Anson’s Way, published in 1999, is Gary D. Schmidt’s fourth book, but only his second fiction novel. The Sin Eater was his first.
When the story opens, Anson Staplyton, drummer boy, is aboard ship on his way to Ireland from England where he will take his place as the seventh Staplyton to keep the king’s peace in the Staffordshire Fencibles. He has been waiting all his life to follow in the footsteps of his forefathers and win glory in battle defending the king’s realm.
The role of the Fencibles in Ireland is to keep the peace and root out rebellion against King George II by the Catholic Irish who refuse to renounce their faith or to stop teaching it to their children. Not only is it against the law to practice catholicism, but it is also illegal to teach the children their native language or their country’s history. At clandestine schools called hedge schools, hedge masters teach both the language and history, knowing that if they are caught breaking the king’s laws, punishment will be severe.
Though Anson longs for glory in battle, his first assignments are anything but glorious. First, he witnesses a hedge master receiving thirty lashes, which is considered a lenient sentence compared to the usual punishment for treason, death.
Next, he accompanies a squad of Fencibles to a farm where they are to confiscate a fine horse from the farmer, as it is illegal for the Irish to own a horse of value. The farmer declines to hand over the horse, and the man is killed while resisting.
Anson is injured and Corporal Oakes, a friend, dies of an injury after the farmer’s son retaliates by throwing stones at Oakes and Anson as they ride through the forest. This leads to severe reprisal by the Fencibles, which causes more tension and hate and does nothing to keep the peace.
To complicate matters for Anson, his father is the commander of the Fencibles. Colonel Staplyton must follow orders and do his duty, and expects Anson to do the same.
Anson visits the murdered farmer’s daughter, and she begs Anson not to tell anyone that it was her brother who threw the stone. He tells her, “No man becomes a Fencible to do such things.” She asks, “And when such things are done, what must a Fencible be doing then?” Anson has to work out the answer to that question in his own way.
This story resembles Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy in that we have a boy coming of age who is caught between conflicting loyalties. Should Anson do his duty unquestioningly despite the injustices he witnesses? Is it all justified in the name of the king’s will? How can he obey his father without betraying those, such as the farmer’s son and the hedge master, whom Anson sees are defending their way of life. What can he do to defend the honor of the Fencibles while not participating in injustice?
These are difficult questions for a boy in a time very far removed from today’s world. The conflicts seem to be less immediate than those we see in Schmidt’s later works. There is no middle school drama for Anson. He moves in the world of grown men in the midst of life-or-death events.
Parents will want to know:
The violence in this story is bloody at times, but not explicit. One man has his arm amputated. Anson hears screaming but doesn’t see the procedure. Later we are told that the man died because they never could stop the bleeding. In a fight, “Anson felt his swordpoint go deep into the attacker. . .” His father is shot and Anson sees his father’s mare’s mane “darkly stained with the bright blood of Colonel Staplyton’s left lung.”
Characters frequently say, “By God.” There are multiple instances of characters saying “damnable,” “damn and blast,” and “damn you.” One man refers to a mealy Londontown lord’s fat arse.