The Trumpet Major

"It was sometimes recollected that England was the only European Country, which had not succumbed to the mighty little man who was less than human in feeling and more than human in will" Hardy's novel is set in early 19th century England when fear of a French invasion led by Napoleon Bonaparte was a fact of life for many people living in the South of England, but in Hardy's world questions of love and marriage take priority.

Ann Garland and her mother are tenants of Miller Loveday and have rooms within the mill. Ann is being courted by the aggressive Festus Derriman whose father is a farmer and landowner, but the Miller's eldest son John, now a dragoon has for a long time loved and admired Ann and is now stationed nearby in preparation show more for any attempted invasion; he is the trumpet-major and his natural correctness and good manners have hindered his courting. Ann as a younger woman had a fancy for the miller's younger son Bob who has returned from a spell in the merchant navy and has got himself involved with Matilda who he intends to marry as soon as possible. What follows is a delightful game of missed opportunities, furtive meetings and avoidances as Ann behaving impeccably, unwittingly leads all the men in her life a merry dance.

A light romance on the surface played for amusement and laughter by Hardy is undercut by a feeling that tragedy is just around the corner, but Hardy never allows tragedy to materialise even though we expect it might at any moment. There are some marvellously well drawn characters: the flighty adventurous and capable Bob, the all too upright John, the cowardly vociferous and larger than life Festus, the comic miser uncle Benji Derriman, the wordly Matilda and of course Ann herself who might have strayed in from a Jane Austen novel as she tries to make sense of a dance she does not really understand. They play out their loves and hopes in a lightly militarised zone of operations, which gives an edge and a hint of danger as well as reinforcing the class consciousness that lies heavily across all Hardy's characters actions.

Hardy's marvellous descriptions of the mill and it's pond, which is a big attraction for the officers and their horses is seen primarily from Ann's point of view, it is her safe haven as she uses all her resources in the many roomed mill and it's gardens to play hide and seek with her courtiers, Bob can use the same playground to evade the press gang and people are able to spy on each other when the occasion demands. Outside of the Mill there is danger as when Ann has to run the gauntlet of Festus' attentions whenever she goes outside, while Uncle Benji sees the Mill as a safe place to hide his possessions and the stalwart figure of Miller Loveday is a reassuring rock that the characters can cling to in time of need.

The Napoleonic wars are the fuel that drive the story, but they take place off stage as Hardy moves his troops and characters around events that we hear of second hand, but we actually get to meet Captain Hardy of "kiss me Hardy" fame and Bob tells of his adventures on board HMS Victory, there are many references to Boney, but the slaughter of men in war time is waiting in the wings. King George III stays nearby, a little down the coast and creates a diversion with his bathing machine. The invasion scare leads to an exciting chase and a situation that could lead to rape and the press gang is an evil intrusion into the main characters lives, but Hardy's feel for the comedy in these situations never make the reader fear for his characters. There are chases, misunderstandings, practical jokes, ribaldry, coyness and some unlikely coincidences that all add to the humour.

The Trumpet-Major is not one of Hardy's better known novels and I am not sure is deserves to be, however it is beautifully realised with a lightness of touch that makes it a delightful read. I was immediately drawn into Hardy's world by some wonderful prose and my interest never let up till the end and it made me laugh. Great book for a rainy day and a four star read. show less

This book is unlike any other Hardy I have read and yet reminiscent of them. It is unlike because it is set during the Napoleonic Wars, some 70 years before the book was written. I can't think of any other Hardy novels that are set that far back. But it is like other novels because the centerpiece of the novel is the romantic entanglements of one woman, Anne Garland. Anne is courted by three men, John Loveday (the trumpet-major of the title), his brother, Robert Loveday, and the nephew of a local squire, Festus Derriman. (I couldn't help thinking during this whole book of Festus from Gunsmoke, Sheriff Matt Dillinger's sidekick. That's the only other time I've heard of a Festus.)

Of the three, John Loveday is decidedly the best catch. He show more is steadfast in his love, noble, brave and honest. Robert (Bob) really annoyed me. He courted two other women in addition to Anne and seemed to think that she would just wait around for him. He told his brother when he sailed off to war that he was giving her up so John could have his chance at her but some time later decided he wanted her for himself. John, being the gentleman he was, decided to renounce Anne when Bob asked him to. Festus was just plain awful and, thankfully, Anne never seriously considered him. Festus was in the yeomanry but the one time that it seemed he would be called upon to fight his cowardice came out. These days I think we would call Festus a stalker because he was so persistent even when Anne made it obvious she didn't want him around. I cheered when she jumped on his horse as he was trying to get her to kiss him and rode off leaving him to walk home.

Living near the English Channel put the inhabitants of Overcombe Mill in danger of being overrun by the French if they invaded. It was really interesting to read of the preparations made by the populace and to see how they worked out when there was a false alarm. It is probably lucky that Napoleon never did invade because I don't think the locals would have been very successful against him. Miller Loveday started out without any ammunition for his gun and no-one seemed to know where to go or who to follow.

I thought Festus's uncle was a really interesting minor character. He kept making provisions to secure his fortune from both the French and his nephew but then he would change his mind. He certainly had a soft spot for Anne whom he twice entrusted with the safety of his strongbox. But even then he couldn't let well enough alone and he had to move it again.

