Act of Oblivion by Robert Harris
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Act of Oblivion
by Robert Harris
Harper, 2022
In his newest book, Act of Oblivion, author Robert Harris crafts an epic of historical fiction, weaving together a tale of pursuit, betrayal, and madness. The novel’s title refers to an act passed by the British Parliament that granted a general pardon to all those who committed crimes during the British Civil War, except for those who had committed treason by involving themselves in the execution of King Charles I.
Set in the mid-seventeenth century, Act of Oblivion centers around one of the greatest manhunts in history. Upon the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, following the 1649 execution of King Charles I at the hands of Oliver Cromwell and the Roundheads, the fifty-nine regicides who signed the king’s death warrant became Egland’s most wanted criminals. Thirty-nine were left living at the time of the restoration. Those who stayed in the country were quickly rounded up, drawn, hanged, and quartered. Those lucky few who managed to slip through the fingers of King Charles II fled the country and became the targets in a global cat and mouse game.
Harris has placed two of those men at the center of his book. Edward Whalley and William Goffe, both signers of the king’s death warrant, fled to New England with the help of an American man by the name of Daniel Gookin. Knowing that they were both high profile targets for New England Royalists, they kept a low profile, spending much of their time hidden in homes of local sympathetic families, praying for the day their charges would be dropped, and they could safely reunite with their families.
The antagonist of Harris’s novel is a man by the name of Richard Nayler. The only fictional character among an otherwise historically accurate cast, Nayler is a royalist, a member of the Privy Council, loyal to the king, Charles II, and obsessively fixated on bringing the remaining regicides to justice. More than a decade after the execution of the king at the hands of Cromwell, Nayler has yet to lose his thirst for vengeance:
He remembered everything about that midwinter day - slipping out of Essex House at first light, the bitter wind off the Thames, hurting along the Strand, past the big mansions that backed on to the river, the feel of his old army knife and pistol hidden beneath his coat. It was all unreal to him. To cut off the head of an anointed king? Impossible. Barbarous. A sacrilege. The Army would never go through with it. Either General Fairfax, the parliamentary commander, would put a stop to it, or the thousands of royalists lying low in the city would rise up to prevent it. He for one was ready if word was given to sacrifice his life to rescue his sovereign.
Appointing himself as hunter, Nayler sets his sights on Edward Whalley and William Goffe, going to whatever lengths necessary to see them both on the scaffold.
Harris’s Act of Oblivion provides an engaging read. Harris’s journalistic background shines through in his writing style. Short, engaging paragraphs that pull the reader through the story are prevalent throughout the narrative. Harris’s writing is clear and concise; he is not loquacious, rather, he is quite to the point, in a way that launches the reader through the story, and keeps the pages turning. For instance, when the reader is first introduced to Edward Whalley and William Goffe, a scene takes place between the American Daniel Gookin and his wife, wherein the reader is first introduced to the truth about these two runaways. When Daniel’s wife asks about the true nature of the two men, Harris writes, “Gookin took a while to reply. By the time he spoke the men had gone inside. He said quietly, ‘They killed the King.’”
Harris pays much attention to historical details throughout the novel. Dates, names, and locations are historically accurate to the true story of Whalley and Goffe story, with the above mentioned exception of the antagonist, Richard Nayler.
Act of Oblivion is a plot-driven novel. While attention is given to character, the story itself is what drives the narrative. The reader gets small insights into characters, but the majority of pages is dedicated to the chase itself. Scenes cut between England, and the halls of Parliament, and the settlements and meeting halls of Puritan New England.
An engaging, readable, and detailed story, Act of Oblivion provides its reader with a truly gratifying experience. While the story relies heavily on historical events, the reader does not need to be familiar with the time period in order to be swept into the story. Harris presents all pertinent details and information clearly. Act of Oblivion is sure to be enjoyed by all readers and fans of the genre.
Micah Cummins is a college student currently living in Greenville South Carolina.