Phil Rickman
Encyclopedia
Phil Rickman is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
author best known for writing supernatural
Supernatural
The supernatural or is that which is not subject to the laws of nature, or more figuratively, that which is said to exist above and beyond nature...
and mystery novels, often based on conflicting forces of paganism
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
and other religions.
Rickman was born in Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
in northern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He worked as a journalist for BBC World Service TV and BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
. His first novel, Candlenight, won critical acclaim and gained Rickman the title of Britain's next great horror writer. He followed up with four more standalone novels, then began the Merrily Watkins series. The Merrily Watkins books, about a down-to-earth female priest of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
employed as an exorcist
Exorcist
In some religions an exorcist is a person who is believed to be able to cast out the devil or other demons. A priest, a nun, a monk, a healer, a shaman or other specially prepared or instructed person can be an exorcist...
, created a distinct new genre of crime thrillers with supernatural and spiritual causes. He occasionally writes under the pseudonyms Will Kingdom and Thom Madley. Rickman is married and lives on the Welsh border
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
s, and currently has a radio show on BBC Radio Wales
BBC Radio Wales
BBC Radio Wales is the BBC's national radio station broadcasting to Wales in the English language. Operated by BBC Wales, it began broadcasting on 12 November 1978 following the demise of the old "Radio 4 Wales" when BBC Radio 4 became a national network and moved from medium wave to long wave...
about books, Phil the Shelf.
Rickman's novels often involve Celtic mythology
Celtic mythology
Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure...
, native earthworks
Earthworks (engineering)
Earthworks are engineering works created through the moving or processing of quantities of soil or unformed rock.- Civil engineering use :Typical earthworks include roads, railway beds, causeways, dams, levees, canals, and berms...
(especially stone circles), and oppositions of various spiritual forces. Characters often carry over from one novel to the next, usually as minor characters in one or more novels and major characters in another. Novels generally revolve around small towns and their spiritual legacies, often interwoven with current political issues. Most of his novels address the tensions between "locals," the longtime residents of rural areas, and "incomers" who have recently moved to the area; these conflicts have a socio-economic dimension reminiscent of gentrification
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
, but in Rickman's hands they often assume a supernatural or spiritual aspect as well. Music is also an important theme in many of his books, from fictional bands to Nick Drake
Nick Drake
Nicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
.
The Early Novels
Candlenight is set in the strangely idyllic Welsh village Y Groes and in the gritty, bleak town of Pontmeurig (based, says Rickman, on "Bettws Cedewain, near Newtown in PowysPowys
Powys is a local-government county and preserved county in Wales.-Geography:Powys covers the historic counties of Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire, most of Brecknockshire , and a small part of Denbighshire — an area of 5,179 km², making it the largest county in Wales by land area.It is...
" and on "Llandovery in Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire is a unitary authority in the south west of Wales and one of thirteen historic counties. It is the 3rd largest in Wales. Its three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford...
" respectively. In Pontmeurig, English "incomers" face hostility; yet in nearby Y Groes, the English couple Giles and Claire are welcomed with utter serenity—and find that they are the only "incomers" in the entire village.
- Rickman draws on various aspects of Welsh folkloreFolkloreFolklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
, including the Gwrach y Rhibyn (witch of Rhibin), the Bird of Death, the toili (phantom funeral), and the Canwyll Gorff (corpse-candle) which gives the book its title.
Crybbe, published as Curfew in the United States, concerns the arrival of New Age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
enthusiasts in the eponymous Welsh border village of Crybbe. Crybbe is a fictional town, but Rickman suggests that curious readers visit "Knighton and Presteigne in Powys, Clun and Bishop's Castle in south-west Shropshire. It isn't really any of them, but you'll get the idea." Rickman also concedes that Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's Salem's Lot was an influence on Crybbe. This novel introduces Joe Powys, who also appears in Rickman's novel Chalice, and Gomer Parry, a regular in the Merrily Watkins novels.
- The novel features dowsingDowsingDowsing is a type of divination employed in attempts to locate ground water, buried metals or ores, gemstones, oil, gravesites, and many other objects and materials, as well as so-called currents of earth radiation , without the use of scientific apparatus...
, ley lines, and the magical experiments of John DeeJohn Dee (mathematician)John Dee was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, occultist, navigator, imperialist and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I. He devoted much of his life to the study of alchemy, divination and Hermetic philosophy....
, as well as a version of the supernatural black dogBlack dog (ghost)A black dog is the name given to a being found primarily in the folklores of the British Isles. The black dog is essentially a nocturnal apparition, often said to be associated with the Devil, and its appearance was regarded as a portent of death. It is generally supposed to be larger than a normal...
