Is being the bearer of a famous surname a blessing or a curse? The writer Charlotte Philby has done well by it, possibly because she has confronted the legacy of her famous relative head on. Emma Darwin’s is a different case, and she has already written two much acclaimed novels, The Mathematics of Love and A Secret Alchemy. It is only in her third book, This is not a Book about Charles Darwin, that she directly channelled direct references to her famous ancestor. Her new book is an intriguing examination of the political rebellion of the summer of 1566 and protagonists whose lives are changed by events. With this novel, Emma Darwin proves conclusively that she is a rich chronicler of the human condition – as well as its adroit characterisation, the novel is something of a dissertation on the nature of art – in terms of both its ameliorative and destructive characteristics.
The Bruegel Boy by Emma Darwin is published by Holland House
