This book is set in a coastal town in England in the 1920s after the Great War. The main protagonist is John, who is a naturalist and writer. He's married to Harriet, and they seem happy enough. David, John's friend, is visiting and everyone is doing okay. BUT THEN, an American comes along with two beautiful daughters and is like, "Hey, I'm going to build a pleasure grounds in your ocean." This leads to a lot of conflict and tension as this disrupts the town and the quiet life John and Harriet lead. This book was spicier than I expected, but it wasn't a bad thing. I really enjoyed this book.

I received this book for free from Netgalley. That did not influence this review.

If you’re looking for a beautifully written, richly detailed (detailed about things I’m not overly interested in–tide pool biology, cricket...yet strangely compelling nonetheless) historical novel that will gently tug at your heartstrings, The Woodcock by Richard Smyth is a must read.

The pace is gentle and it took awhile to immerse myself in the slow rhythm of the story, but the tension built continuously and I had a hard time putting the book down. It can be funny at times, yet has a menace to it like a horror story. I knew it would end badly, but I didn’t know how it would end, and I needed to know.

The story is told in the first person by two of the main characters, alternating POVs. The first is Jon Lowell, a naturalist who makes his living writing articles for journals (and one book!) about the creatures inhabiting the seashore, the tide pools, of the tiny north England village Gravely. He’s a handsome young man, in his early twenties, though he seems older at first. He lives quietly. He wants to live quietly, absorbed in his odd work, work that is engrossing to him but bizarre or amusing to the other residents of the town.

The second narrator is Harriet Lowell, Jon’s wife. She’s introduced to us that way, as if her role in life is simply that. She’s a native of Gravely, a small town girl. She is surprisingly, and very noticeably, beautiful. (Jon takes some pride in that.) She does love her husband. But she also has a rich inner life that Jon knows nothing about. He’s never bothered to ask. She spends a lot of time with the town preacher, Reverend Aldridge, which annoys Jon only because he doesn’t like the man and is not, himself, religious. Mostly, he doesn’t care what she does with her time so long as she doesn’t inflict the preacher on him. Whether Jon’s absent-ness bothers Harriet or serves her purpose isn’t made clear. Harriet is an insular character, reflective, intelligent, and wounded.

The book opens with outsiders coming to town.

One is Jon’s longtime friend, David McAllister, a successful novelist, lady’s man, handsome, beefy, and brave. Although polar opposites, the two are best friends, soul mates. They make each other laugh. (Their banter is hilarious.) But David is also an alcoholic and a bit of a lost cause.

More momentous is the arrival of the Americans, Maurice Shakes and his two beautiful daughters, Cordelia and Eleanor. Shakes is a man with a dream: he wants to build a tourist attraction to outdo Coney Island, a large pier and amusement park with all the amenities early twentieth century technology can provide, on the shore of backwater Gravely. A beguiling salesman, he cons the people of the town into accepting his vision, all except Reverend Aldridge, who sees it as evil, Harriet, who sees it as dangerous, and Jon, who isn’t against the idea so much as he is mistrustful of change. It seems unlikely the tourist attraction would be good for the local wildlife.

Shakes is a whirlwind and development moves quickly. But more disruptive for our protagonists are the two daughters. Cordelia ensnares David–or maybe doesn’t. And Jon finds himself drawn to Eleanor. It’s painful to read Jon’s self-absorbed pursuit of a woman he barely knows while he justifies his neglect of his wife.

Although the plot is fairly straightforward, there are many swirling undercurrents. They offer a variety of possibilities for resolution – none of them good – so that the story is satisfyingly complex.

“The Woodcock” by Richard Smyth, Fairlight Books, 336 pages, Oct. 1, 2021.

It’s 1920s England, and the coastal town of Gravely is finally enjoying a fragile peace after World War I.

John Lowell, a naturalist who writes articles on the flora and fauna of the shoreline, and his wife Harriet, lead a simple life. John is very self-absorbed. Harriet is more grounded. John’s school-friend, David McAllister, visits. He is an author.

Maurice Shakes, an American whaler, and his daughters, Cordelia and Eleanor, arrive in town, boasting of his plans to build a pier and pleasure-grounds a mile out to sea. That will change the whole character of the town. There are groups both for and against the plan.

The nature exploration is good, but there is a lot of sex and violence. The characters are all one-note. The book is largely told from Jon’s point of view, with short passages of Harriet’s viewpoint.

In accordance with FTC guidelines, the advance reader's edition of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

I really enjoyed the prose and the setting of this book. Reading this book I felt like I was swept into the 1920's England coastal village and I loved the dark ominous tone of the book, as well as the characters. However, the pacing was a bit too slow for my taste so it was difficult to push through the first 70% of the book. Regardless, if you are looking for a story with a bit of mystery and scandal and don't mind waiting for the plot to thicken, then you will definitely enjoy this book.

Jon and Harriet's quiet and content married life is disrupted when an American entrepreneur and his daughters come to their small seaside town in the north of England with ambitious plans. Set in the 1920s, it captures the unsettled spirit of the time, the style of writing itself adapted to the characters and plot.

