Society, Culture and the Construction of Identity in the English Literary Narrative of the Early Twentieth Century

In this paper we aim to investigate through the lens of ethnography some of the principal thematic strands running through the novel by the English writer R. S. Hichens, The Call of the Blood. It recounts a dramatic story of love and crimes observed through the gaze of a northern European, an Englishman transplanted to Sicily. Tne novel is centred on the story of couple, Hermione Lester and Maurice Delarey, who travel from London to Taormina, Sicily, for their honeymoon. Once there, a series of vicissitudes will cause Hermione to be forced to leave the island to join a dear friend, who is seriously ill in Africa. Alone, Maurice discovers that he has more Sicilian blood in his veins than he himsels knew, despite his English origins. In fact, not only does he learn to love the music, food, landscape and local language, but also one of the key protagonists of the novel, the beautiful Maddalena, the daughter of a fisherman. The story ends in in tragedy when Maddalena's father discovers their passion and kills Maurice.