Broken Ground - A Review

 

Broken Ground

 

Written by Lu Hersey

Cover Design by Rhi Winter

Published by Beaten Track Publishing, 2022

 

My heart sinks. It’s real. There’s no avoiding this. Ma was right to be worried. Andraste chose me. I’m the one she expects to pay the forfeit.

 

My first review for 2023 (and post-surgery read, as it happens) is Lu Hersey’s eco-thriller Broken Ground. I became aware of Hersey following the publication of her highly-praised Deep Water, and her latest novel certainly continues in the atmospheric, mythical vein of her debut. 

 

The story centres on the struggles of Arlo, a teenage boy who lives with his mother and suffers seizures. The farm they used to live on is now owned by the hostile Phelps, who wants to move Arlo and his mother out of their cottage so he can turn it into a holiday let. Phelps is also hoping to find shale gas beneath the farmland, and has hired a company to investigate the potential for this by test drilling, which has major environmental implications for the local area. It’s when Arlo starts to see a strange, heavily-tattooed girl called Adraste everywhere that things take a stranger and even more sinister turn. Local folklore suggests the girl is an ancient presence, and she only comes when the land is under threat. Word has it that she won’t leave until a forfeit is paid in blood, and this is confirmed when Arlo discovers what Adraste determines to be a token, meaning he must pay the price for the landowner’s actions. 

 

A key concern of the novel is our connection with the land. The question that arises is just how important is this relationship for the future of our environment and ourselves? This is a problem Arlo faces directly - is this bond ultimately something worth losing his life over? We’ve arrived at a moment when our connection with the land is arguably in its most eroded and threatened state in centuries. A time when both young and old are growing increasingly disconnected from the natural world, and political leaders and landowners are doing all they can to exclude us from wild places. 

 

I found the book a deeply satisfying read. Hersey is a generous writer, and her style reminds me of Susan Cooper in some regards. The prose is rich and brimming with reflections, detail and emotion. Arlo’s a well-shaped character and his relationships with his mother and friends, especially Clay and Jaz, are skilfully portrayed. Also, having finished Stone by Finbar Hawkins recently, I would say Broken Ground compares very favourably. If you enjoyed one, you’ll like the other.

 

Drawing on folklore and magic, this is a captivating YA novel that explores a resurgent environmental theme. With the spectre of fracking lurking in the current political background, this book offers young people in KS3 an opportunity to consider the arguments in an engaging way. However, it’s a book that deserves a wider audience beyond that, and congratulations to Beaten Track for backing it.