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Peter Hobbs. The Short Day Dying. London: Faber & Faber, 2005

Hobbs writing immerses the reader in the world of an eighteenth century preacher in rural Cornwall. The preacher is an earnest young man aged 27 and the novel is a study of his thoughts and preoccupations about death, faith, religious doubt, and freedom. Working six days a week in a forge, as apprentice to a smith, he spends the Sabbath day walking many miles over the country to preach, often without food, and frequently to find a sparse congregation.

He develops a fascination for a blind girl, Harriet, whose own faith in God is absolute, and his visits to her are mannah to his soul. Hobbs beautifully captures the young preacher’s urgent desire to deliver his message, to show the rural folk that God is there for them, as their redeemer and provider, yet the evidence around him is of poverty and want, and he despairs that people seem to have turned away from God and become too concerned with material needs and desires.

What is most striking is the sense of grief and loneliness, and the piteous lack of comfort in his life. He is literally cold and hungry for much of the time but dwells little on this; his reluctant flock and his own heart-searching concern him more deeply. He misses home, his family, the familiar landscape, and his friend James. Occasional visits are touchingly precious. During a particular crisis in his faith he feels that ‘doubt and disbelief have visited me like a shuddering gale brought from far out to sea and I have been caught in open ground with no shelter to come into.’ The language is heart-rendingly simple and moving, and written with a deep sensitivity that is at times searingly painful, at the same time impressing the reader with its honesty and dignity. I am all heartfelt admiration for the preacher and for the author.
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