The Sound of Coaches by Leon Garfield is set in 18th century England. It begins on a winter’s night with a rickety stage coach containing five passengers. There’s only one woman among them, and she’s holding on to a wooden box which seems likely to cause harm to the other passengers in the event of an accident, which seems a distinct possibility. On reaching The Red Lion safely it becomes obvious that the young woman is about to give birth – which she does – and promptly dies. Her son however survives and the coachman and his wife decide to ‘shoulder’ the baby, they have none of their own.
The baby has to have a name and with the help of the four passengers the name Sam is decided on. Over the years Sam is a bit more than a handful and the coachman is a worried man. With no sign of a father or a wedding ring on Sam’s mother’s finger it’s supposed that Sam’s father was a ne’er do weel and as a gun was one of the few things that the mother had had in her box Chichester the coachman fears that Sam will be the same as his real father.
Things go from bad to worse, although this isn’t a grim read, it’s quite funny in parts and has a satisfying ending.
Leon Garfield was very good at creating what seems like a very authentic 18th century atmosphere.