(sometimes called the GwyllgiGwyllgiThe gwyllgi is a mythical dog from Wales that appears as a frightful apparition of a mastiff with baleful breath and blazing red eyes.It is often referred to as "The Dog of Darkness" or "The Black Hound of Destiny", the apparition's favourite haunt being lonely roads at night. It is said to...
) which appears in much British and even American folklore.
The Merrily Watkins Novels
The Wine of Angels introduces Merrily Watkins, the new—and female—parish priest for the town of Ledwardine, in HerefordshireHerefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...
, as well as her bright, sarcastic daughter Jane, their formidable neighbor Lucy Devenish, and the withdrawn musician Lol Robinson.
- Three notable influences on this novel are Ella Mary LeatherElla Mary LeatherElla Mary Leather was a collector of the local folklore and songs of Herefordshire. Amongst her works is a collaboration with Vaughn Williams, Twelve Traditional Carols from Herefordshire, and notes to the journal of the Folklore Society....
's Folklore of Herefordshire, the poetry of Thomas TraherneThomas TraherneThomas Traherne, MA was an English poet and religious writer. His style is often considered Metaphysical.-Life:...
, and the music of Nick DrakeNick DrakeNicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
.
In Midwinter of the Spirit Merrily becomes the official exorcist for the diocese of Hereford
Hereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
; although she continues to be the parish priest of Ledwardine, she finds herself spending a lot of time in Hereford, particularly at Hereford Cathedral
Hereford Cathedral
The current Hereford Cathedral, located at Hereford in England, dates from 1079. Its most famous treasure is Mappa Mundi, a mediæval map of the world dating from the 13th century. The cathedral is a Grade I listed building.-Origins:...
, in the course of her new—and terrifying—duties.
In A Crown of Lights, Merrily tries to negotiate a conflict between Neopagans and charismatic
Charismatic movement
The term charismatic movement is used in varying senses to describe 20th century developments in various Christian denominations. It describes an ongoing international, cross-denominational/non-denominational Christian movement in which individual, historically mainstream congregations adopt...
Christians which erupts in Old Hindwell, a village near Radnor Forest
Radnor Forest
Radnor Forest is a rock dome in Mid Wales, and a forest only in the mediæval sense of an unenclosed area used for hunting . The highest point is Great Rhos or Rhos Fawr, a broad featureless plateau which reaches , and a similar plateau adjoining to the east, Black Mixen is the only Nuttall to...
.
- The title refers to the Neo-pagans' planned celebration of ImbolcImbolcImbolc , or St Brigid’s Day , is an Irish festival marking the beginning of spring. Most commonly it is celebrated on 1 or 2 February in the northern hemisphere and 1 August in the southern hemisphere...
.
The Cure of Souls features an apparently haunted hop-kiln in Knight's Frome, a village on the River Frome
River Frome, Herefordshire
The River Frome is a river in Herefordshire, England. It flows through Bromyard, and Bishops Frome. At Covender its tributary, the River Lodon, joins it...
in the Frome Valley. Prof Levin and Simon St. John, characters from Rickman's novel December, both appear.
- This novel draws on Roma folklore, including the legend of the muloMullo (vampire)Mullo is an undead, revenant, or vampire of gypsy folklore. 'Mullo' means 'one who is dead'.Mullo are believed to return and do malicious things and/or suck the blood of a person Mullo (Muli: female, Mulo: male) is an undead, revenant, or vampire of gypsy (Roma) folklore. 'Mullo' means 'one who...
.
The Lamp of the Wicked concerns murders surrounding the village of Underhowle, near Ross-on-Wye
Ross-on-Wye
Ross-on-Wye is a small market town with a population of 10,089 in southeastern Herefordshire, England, located on the River Wye, and on the northern edge of the Forest of Dean.-History:...
, close to the border of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. Moira Cairns, a character from Rickman's December and The Man in the Moss, appears.
- Phil Rickman calls this "the Cromwell StreetFred WestFrederick Walter Stephen West , was a British serial killer. Between 1967 and 1987, he alone, and later, he and his wife Rosemary, tortured, raped and murdered at least 11 young women and girls, many at the couple's homes. The majority of the murders occurred between May 1973 and September 1979 at...
novel"; it also draws somewhat on the practices of Aleister CrowleyAleister CrowleyAleister Crowley , born Edward Alexander Crowley, and also known as both Frater Perdurabo and The Great Beast, was an influential English occultist, astrologer, mystic and ceremonial magician, responsible for founding the religious philosophy of Thelema. He was also successful in various other...
