F. K. Salwood - The Oystercatcher's Cry

The Fernlees have been farming oysters on the River Roche for decades and Edward Fernlee has moved on from selling to his neighbours and now supplies Billingsgate and the gentry holidaying in the South End of Prittlewell.
Late one afternoon Kate Fernlee returns home to find the Water Sergeant at her father's door: a catch of Fernlee oysters has been found responsible for a typhoid outbreak. The Fernlees's licence has been rescinded.
Her home and livelihood gone for good, Kate is forced to take up cockling - a thankless and sometimes fatal task, but one whose territories are strictly marked out, any interloper resented and warned off. Kate Fernlee is made of sterner stuff and, despite the hatred and scorn of her fellow cocklers, will not give up her only chance of an independent living.
Nor will she ever forget that her beloved Simon, away at sea with Her Majesty Navy and knowing nothing of Kate's troubles, is coming back to her.

Comment: As seen on the previous blog entry, I have recently DNF'd a book, and that was a book I chose on purpose to suit one topic in a challenge I'm doing, it had to be a book with 500 pages or more. Since I didn't actually read its 500 pages, I've decided to not cheat and start a different one. I've also managed to choose a long standing one in the shelf, thus a positive choice all around. 

In this book set in the 1800s, we meet heroine Kate Fernlee, she helps her father farming and catching oysters to sell, but one day the business is ruined when evidence of poisoning is found in their oysters. At the same time, Kate's boyfriend Simon decides to take his chance at sea, and they separate, hopefully for only a while and then they will start their lives together. However, Kate needs to survive and in order to do so she begins cockling which is considered  an inferior way of making a living. But as her life and of those around her are affected by so many things, Kate still hopes for Simon's return. Will they ever find a way to be together at last?

I have had some issues trying to find information about the author, so I cannot say much but this 1993 book clearly is dated. Despite that, I was surprised by it and while it didn't end up being an amazing read, it was still rather easy to turn the pages. I should say that I got it at a book sale and at the time price was enough reason to buy certain books, so between that and the promise of romance I felt convinced enough to buy it.

The story is described as a saga, for it follows Kate (as main character) through many years, as she faces difficulties and problems, but also finds friends and strength in herself. I think this is a style of story that certainly feels dated, because apart from the obvious, there isn't a lot of content pertaining to the character's personalities and evolution. Everyone has a role, we see them going on in their lives being a certain and character development doesn't go beyond what is expected. We are supposed to infer things by their behavior. I cannot say this is a good or bad style, but it's not possible to ignore nowadays most books in the genre are written differently.

Kate is definitely a good heroine, though. She is given many bad news but she always comes up winning over whatever challenge, with more or less difficulty. I think the author intentionally added way more drama than the story required, but since the writing style is quite direct and dated, I admit I never felt overwhelmed by what was being described. In fact, when Kate even stands up for her right to assert her role in a specific situation where others were challenging her, I even laughed at the scene, which I don't think might have been the author's aim.

I won't go into plot points  -there were many things happening - but once Kate accomplishes something, another issue pops up. As expected, along with this, she also has to make choices, some were misleading because the villain kind of manipulated events to gain Kate's favor. The fact the characters were all a little superficially developed, not much more than a role being portrayed, I could maintain my distance and emotions. I actually would not say this was a bad thing, for I didn't feel the story required a lot of emotion from me, but a few situations were really lacking.

After many things, some which were really unfair somehow, Kate is close to triumph in her life and she reconnects with Simon. However, their lives had been tampered with by the villain, they had to deal with obstacles and now a rekindling of their relationship felt a little... naive. I will admit I thought perhaps the goal would be to take Kate into a different path, but... the end was hopeful, there are some elements I think could have been exploited differently, but all things considered, this wasn't too bad. I will likely not read it again, though, but it's nice to keep an agreeable vibe from this book.

Grade: 6/10