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The Curse of Aphis Minimus Find!
Lively, witty and packed with highly relevant topical comment, despite being written 60 years ago, the novel Not on our Stars by Edward Hyams is a compelling read.
The book tells the story of a young scientist, Edgar Appleton, who has recently moved to a fruit farm in Kent where he is carrying out research into disease in plants. This research is starting to have disastrous effects when a government official, interested in bacterial warfare, offers Appleton security to continue his research, but this raises important issues over moral responsibility .....
Appleton's neighbours, Miriam and Silas Cage, trying to establish a fulfilling self-sufficient way of life in the country, realize the full horror of what is happening, and they are forced to take desperate action .....
The book reflects the widely diverse interests of its author, Edward Hyams, from ecology and horticulture to politics and social reform.
Edward Hyams was born in 1910 in Stamford Hill, London, but completed his formal education in Switzerland, where he acquired a passionate interest in the French language and culture. After graduating from Lausanne University, he had a number of jobs, mostly in the newspaper industry, and then, during the 2nd World War, served in the RAF, the Royal Navy and the RNVR. After being demobilized in 1947, he and his wife decided to settle in the countryside, and they bought a derelict cottage with three acres of land on the outskirts of the village of Molash in Kent. There they grew fruit and vegetables and also planted a small vineyard. Drawing on his horticultural knowledge and experience, Hyams became gardening correspondent for The Spectator and Illustrated London News, and he also started writing novels.
Experimenting with gowing grapes and producing wine developed into a consuming passion, and, in 1949, Hyams was commissioned to write a book, The Grape Vine in England, which was received with much public interest. (This work helped to spark a revival of viticulture in Kent, where the Domesday records show there had been 3 vineyards back in the 11th century. Today in Kent there are over 40 vineyards, and 2009 is proving to be a bumper year.)
Hyams became a prolific writer, writing books and articles on topics ranging from horticulture and gardening history to political terrorism, as well as novels, poems and translations. At the time of his death, in 1975, he had written, translated or edited over 120 books!
It is too late to include Edward Hyams in our list of favourite 'forgotten' local writers, but if we make a revised list, he certainly gets my vote.
A number of his non-fiction books are still readily available through our library service. His fiction is not so easy to track down, but the copy of Not on our Stars which I read is in the collection at the Centre for Kentish Studies in Maidstone.
The Molash community website has some useful biographical detais on Edward Hyams at:
http://www.molash.com/archive/hyams.htm
16 October 2009 from Julia
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"It is too late to include Edward Hyams in our list of favourite 'forgotten' local writers, but if we make a revised list, he certainly gets my vote."
Hi Julia,
I think you make a compelling case with this review of "Not in our Stars."
To my mind, Hyams is exactly the kind of figure we have been looking for: His experience of life in Kent was an important influence on his writing, including his fiction. Although neglected, his novels have contemporary resonance as well as historical interest.
I have found an online version of the American edition of his satirical novel "Sylvester" [retitled "998"]
http://www.archive.org/details/998anovel009328mbp
Sylvester, the main character of this novel recalls "…a brief interlude of serious poverty in his family when, for a year… they had gone to stay with and work for his father's brother, who had a small farm in east Kent. Sylvester remembered the evenings, the open doors of squat, tarred huts in which the fruit pickers lived, the voices calling each other plaintively across the twilit orchards which still seemed to hum and resonate faintly with the sounds of the day's work…"
There are several people interested in Hyams from various angles. Anyone interested in helping revive this neglected figure please get in touch.
I can just say such a relief to find somebody who actually knows what theyre referring to on the internet. You definitely understand how to bring an issue to light making it important. More and more people have to read this and appreciate this side of the story. I cant believe youre not widely used since you definitely possess the gift.
After I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new testamonials are added- checkbox and today whenever a comment is added I buy four emails with the same comment. Will there be any method for you to remove me from that service? Thanks!