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A review by april_does_feral_sometimes
The Englishman's Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe
4.0
‘The Englishman’s Boy’ by Guy Vanderhaeghe is a historical novel about a real massacre which took place in Canada. American bison hunters who called themselves “wolfers” rode into a camp of Assiniboine Natives near a Cypress Hills trading post. The hunters got drunk first after buying whiskey at the trading post, and then proceeded to accuse the natives of stealing horses. They searched the camp and found no American horses, but that didn’t stop the Americans from deciding to implement the American policy of “the only good Indian is a dead Indian.”
The area was called the Northwest Territories in 1873 when the murder of perhaps thirteen of the natives occurred. The area was located in what later became the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. When news of the murders spread, many Canadians were very angry at Americans. As a result the Northwest Mounted Police was created. Canada asked for extradition of the hunters, but of course their request was refused. The incident is forgotten today.
The author has revived the historical incident in this novel, imagining who the “wolfers” were, creating a character, a boy, who reluctantly joined the hunters, unaware fully of what the “wolfers” intended. The Englishman’s boy had been hired as a valet to a wealthy Englishman. Shortly after arriving in America, his boss died. The boy had had a hard farming life of poverty, and he had run away from his abusive father at age thirteen. He was determined to live a life dependent on no one but himself. However, the only job he could immediately find after the death of his first employer was joining the party of hunters led by an American, Tom Hardwick. Supposedly they were following the tracks of the natives who had actually stolen horses from Hardwick’s hired hands while they slept. They lost the track, but that didn’t stop Hardwick from deciding he knew where they would go - north, somewhere.
In alternating chapters, readers meet Harry Vincent, aspiring screenwriter of Hollywood movies in 1923. He hasn’t attracted attention yet as a writer, but he is close to the action. He is working as an assistant to a Hollywood screenwriter, Rachel Gold. But mostly he writes titles on cards to help movie audiences understand the action happening on the screen. Before this job, he was a journalist for a small town newspaper.
When Harry gets a note inviting him to a mansion for a meeting with the wealthy owner of the movie studio where he is working, Daman Ira Chance, he is thrilled. But he isn’t so thrilled with what Chance wants from him, nor is he so thrilled with Chance himself. First, he realizes Chance is a peculiar man. The job Chance wants him to do is peculiar too. Chance wants him to find an old cowboy by the name of Shorty McAdoo. McAdoo is reputed to be a real Old West cowboy unlike most of the cowboys who hang about waiting to be hired for Hollywood westerns. Chance saw McAdoo in a group of extras hired to be background walk-ons for a western picture which was being made. Struck by his looks, Chance asked around about him and learned McAdoo might indeed be the real thing. There were rumors he had fought Indians for real in his past. Chance wants Harry to find him and interview him about his life. Chance has already tried to contact McAdoo but the ancient cowboy doesn’t want anything to do with Chance’s scheme of making a movie about his life. Harry’s job is to find where McAdoo is living and convince him to talk, after which Harry is to write a script.
Nothing in Harry’s life has prepared Harry for any of this, but he makes an effort, driven by the hope of a promotion and lots more money. But he feels slimed by indications Chance will be writing a Hollywood version of McAdoo’s life, changing the facts to suit Chance’s idea of the American Dream.
I liked the novel. The writing is literary, and the story is illuminating. The real Wild West was not really very romantic or very nice. While the characters of Chance and Harry are familiar types to me, I had never really thought about the role of actors in creating a false impression of facts through their acting. We all know movie studios emphasize those aspects of a story of in-depth explorations and historical facts into “if it bleeds, it leads” storytelling. But it is the celebrity aura of actors in movies that actually sell the abridged scripts to us! This is a point in the book.
Anyway. The book has many morals about Hollywood storytelling along with others, but it wasn't too distracting, at least to me. It's an interesting story based on historical facts.
Below is a link to a Wikipedia article about the murders:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypress_Hills_Massacre
The area was called the Northwest Territories in 1873 when the murder of perhaps thirteen of the natives occurred. The area was located in what later became the province of Saskatchewan, Canada. When news of the murders spread, many Canadians were very angry at Americans. As a result the Northwest Mounted Police was created. Canada asked for extradition of the hunters, but of course their request was refused. The incident is forgotten today.
The author has revived the historical incident in this novel, imagining who the “wolfers” were, creating a character, a boy, who reluctantly joined the hunters, unaware fully of what the “wolfers” intended. The Englishman’s boy had been hired as a valet to a wealthy Englishman. Shortly after arriving in America, his boss died. The boy had had a hard farming life of poverty, and he had run away from his abusive father at age thirteen. He was determined to live a life dependent on no one but himself. However, the only job he could immediately find after the death of his first employer was joining the party of hunters led by an American, Tom Hardwick. Supposedly they were following the tracks of the natives who had actually stolen horses from Hardwick’s hired hands while they slept. They lost the track, but that didn’t stop Hardwick from deciding he knew where they would go - north, somewhere.
In alternating chapters, readers meet Harry Vincent, aspiring screenwriter of Hollywood movies in 1923. He hasn’t attracted attention yet as a writer, but he is close to the action. He is working as an assistant to a Hollywood screenwriter, Rachel Gold. But mostly he writes titles on cards to help movie audiences understand the action happening on the screen. Before this job, he was a journalist for a small town newspaper.
When Harry gets a note inviting him to a mansion for a meeting with the wealthy owner of the movie studio where he is working, Daman Ira Chance, he is thrilled. But he isn’t so thrilled with what Chance wants from him, nor is he so thrilled with Chance himself. First, he realizes Chance is a peculiar man. The job Chance wants him to do is peculiar too. Chance wants him to find an old cowboy by the name of Shorty McAdoo. McAdoo is reputed to be a real Old West cowboy unlike most of the cowboys who hang about waiting to be hired for Hollywood westerns. Chance saw McAdoo in a group of extras hired to be background walk-ons for a western picture which was being made. Struck by his looks, Chance asked around about him and learned McAdoo might indeed be the real thing. There were rumors he had fought Indians for real in his past. Chance wants Harry to find him and interview him about his life. Chance has already tried to contact McAdoo but the ancient cowboy doesn’t want anything to do with Chance’s scheme of making a movie about his life. Harry’s job is to find where McAdoo is living and convince him to talk, after which Harry is to write a script.
Nothing in Harry’s life has prepared Harry for any of this, but he makes an effort, driven by the hope of a promotion and lots more money. But he feels slimed by indications Chance will be writing a Hollywood version of McAdoo’s life, changing the facts to suit Chance’s idea of the American Dream.
I liked the novel. The writing is literary, and the story is illuminating. The real Wild West was not really very romantic or very nice. While the characters of Chance and Harry are familiar types to me, I had never really thought about the role of actors in creating a false impression of facts through their acting. We all know movie studios emphasize those aspects of a story of in-depth explorations and historical facts into “if it bleeds, it leads” storytelling. But it is the celebrity aura of actors in movies that actually sell the abridged scripts to us! This is a point in the book.
Anyway. The book has many morals about Hollywood storytelling along with others, but it wasn't too distracting, at least to me. It's an interesting story based on historical facts.
Below is a link to a Wikipedia article about the murders:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypress_Hills_Massacre