Sacred Hunger

The flood of cheap manufactures, for which the people have no need, destroys their industries. They become dependent on this trade and the demand for goods can only be met by enslaving their fellows. To do this they need muskets in ever increasing quantities -- which we supply. And so we spread death everywhere. But that sacred hunger we spoke of justifies all. (p. 328)

In 1752, Liverpool businessman William Kemp finances a ship to engage in the Triangle Trade: trading arms for slaves in Africa, and then trading slaves In Jamaica for sugar to be brought back to England. Kemp recruits his nephew, Matthew Paris, to serve as the ship's physician. Paris, recently released from prison, is eager to start a new life. Kemp's son Erasmus resents show more Paris' new status, holding a deep grudge against him for petty childhood "crimes."

The ship sets sail, with all the horror expected of such a journey. Paris earns the respect of some crew members, but is barely tolerated by the captain. Meanwhile, the younger Kemp leads a life of relative ease, courting a young woman to be his bride. Events in both men's lives take unexpected turns and, on these cliffhangers, the reader is propelled forward to 1765. By this time Kemp is a prosperous businessman himself and lives in the cocoon of ideals that allows someone to believe slavery is just, and that they are entitled to the luxuries that result from the profits. Paris is living in a kind of utopian society forged on ideals of equality, which are fragile and difficult to sustain. Kemp's self-centeredness and profit motive cause him to seek out Paris to act on his inexplicable need for revenge.

Barry Unsworth packs so much into Sacred Hunger. The page-turning saga of the slave ship, with all its detail about living conditions and man's inhumanity to man, could be a book unto itself. The conflict between Paris and Kemp could also stand alone. Together they make for a gripping, emotional, and memorable read. Highly recommended. show less

Sacred Hunger is an ambitious drama based on the 18th century triangular slave trade route. The Liverpool Merchant sets off to exchange manufactured goods for slaves in West Africa, who can in turn be traded in the West Indies for commodities valued in Britain.

What struck me most reading this novel is my changing attitudes towards the protagonists: Erasmus Kemp, the son of the stretched merchant who chartered the slave ship, and his cousin Matthew Paris, a disgraced doctor who has spent time in prison and lost his family in mysterious circumstances. Erasmus' distrust of Paris runs deep, a childhood altercation festering in his mind. Paris, helpless, bemoaning the loss of all he valued and loved, joins the expedition as a doctor. The show more ship picks up artist and philosopher Delblanc, whose discussions with Paris have a profound effect on the future of the ship.

The slaves are depicted with a rawness and detail that is shocking, but in a way nevertheless essential to the story. Unsworth masterfully marks their evolution from chattel to vivid characters. The last third of the novel is essentially a "big picture" narrative on natural living; the subplots in this environment are a highlight.

The first half reminds me of Amitav Ghosh's Sea of Poppies, which incriminates the British empire as it bankrolled opium trade with China. The second half has echoes of Aldous Huxley's Island, a philosophical utopia depicting how a pre-industrialised society can flourish. Both are recommended if you enjoy this novel. show less

From the book jacket: A stunning and engrossing exploration of power, domination, and greed. Filled with the “sacred hunger” to expand its empire and its profits, England entered fully into the slave trade and spread the trade throughout its colonies. This book, which won the Man Booker Award in 1992, follows the failing fortunes of William Kemp, a merchant pinning his last chance to a slave ship; his son who needs a fortune because he is in love with an upper-class woman; and his nephew who sails on the ship as its doctor because he has lost all he has loved. The voyage meets its demise, [and] the sailors and slaves set up a secret, utopian society in the wilderness of Flordia, only to await the vengeance of the single-minded, show more young Kemp.

My reactions
This is an epic story covering a time period from 1752 – 1765. There are two distinct, but interrelated story lines – that of Erasmus Kemp (son of William Kemp) and that of Mathew Paris (Kemp’s nephew, who sails as the ship’s doctor). Frankly Mathew’s story saved the book. I was bored to tears with much of the plot involving Erasmus. I could not care about his pursuit of Sarah, or his attempts to ingratiate himself with her by “acting” in the play. For me, he came across as a really unlikeable character – self-centered and bent on revenge.