, including sex magicSex magicSex magic is a term for various types of sexual activity used in magical, ritualistic or otherwise religious and spiritual pursuits. One practice of sex magic is using the energy of sexual arousal or orgasm with visualization of a desired result...
, and discusses the use of sigilsSigil (magic)A sigil is a symbol created for a specific magical purpose. A sigil is usually made up of a complex combination of several specific symbols or geometric figures, each with a specific meaning or intent.- Name and origin :...
.
In The Prayer of the Night Shepherd Merrily's daughter Jane is working at Stanner Hall, a hotel on the English-Welsh border (near the village of Kington
Kington, Herefordshire
Kington is a market town and civil parish in Herefordshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,597.-Location:Kington is near the Wales-England border and, despite being on the western side of Offa's Dyke, has been English for over a thousand years. The town is in the...
) which may or may not have been the model for Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle
Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
's Baskerville Hall
The Hound of the Baskervilles
The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of four crime novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in The Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set largely on Dartmoor in Devon in England's West Country and tells the story of an...
.
The Smile of a Ghost takes place not in Herefordshire, but in Ludlow
Ludlow
Ludlow is a market town in Shropshire, England close to the Welsh border and in the Welsh Marches. It lies within a bend of the River Teme, on its eastern bank, forming an area of and centred on a small hill. Atop this hill is the site of Ludlow Castle and the market place...
, a town in Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
; the mayor of Ludlow requests Merrily's help after two suicides occur in the reputedly haunted Ludlow Castle
Ludlow Castle
Ludlow Castle is a large, partly ruined, non-inhabited castle which dominates the town of Ludlow in Shropshire, England. It stands on a high point overlooking the River Teme...
.
Remains of an Altar, another Merrily Watkins novel, is based around the Malvern Hills
Malvern Hills
The Malvern Hills are a range of hills in the English counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and a small area of northern Gloucestershire, dominating the surrounding countryside and the towns and villages of the district of Malvern...
area of Herefordshire/Worcestershire. Its main plotlines focus on an apparent haunting by the composer Edward Elgar, and disputes over whether a housing estate should be built across an alleged ley-line in Ledwardine.
In The Fabric of Sin Merrily is asked to investigate a report of haunting in a house owned by the Duchy of Cornwall (ie, The Prince of Wales), in the village of Garway
Garway
Garway is a civil parish in south-west Herefordshire, England. It is set on a hillside above the River Monnow about 10 km northwest of Monmouth. It is a sparsely populated area, mainly agricultural in nature...
, which has links to the Knights Templar.
To Dream of the Dead picks up on the events of The Remains of an Altar, in particular the proposed building of a new housing estate in Ledwardine, in the light of real world archeological discoveries in the West Country around the time of the Altar's publication.
Cast of characters
Apart from Merrily Watkins, numerous characters appear in multiple books.- Merrily Watkins - female protagonist, Anglican priest and Deliverance Consultant.
- Jane Watkins - Merrily's fiercely intelligent and strong-willed teenage daughter, navigating her way through growing up as the Vicar's child along with the usual pains of love and teenage angst
- Lol Robinson - sometime love interest of Merrily, singer songwriter with a scarred past
- Gomer Parry - a tenderly-drawn portrait of a local man who would otherwise have been lost in himself in encroaching old age, but who has become Merrily's confidante and protector of "the little Vicar" and Jane. When Gomer's glasses start to shine, something interesting is always about to happen...
- Danny Thomas - ex-musician and now local handyman.
- Annie Howe - An ambitious police officer with a fast track career, who has little sympathy for supernatural explanations or Merrily's interference
- Frannie Bliss - A more sympathetic, but slightly lower-ranked, police officer
- Andy Mumford - Down to earth police sergeant
- Charlie Howe - Retired policeman, father of Annie Howe. Now a local councillor, who may have broken the rules while he was in the force, and Andy Mumford was his assistant.
- Sophie Hill - Formidably efficient secretary at the Bishop's Palace
- Bernie Dunmore - The bishop in charge of Merrily in the later books - a man close to retirement who probably wouldn't have been promoted to bishop had an unexpected vacancy not needed filling as a result of an early book's events
- Prof Levin - legend of the music industry, now running a recording studio in the border country and intent on resurrecting Lol's career. Levin initially appeared in one of Rickman's pre-Merrily novels
- Simon St. John - Troubled fellow vicar, whose earlier history had featured in December
- Nick DrakeNick DrakeNicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
- real-life British singer-songwriter of the 60s and 70s, dead at the age of 26, whose influence permeates the novels so greatly that his presence is felt almost as a living character