going to be pretty boring, and I'm not entirely sure why. I didn't think I would be interested in this book at all, and I think probably that's why I thought it was so wonderful. It was unexpected, and if it wasn't shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize this year I'm sure I never would have thought to read it at all. Fiona Mozley's writing really is exquisite, and her descriptions of place and person brought the novel to life in such a way that made it impossible to put down.

The only things I disliked about this book were the graphic violence - although it added to the story, it's something I don't enjoy reading - and the fact that many things seemed to be left unknown or uncertain. I understood the uncertainty, as these were all things that Daniel was uncertain about, but it still felt quite frustrating at times. This included the end, although as frustrating as this lack of satisfying conclusion was, I thought it was very fitting and actually wouldn't have wanted anything else. I definitely had a love/hate relationship with the uncertainty in this novel! I really wanted to know more, but thought the book was the better for keeping me wanting.

In short, I thought Mozley did a really great job with Elmet. The language and descriptions completely pulled me in, and I left the book with the sense that I was very glad that I had read it.

Beautifully crafted. The language is so detailed and exquisite that this book is worth reading for the description alone. It almost wouldn't matter if there wasn't much of a story. But there is! And an excellent story it is too.
Superb!