Mathew’s story, on the other hand, is very interesting. His background is intriguing (we learn early that he has just been released from prison), his natural inclinations are in contrast to the rough crew men and Captain of the Liverpool Merchant. Although it was difficult to read the brutally graphic depictions of the life aboard the ship (particularly the treatment of the slaves), I felt it helped to set up Mathew’s motivations for the decisions and actions he ultimately took. I found myself totally engrossed in this story line and irritated every time I had to slog through the counterpoint of Erasmus’s tale.

The “utopian” society the sailors and slaves tried to develop once they arrived in the Florida wilderness had several surprises. I couldn’t stop thinking about the ways in which they formed their society, the rules they put in place, their methods of self-government, their decisions on justice, and the ways in which they also succumbed to the “sacred hunger” for power and possessions. I wish Unsworth had spent more time on the “Paradise” – that’s a book I would love to read!

Finally I must confess I struggled with how to rate the book. I had a hard time getting into it because of the early emphasis on Erasmus story and my dislike for him as a character. Still I appreciated the writing and was going to give it 3.5 stars. But then I got to the ending and the confrontation and soul-searching that occurred there made me see the entire book in a slightly different light. So I decided to give it 4 stars. There is much to think about in this novel; great book for a book group discussion! show less

Somehow, even though this is about a difficult topic (the slave trade) and is very long (over 600 pages); I found it a relatively easy book to read. Unsworth is such a good story-teller that I just kept wanting to turn the pages. So basically, this is a sea-faring tale with a deeper, darker message. One of the things we see in the book is how the slave trade could continue because many really did not see others as fully human.

The book centers on a slave ship, “The Liverpool Merchant” and two cousins, Erasmus Kemp and Matthew Paris. Kemp is the son of the ship’s owner. Paris, who is a doctor, goes with the ship as a physician.

Kemp is a difficult, and not very likeable character. We see him struggling with ambition, with finding show more his place in a world governed by class and money. He is really not very nice at all to women, and in fact does not seem to have compassion for anyone other than himself.

Paris takes the job on the ship because he is in a difficult time in his own life, and wants something to take him away from that. He finds himself in the position of ministering to physical needs of an abused crew (who were basically kidnapped to serve on the ship) and the slaves. He has little power to change things, and struggles with his own culpability.

The book is full of interesting characters and plot twists and turns. It left me with lots to think about. The book careened to a difficult ending, and left one with the question of whether pockets of joy and community can redeem a life that is otherwise filled with oppression and suffering. An interesting question, I don’t have an answer. show less

“Love does not stand still, as everyone knows; it is always adding to its own shape whether by advance or retreat. Wounds can be absorbed, but only like elements embodied in a story; they are always there, part of the meaning.”

'Sacred Hunger' is the 1992 Booker-prize winning novel by Barry Unsworth which mixes fiction with historical fact and covers a period between 1752 and 1765 and the horrors of the slave trade which at least in the UK was pretty topical only a short time ago with the toppling of statues etc. It concerns the conflicting fortunes of two cousins; Erasmus Kemp, the son of a Lancashire merchant, and Matthew Paris, a scholar and surgeon recently released from prison for "denying Holy Writ".

The story is set in two show more sections twelve years apart and begins with, William Kemp, a leading merchant in Liverpool who believes the time is ripe for the city to reap the rewards of the triangular Atlantic trade, taking goods and guns to the west coast of Africa which are then traded for slaves to be transported and sold in the West Indies in exchange for a cargo of sugar which is then brought back to England to be resold at a huge profit.

He knows it will be a risky endeavour but he is so confident in its success that he has his own ship built, the 'Liverpool Merchant', and fits it out accordingly, with guns to quell slave revolts and raised rails to make death leaps more difficult. For her captain he engages Saul Thurso a veteran of the trade and as the ship's doctor “for reasons of humanity” his nephew, Matthew Paris, much to Thurso’s disgust.

Most of the action within centres around the 'Liverpool Merchant' and it’s through Paris's eyes that we witness events on board ship once she sets sail. He is a complicated character, in between treating the crew for venereal diseases and dysentery, Paris spends his time reading Voltaire and Pope. His thoughts turn constantly to his wife and his feelings of guilt for her premature death. Once he reaches Africa and witnesses it for himself, he abhors the treatment of the human cargo and becomes increasingly disquieted about his own role in it.

