JAMES HYNES Sparrow. Reviewed by Michael Jongen
James Hynes’ new novel spins a tale from the edge of the Roman Empire.
I was initially perplexed by Sparrow, a historical novel that diverges from the usual focus of significant historical personalities and events. In this captivating tale, Hynes introduces us to an unnamed protagonist, a young boy of mysterious origins who resides in one of the last brothels in the Roman town of Carthago Nova on the coast of what is now Spain.
Far from Rome in the dying days of the Empire, he lives within the confines of the brothel. Gradually we learn the story of the boy, who calls himself Sparrow, and the stories of the women who form his ‘family’. The novel is narrated by the much older Sparrow, now known as Jacob and living in Britannia.
The world that Hynes has built is initially confined to the brothel, the kitchen where Sparrow sleeps alongside the cook Focaria, and the herb garden where they forage. Sparrow avoids the tavern, which is full of loud and violent men, and upstairs, where the slave prostitutes, known as wolves, live and ply their trade.
As Sparrow grows older, Focaria asks Euterpe, one of the prostitutes, to be responsible for his education. Raising Sparrow together brings opportunities for Focaria and Euterpe to be near each other. Euterpe, who may be Focaria’s lover, becomes Sparrow’s ‘mother’ and teacher.
And so Euterpe was my mother in the morning and Focaria was my mother for the rest of the day. Euterpe sat with me while Focaria left the garden to fetch water from the fountain and to do her shopping, returning with her wicker basket full of vegetables or bread or fish. When she thought Audo wouldn’t catch her at it, Focaria sometimes joined us for a little while until Euterpe had to go inside or leave for the baths. She would bring Euterpe and me a piece of fruit to share as we sat against the water tank and watched the shadow of the wall behind us retreat across the garden towards our toes. The two women sat touching shoulders with their backs to the tank, murmuring together and even laughing. Sometimes their fingers intertwined. I played in the dirt a little distance away and pretended not to watch.
As he grows older, Sparrow helps Focaria more in the kitchen and is allowed out on his own to run errands and go to the marketplace. At first he is frightened of the world outside, but he adjusts and becomes an observer of the human foibles he encounters.
The story gets exciting when the wolves seize an opportunity to kill Audo, their protector and pimp, who runs the establishment on behalf of its rich Patron. These are very powerful scenes.
Audo is flat in the dirt, sweating and pale and blinking sightlessly at the sky. Only his belly is moving, his breath shallow and uneven. Euterpe looks over at Urania, who is looking back at Thalia, who is crying with her hands over her mouth. No one looks at me except Sparrow, from above.
‘What are we waiting for?’ Focaria drops to her knees next to Audo. With one hand she pinches his nostrils shut and with her other she snatches up Euterpe’s discarded mantle and stuffs a corner of it deep in his mouth. Audo gags and clutches weakly at Focaria’s wrists, but she doesn’t let go.
Melpomene, the senior prostitute and a free woman, inveigles her way into a negotiation with the Patron to run the establishment herself. She offers the women the opportunity to lead a better life within the confines of their harsh existence. Although Melpomene uses Sparrow to help her achieve her ends, she has plans for him: he ends up working alongside the women and becomes a popular attraction.
Euterpe has long tried to protect Sparrow, now known as Antinous, from this fate. However, for their separate reasons, Focaria and Melpomene are happy for him to be used in this way. Sparrow realises that he is now reliant on Melpomene to ensure his continued survival in the fraught world of the ale house and brothel, an establishment tolerated as a necessary evil by the Christians who are gradually becoming the dominant group in Carthago Nova.
Sparrow gravitates to dissociation, seemingly floating in the air and watching himself going through the motions of the sexual acts he endures at the behest of his clients. The concept of the chosen family is also very important as Sparrow and the wolves work together in a hostile and dangerous environment.
Those were my days. What about my nights?
A man enters. Sometimes he tells me what he wants, sometimes he just begins. At that moment, I leave. As man and wolf grapple on the bed or on the floor, Sparrow lifts his wings and takes flight. Sometimes he only flies as far as the window, where he folds his wings and watches what is happening below, turning his head from side to side, first one eye and then the other. But more often he leaves the room entirely and soars above the garden…
As the novel moves to its denouement, it seemed to me that this was a book designed more to shed light on our times than on the past. There are very modern ideas at work here to do with identity and family. Several times in the book, Hynes’s characters use concepts and expressions that are unexpected within the world he has created. Euterpe often discusses the philosophy of the Greeks as she talks with Sparrow about the role of slaves in the Empire, and muses on character and individual motivations within a group such as the wolves.
The climax of the novel comes when Euterpe persuades Sparrow to try and flee the city with her. Sparrow is convinced that her plan is doomed to fail, but chooses to go along with her. Sparrow’s fate hangs in the balance as he and Euterpe navigate their escape.
Sparrow is a tale that illuminates the complexities of human connection and resilience in the face of adversity. Through Sparrow’s observations and experiences, the novel explores themes of identity, family, and survival within a hostile and dangerous environment. Hynes seamlessly weaves modern concepts into the historical backdrop, shedding light on our own times.
James Hynes Sparrow Picador 2023 PB 464pp $34.99
Michael Jongen is a librarian who tweets as @michael_jongen
You can buy Sparrow from Abbey’s at a 10% discount by quoting the promotion code NEWTOWNREVIEW.
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