Dancing Priest by Glynn Young – A Review

Dancing Priest is Glynn Young’s first published novel and I, like many others, hope it will not be his last. What we have in the pages of this book are several love stories; the burgeoning love of Michael Kent and Sarah Hughes, of David Hughes and Betsy, of Tommy McFarlane and Ellen, and of all these characters (and others) and God. We also have a story of faith in the face of trials, of triumph in and over adversity, of the importance and influence of good character, and much, much more.

Like all good novels, this book is a beautifully written page turner. The quality of Glynn Young’s prose is such that I found myself engrossed in the story, scarcely noticing the passage of the 4-hour flight on which Michael, Sarah et al were my companions. The story is well told, with sufficient twists in the plot to keep a readers interest, but….

Like all books this one is not perfect, and there are parts of it that jarred with me, a Scottish reader:

i) Michael and Tommy are British but they are often found using American English in conversation rather than UK English. Here in the UK we use mobile phones, not cell phones. Students in university accommodation are in residences, not dorms. UK cities have city centres, not down-town. While these may seem small matters, ensuring that they are correct helps to set the scene and to make the characters more believable.

ii) The book opens in Edinburgh, where the major characters meet at the University. Michael’s family own a small estate some 40 miles from the city where, from the hills, you can still see the city in the distance. I know the area pretty well, and I can’t immediately think of many places where that is actually possible. I appreciate that most readers won’t notice this, but I did. Similarly, an area of north London is referred to as Hampton Heath. I know of Hampstead Heath in north London (my Dad used to take me fishing there when he was stationed in London) and Hampton Court to the west of the city, but as far as I am aware, there is no Hampton Heath.

iii) I found it difficult to work out what the setting of the book actually is. Whilst the geographic locations are obvious – subject to the above – what is less clear is the chronology. When is this book set? Much of the book describes a world that is very familiar to me – mobile phones, lap-tops, Scottish Nationalism, the difficulties in the Anglican Communion of Churches, Starbucks etc. – but every now and again something cropped up that left me feeling disorientated. Two examples will suffice:

a)      In the book the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom is James III. To date there have only been two James’s on the UK throne, and none of those currently in the line of succession is called James.

b)      The Olympic Games which form a significant part of the story take place in Athens and are to be followed by games in London. To my knowledge, the policy of the International Olympic Committee is to ensure that consecutive Olympiads are not celebrated on the same continent. This being so, games in Athens would not be followed by a Games in London.

These niggles aside – and I appreciate that for most readers they will be minor – I enjoyed reading the book and I look forward to being able to read more about English, Shoes, Tomahawk, California and the rest in the not-too-distant future.

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I sent a preview of this to Glynn who made the following responses to points made above:

I changed certain geographic things deliberately. The setting of the McLaren's farm would actually fit the western side of Scotland better than the eastern side. The farm is actually based on An Cala.

 

I knew about the Olympics and how sites are selected. It's a case of novelistic license to provide a realistic reason for bringing Michael's brother into the story.

 

I totally changed the royal family. I could say that I wanted to avoid identification with any specific member of the real royal family, but the real reason why will be found in the second book.