"I have assisted in the suffering inflicted on these innocent people and in doing so joined the ranks of those that degrade the unoffending… We have taken everything from them and only for the sake of profit—that sacred hunger… which justifies everything, sanctifies all purposes."

During the voyage Paris has become well liked by the crew if not by the officers, so when Thurso decides to jettison the captured slaves overboard in the belief that their value insurance will out-weigh what they can be sold for, the crew join Paris in a rebellion.

The action then jumps on twelve years to the coast of Florida. The remaining crew members and slaves have built a settlement in which they live together on equal terms. They have set up a utopian society where they share the women and trade with local Indians. However when William Kemp's son Erasmus learns of this settlement he resolves to recapture what in his eyes, is his property. The second half of this novel traces his journey across the Atlantic to seek retribution against his cousin and to reclaim the remaining slaves.

Like his father, Erasmus is motivated by money alone and this is the sacred hunger of the novel's title.

"Money is sacred as everyone knows… So then must be the hunger for it and the means we use to obtain it. Once a man is in debt he becomes a flesh and blood form of money, a walking investment. You can do what you like with him, you can work him to death or you can sell him. This cannot be called cruelty or greed because we are seeking only to recover our investment and that is a sacred duty."

This book shines a bright light not only on the abhorrent slave trade but also on the underhand tactics that the colonial nations, in this case Britain, cheated the natives out of their own lands with false promises.

However, remorse is the central theme of this novel. Not only does Paris feel guilty about the premature death of his wife but he also feels guilty about his motivations which brought him to be involved in the slave trade. Many of the crew members and slaves also mourn the lives they left behind.

My copy of the book is over 600 pages long so its quite a weighty tome yet the story moves along at a good pace. There is a large and colourful cast of characters amongst the crewmen many of whom were duped into joining the ship whilst captain Thurso, is an imposing figure. In the first section of the book there is a realistic smattering of 18th century dialogue and Unsworth provides a fascinating depiction of life at sea where ships and their crews are subject to the vagaries of the wind interspersed with failed romances and family tragedy back on land.

So why didn't I enjoy it more? Perhaps its because I'm a fan of historical fiction that whilst I found the considerably longer first book an interesting adventure tale but I didn't find it particularly original, the Hornblower and Bolitho series of books capture life at sea far better IMHO. Personally I enjoyed the second book set in Florida more. The hoped for utopia of equals is clearly breaking down despite Paris’ best attempts to keep it alive is fascinating but there just wasn't enough of it for my liking. A solid book but not a great one for me. show less

Vintage Unsworth, incredible read. I started slowing down already after 20 pages just to savour the masterly skill. Unsworth is so concise in his dialogues, so incredibly crafty at capturing the unsaid and the unsayable. Each scene has this dynamic of conflicting and interacting moods. And then there is the sheer weight of what he tries to bring across. Shock and awe from page one. So crafty also in carrying suspense from page one to the very last. Without doubt the best read of the year so far.

It is a pleasure to begin my year's reading with such a memorable and worthy book. It's essentially the story of two cousins but Matthew Paris takes the lead early in the book because he is the one on his uncle's slave trading ship, Liverpool Merchant. Matthew has recently lost everything and takes the job as ship's doctor to try and forget the death of his wife and infant son and his recent incarceration for an unjust reason. Justice is a big theme in the book. Cousin Erasmus is looking for his own kind of justice to avenge his father, while Matthew is thrown into a situation where he can live in harmony with other oppressed individuals.

There are so many vivid scenes involving the slave trade and its degradation, that reading it is show more sometimes painful. But the pain is offset by the flutter of hope as compassion is awakened. This is a fascinating historical novel of greed and corruption with a big cast of characters of all types and degrees of good and evil. The setting moves from England to Africa to the shores of America. I highly respect Unsworth's ability to manage a novel of this scope and to tell a harrowing story with such beautiful language. it was a deserving winner of the Booker Prize in 1992 show less