Many readers will be familiar with Jeremy Harmer’s publications in the field of English Language Teaching.  He is perhaps best-known for his classic, The Practice of English Teaching.  Some teachers will also be familiar with his graded readers in the Cambridge Readers series: The Double-bass Mystery and Trumpet Voluntary, both with engaging story lines and designed to hook learners on extensive reading.

But the two books reviewed here are in a different league.  They are ‘proper’ novels, in the sense that they are not aimed at, nor tailored to, language learners.  They are for a market of adult readers with a good command of English already.  That does not however automatically disqualify them from use by English language learners – and teachers.  I will explain why in the conclusion. 

The two titles reviewed here are the first two parts of Harmer’s trilogy, The Volcano at San Miguel.  The novels are set in Mexico with the action divided between the big city and the provincial town of San Miguel.  Just outside San Miguel is a volcano – and the town is about to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its last eruption.  The volcano provides a constant, menacing backdrop to all the action.  (Some readers will hear echoes of Malcolm Lowry’s iconic novel, Under the Volcano – also set in Mexico, on the Day of the Dead.)

On another level there is political tension between the corrupt ruling regime and a revolutionary group, the EAS, with a rogue group of thugs run by an autocratic landowner.   And then there are the many narrative threads at the human level, skilfully woven into the fabric of the novels.  These involve the reader in the personal fates and histories of a large cast of characters.

We quickly become immersed in these inter-connected personal story lines.  The characters are vividly-drawn and engage us as we watch them develop as people.  There is Angelita, the beautiful young music student.  The story opens with her lecherous professor, Jacinto, who is also a violinist and conductor, seducing her.  The story takes her into a real loving relationship with the English teacher and writer, Martin.  He is the brother of Vicky, married to the Greek volcanologist, who becomes involved with the EAS…and so on.  And over the course of the novels, Jacinto too is transformed into a more humane and generous person.  We meet the mayor, Silvestre Ocampo, who starts off as a corrupt and weak individual and transforms into a courageous reformer.  These are just some of the memorable characters and plot lines.

The action is fast-moving, with plenty of adult content.  So although there are multiple sub-plots and story-lines, our interest is sustained throughout.  The descriptions of some of the set pieces, such as the concert for the celebrations and the eruption itself are skilfully handled and memorable. And the author’s intimate knowledge of Mexico gives the books an authentic flavour.  So these two novels are calculated to provide immersive reading for adults with an advanced level of English.

As I mentioned at the outset, these books were not written with English language learners in mind.  However, in the reading history of every language learner, there comes a point when they need to transit from works which have been simplified (even to a high level) to ‘real’ authentic material written with no grammatical or lexical constraints.  These two books would offer just the right kind of immersive reading recommended by, among others, Stephen Krashen, when he speaks of ‘compelling’ reading.  It is also true that teachers themselves could profit from wide and ‘promiscuous’ reading of the type Krashen also recommends – as part of their linguistic CPD!  

It is interesting that other major figures on the ELT scene have also engaged in writing ‘real’ novels, including the late-lamented Philip Prowse and his three Hellyer novels: Hellyer’s Trip, Hellyer’s Coup and Hellyer’s Line.  Perhaps there will be more.

I can thoroughly recommend these two novels.  It will be interesting to see how Jeremy Harmer completes the series with the third title in the trilogy: Burning Questions, due out in 2024.  Watch this space!