The Woodcock is an evocative and richly atmospheric literary period drama set on the north-eastern coast of England. Set in 1920s England, the fictional small town of Gravely is enjoying peace and is still in recovery after the recent end of World War One. John Lowell and his wife, Harriet, lead a simple life and have a happy and content marriage. Jon is a marine biologist barely scraping by through writing pieces for various wildlife publications about the strange and exotic sea creatures he discovers and subsequently investigates when they wash up on the beach near his home. Harriet is an elegant and motherly homemaker who is deeply invested in the local religious scene and attends church regularly. The tranquil, innocent and clean-living life of the town is put in jeopardy, however, much to the inhabitants’ chagrin, when wealthy American adventurer and whaler Maurice Shakes and his two beautiful flame-haired daughters Cordelia and Eleanor come to town. The family grow in terms of their local influence and soon announce ambitious plans. Maurice plans to build an ambitious pier and pleasure grounds a mile out to sea. Numerous attractions to bring in the holidaymakers will be erected but not only will it attract tourists and make the little town more affluent, but in many eyes, it will create an eyesore, spoil the habitat and ruin the novelty of living in such a stunning part of the country, too.

Joining the Lowell’s is Jon’s friend David McAllister with whom he attended Bradford University. The interaction between the townsfolk becomes more and more fraught and riveting as time goes on and the drama at the centre of it all is invariably the same - Shakes’ plans. As the self-appointed groups both for and against the business move converse, the air prickles with electricity and there’s a feeling that something explosive and unexpected is about to occur. This is a compulsive, captivating and beautifully written tale sprinkled with richly evocative descriptions of nature, flora and fauna and pinpoint accuracy of time and place is delivered exquisitely. I was gripped by this stunning novel from the moment I picked it up. A naturalist himself, Richard Smythe paints the coastline into his drama so perfectly that it feels as if the kittiwakes and oyster-catchers, shore crabs and periwinkles become a third protagonist in this gripping drama about the price to be paid for the ambitions of men. Lyrically and intelligently written, this story is of a town and a people with a lot on the line and if they fail to ward off imposters looking to make a quick buck from the scenery and setting, it will destroy their hometown. The emotions and tensions of those involved rise exponentially throughout the course of the novel. A nostalgic, melancholic and sensitively portrayed piece of atmospheric historical fiction. Highly recommended.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

I struggled with this one a bit. The writing could be opaque and required a bit of working out, and the setting seemed fairytale-like in places. At times it was dryly amusing, but it wasn't for me.

This book immediately gave me vibes of Remarkable Creatures (Tracy Chevalier), with its fascination with the inhabitants of the British shoreline, tinged with the melancholia and confusion of On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan.

The Woodcock is set in the fictional coastal village of Gravely in northern England. The characters are well-drawn, with many little quirks giving you insight into who each person is. “Local limpet-botherer” Jon has to wait until his tea is just the right temperature before drinking it (ok, anyone that doesn’t is clearly a monster, I’m with Jon on this one). Wife Harriet goes through the motions of interwar housewifery while both Harriet and Jon, who thinks of them as “wife and husband”, know she can, in fact, do anything she sets her mind to. The dual narration demonstrates their insight into themselves and each other, although the story is heavily weighted in favour of Jon’s narrative – it’s definitely a masculine story rather than a feminine one.

The book is set after the Great War so everyone is slightly unsettled – everything has changed but they can’t quite work out yet how they should change, or could change, and how they all fit together after everything they’ve been through. Even Maurice Shakes, an American agent of change within the village, is himself feeling the effects of his new location on him, rather than the other way round.

The Woodcock simultaneously evokes the wide open spaces of the coast while telling an intensely personal story. It’s a thoughtful portrait of the place, the time, and the relationships, and if you love natural history this is a great read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Fairlight Books for the ARC.

The Woodcock was like a stroll down the rocky, salty, and silt ladened beaches of the English coast. I could smell the salty ocean and feel the sand beneath my feet with Richard Smyth's meandering prose and wonderful descriptions of nature, place and time.

In a small England coastal town following WWI, a naturalist, John Lowell and his wife, Harriett, live a quiet and contemplative life as he writes novels and the couple enjoys John's visiting friend, David.
But soon their peaceful, unassuming, life based in the daily routine of their seaside home is thrown into turmoil with the arrival of a whaler from America who shouts his boastful plans to build a pier with a park a mile out to sea. He and his beautiful red haired daughter soon disrupt the tranquility of John, Harriett, and David's lives and cast a spell of unrelenting anxiety and despair as they struggle with one man's idea of progress that could quickly destroy the beauty of nature all around them.

Thank you to Richard Smyth, the publisher, and Net Galley for sharing this book with mein exchange for an honest review. #WoodcockNovel #NetGalley

In a small northern English coastal town soon after World War I, a nerdy young naturalist spends his days combing the shore and observing birds. His beautiful, locally born wife seems content with a housewife's routine life. Through their eyes, "The Woodcock" is a tale of love, lust, hubris, morality, and humanity, a tale that speedily takes off when a larger-than-life American whaler, together with his red-haired daughters, arrives in town planning to build the equivalent of Coney Island out into the sea. A brilliant nonfiction writer, with five books under his belt, Richard Smyth has taken to fiction with aplomb, displaying on every page the flair, economy, and eloquence needed to lift this story from the realm of period piece (I found myself recalling two recent movies, Ammonite and The Dig) into something magical. A naturalist himself, the author imbues the town and coastline with cinematic depth, and his portrayal of the extended cast of characters, local or transplanted, is as keen as that of the birdlife. An accelerating pace transported me, over two evenings, to a grand, unpredictable yet fitting climax, and over those two evenings, I had occasion to chuckle and gasp. Quite unlike anything else I've read this year, The Woodcock is an unmitigated delight.

This book was so beautiful I really loved this book! High on my favorite list!
Set in 1920s England Which I found to be so interesting.
The characters were amazing and brave!