Anyone for Edmund by Simon Edge
They dug up his bones. They didn’t know he had a mind of his own.
Under tennis courts in the ruins of a great abbey, archaeologists find the remains of St Edmund, once venerated as England’s patron saint, but lost for half a millennium.
Culture Secretary Marina Spencer, adored by those who have never met her, scents an opportunity. She promotes Edmund as a new patron saint for the United Kingdom, playing up his Scottish, Welsh and Irish credentials. Unfortunately these are pure fiction, invented by Mark Price, her downtrodden aide, in a moment of panic.
The only person who can see through the deception is Mark’s cousin Hannah, a member of the dig team. Will she blow the whistle or help him out? And what of St Edmund himself, watching through the prism of a very different age?
Splicing ancient and modern as he did in The Hopkins Conundrum and A Right Royal Face-Off, Simon Edge pokes fun at Westminster culture and celebrates the cult of a medieval saint in another beguiling and utterly original comedy.
About Simon Edge:
Simon Edge was born in Chester and read philosophy at Cambridge University.
He was editor of the pioneering London paper Capital Gay before becoming a gossip columnist on the Evening Standard and then a feature writer on the Daily Express, where he was also a theatre critic for many years. He has an MA in Creative Writing from City University, London, where he also taught literary criticism.
He is the author of three previous novels: The Hopkins Conundrum, which was longlisted for the Waverton Good Read Award, The Hurtle of Hell and A Right Royal Face-Off.
He lives in Suffolk.
Social Media:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/simonjedge
Website: https://www.simon-edge.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonjedge/
Purchase Links:
Eye & Lightning Books (Free UK P&P): https://bit.ly/30XKfz9
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3feyTfc
Review
Well before I read this book I have to admit I had not heard about St Edmund at all! That’s all changed now. I really enjoyed this political romp. It was humorous, had a great narrative arc, some supernatural elements and great characters.
After St. Edmunds, the patron saint for East Anglia, bones are found in an archaeological dig, the event is used as a political tool to try and show a united Britain. St. Edmund is going to become the patron saint for the whole of the UK! Unfortunately, Mark who works for the very popular, but secretly horrible, Marina Spencer MP can’t find any historical facts to link St. Edmund to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. So he decides to make it up by altering Wikipedia and creating fake historians and books.
I kind of view this book as the same vein as ‘In The Thick of It’ - I kept wanting Malcolm Tucker to come round a corner and call Mark a cockwomble. It was that sort of humour and satire. I loved it. Visions of Karim and Giles came very easily as I was reading it and Marina was brilliant! I loved her in a way and was not expecting her ending at all! All the characters were well rounded individuals and I really enjoyed reading about them.
I really enjoyed the story of St. Edmund and it was great to read about his background and history. I will probably read more into him but then that is my history geek coming out. Let’s hope no one has created fake information on Wikipedia like Mark did. I do love it when I learn stuff from books!
In short buy this book!