All in all a very satisfying read and certainly not as gloomy as some of Hardy's other works. show less

(Kindle)

An excellent read with the rural background, well-drawn female characters and self-sacrificing heroes that we expect and love from Hardy, but a bit lighter, with less tragedy, and an interesting historical (to Hardy as well as to us) setting, which gives him the opportunity to muse on the passing of time. There’s a particularly lovely bit about the weapons kept in the church which gradually move away, come in for other uses, and eventually drop to pieces on various farms. Festus Derriman, one of the inevitable set of suitors, is hilarious in his moodiness and cowardice. John Loveday is the solid hero, a kind of Diggory Venn figure, making things right in the background; his brother, Robert, is more flighty, and there is always show more the sense that things could go badly wrong. Old Mr Derriman is a figure of fun, but also of pathos, not too broadly drawn for sympathy in the end, with a purity in his relationship with Anne as a surrogate daughter. The historical details are nicely done, with the fashions carefully delineated, Hardy of the Navy (the “Kiss me, Hardy” one, presumably), and encounters with the king. A charming and overall good read. I doubt I would have approached this without Ali’s Hardy Reading Project, and I’m glad I did. show less

Continuing my dive into the prose of Hardy, this was a bit of an oddity. Because it takes place in the Napoleonic era, I kept having a Jane Austen type vibe but it was clearly not a comedy of manners. He played a little with that convention (A Misunderstanding, An Overheard Conversation) but it took a number of twists and turns that were much more Hardy. I found myself very frustrated by most of the major characters at one time or another, constantly with the odious creep Festus, but I did get very swept up in it and absolutely did not see things ending the way it did. An interesting read and Hardy continues to surprise me. One thing I did find here was there was a less deft handling of Anne than of some other of his women characters. show more She didn't come off so well, a bit of a hemmer and hawer, though I did appreciate her defiance of Festus. Just one more in my Hardy collection, though I think I have some short stories left. show less

This was the latest read for my online Hardy reading group – we are reading one book every two months chronologically. I’m a big Hardy fan – and I am so enjoying rediscovering the works I first fell in love with when I was between about eighteen and twenty. I do find though, that my memory of many of the actual plots has suffered greatly over the intervening years – that was certainly the case with The Trumpet Major. My one recollection was of military men in uniform, at the time of the Napoleonic wars. I had completely forgotten how it ended – which I was rather glad of really.
I think the Trumpet Major is generally considered to be a fairly minor work by Hardy. Of course it could be said that a minor work by Hardy is still a show more fairly great piece of literature – well I certainly think so. The Trumpet Major is beautifully written, and the characterisation is fabulous, many of the more minor characters beautifully comic. The English countryside and the natural world are always at their best in Hardy’s Wessex, and here the small rural communities that Hardy grew up in, are affectionately reproduced. In writing The Trumpet Major, Hardy was writing an historical novel – which he had been inspired to do after meeting with aged survivors of the conflict at Chelsea hospital in 1875. Although the story mainly concerns the three possible suitors for the hand of Anne Garland – Hardy also faithfully depicts both the fear and patriotism in small English communities at this time.
“Their excitement was merely of a piece with that of all men at this critical juncture. Everywhere expectation was at fever heat. For the last year or two only five-and-twenty miles of shallow water had divided quiet English homesteads from an enemy’s army of a hundred and fifty thousand men. We had taken the matter lightly enough, eating and drinking as in the days of Noe, and singing satires without end. We punned on Bonaparte and his gunboats, chalked his effigy on stage-coaches, and published the same in prints. Still, between these bursts of hilarity, it was sometimes recollected that England was the only European country which had not succumbed to the mighty little man who was less than human in feeling, and more than human in will; that our spirit for resistance was greater than our strength; and that the Channel was often calm.”
A thin partition wall divides the home of the Widow Garland and her daughter Anne, from that of the Miller Loveday. The two households get along well together, although Mrs Garland feels that she and her daughter are socially superior to the Lovedays. This does not prevent her from marrying the genial Miller Loveday – but she is less keen for her daughter to marry either of his sons. John the elder is the eponymous Trumpet Major – a good honourable man in the tradition of many other Hardy heroes. Robert his brother to whom Anne once lost her heart when still a very young girl is a sailor – and something of a womaniser. The third suitor to Anne is the cowardly oafish Festus Derriman, a conniving Dragoon, and nephew of the local squire. It is Derriman whom Mrs Garland (later Mrs Loveday) champions in her social ambitions for her daughter.
Needless to say there are many obstacles, misunderstandings, tears and fainting aways to be gone through before Anne decides with whom her future will rest. Anne is ever so slightly irritating at times – I found myself tutting and saying “for heaven’s sake you silly girl!” However John Loveday – the Trumpet Major is wonderful – sigh! I also rather adored Uncle Benji – the horrid Festus Derriman’s uncle – he’s a masterful comic creation.
I won’t give away the ending so I will say no more of the story. Overall however I found The Trumpet Major entertaining and hugely readable – it has in fact a much lighter touch than many other Hardy novels and could be said therefore to be a quite quick read. It is certainly a lighter novel than Far from the Madding Crowd or Return of the Native, which the Hardy group read recently but for me it still has much to recommend it. show less

A three way love story set during the years of the Napoleonic Wars. Hardy has combined thorough-going research with his gently ironic approach to characters. He writes to arouse our pity, affection and affinity with these fine simple people caught up at the mercy of external events, and with their own human stories of love and survival.
Great absorbing reading.

Familiar Thomas Hardy themes, three suitors, Festus and brothers John and Robert Loveday all approaching and being treated in different ways by an enigmatic, likeable and sometimes unpredictable Anne Garland. The story is set against the background of threatening French invasion and Napoleon Bonaparte. More specifIcally the Victory, Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar are in the background with Robert Loveday among the crew. The twists and turns and characters resemble Gabriel Oak, Boldwood and Sergeant Troy in the more polished Far from the Madding Crowd. The trumpet major book engrossed me and has its usual setting of rural life, of idiosyncracies of country folk and great insight into human nature. The underpinning sense of realism show more means that all does not end well for everyone. show less