Tom Fleck – a new review.

Tom Fleck on Amazon

I’m delighted with a new 5 star review that appeared today.
It was unsolicited and from Rebecca Jones.
Rebecca writes for the new arts and writing on-line magazine, ‘What The Dickens’ http://www.wtd-magazine.com/

A Human and Credible Historical Novel, 25 Oct 2012
By
R. Jones
Amazon Verified Purchase
This review is from: Tom Fleck (Kindle Edition)

‘Tom Fleck’ is a very human rendering of an event which can tend to be quite militarily technical and forensic when studied through non-fiction alone. Harry Nicholson has achieved something which is a lot more challenging than it often appears- he has written full and credible characters in the face of the distancing effect of history. I read a lot of historical fiction, some of it more believable than the rest, and two of the things which I find can go either way are the character depth and the dialogue. ‘Tom Fleck’ delivers characters which convey their time, place and circumstances in a believable way. The extent to which we can really know with any certainty how the rank and file of 1513 would have thought and lived and loved with each other is debatable. For this reason, it takes a proficient grasp of the mores and limitations of the period to make a novel like this read in a way which isn’t tacky or stultifying. One of the hardest things has to be finding a voice for a 500 year-old character, and constructing credible dialogue. The road to such things is paved with cliche, and it takes a writer who is really entrenched in their period to pull this off.

Harry Nicholson has made ‘Tom Fleck’ a smooth and engaging read. He creates atmosphere, employs setting, conjures a sense of foreboding and constructs dialogue in ways that make the novel a pleasure to read. Even very good historical fiction often has its ‘cringe moments’, where a character does or says something that simply doesn’t gel with their nature or setting. ‘Tom Fleck’ manages to avoid these, despite often dealing with subjects, like family loyalty and love, which can lend themselves to cliche- points at which many a competent writer could be forgiven for coming unstuck.

‘Tom Fleck’ made a refreshing change from the historical fiction which deals almost exclusively with royalty, the nobility and the wealthy (there’s nothing wrong with any of this, but I think most readers would agree that the feeling of discovering something which represents a departure from the more formulaic offerings is very satisfying).

This will appeal to fans of fiction generally, and historical fiction fans more specifically. It also has a great deal to offer fans of historical non-fiction and military/battlefield history. I urge you to read it.

Rebecca Jones