The Long Call

Devon has a long history of Christian tradition, dating back to the intermingling of Celtic paganism and Roman Catholicism from the 4th century A.D. onward. After the English Reformation, Devon, like the rest of England, became associated with the Church of England. Puritanical strains of Protestantism and Methodism became widespread throughout the region. Many smaller, Anglican churches cropped up throughout Devon in the 18th and 19th centuries, some of which share practices, structures, and belief systems that are like those of the Barum Brethren in The Long Call.

In interviews, Cleeves has specifically stated that the Barum Brethren are a fictional group, but they are based on a very similar, insular religious group from which one of her close friends was “unfellowshipped,” just as Matthew Venn was “unfellowshipped” from the Barum Brethren. Real religious groups such as the Plymouth Brethren (also called the Assemblies of Brethren) share some of the qualities of the Barum Brethren. The Plymouth Brethren began in Ireland in the 1820s and went on to hold meetings in Devon in the 1830s. Shortly thereafter, the group underwent a schism, resulting in the Exclusive Brethren and the Open Brethren. The Exclusive Brethren, who still practice their faith in Devon today, are a highly conservative religious group. Much like Cleeves’s Barum Brethren, they value their members’ “fellowship,” or commitment, to the Brethren; any member who is excluded from their local chapter is excluded from all chapters of the Church. The Exclusive Brethren, like the Barum Brethren, hold conservative stances on numerous social issues, including evolution, abortion, and gay rights.

The Exclusive Brethren also wield significant control over the social and political lives of their adherents. Historically, the Brethren have banned their members from joining unions and have even removed their school-age members from coursework that teaches about evolution. The extent to which the Brethren’s beliefs dictate the sociopolitical views and actions of their members closely mirrors Cleeves’s depiction of the Barum Brethren. Though most of the Barum Brethren’s sociopolitical views are not explicated in the novel, the impact of their belief system on the broader community is thoroughly described. For example, Matthew must deal with the microaggressions that arise from the insidiously quiet anti-gay sentiment that pervades the attitudes of many characters, on a few occasions, he must cope with Brethren members who reject the validity of his marriage outright. The conservative views of the Brethren permeate this community, leading to much of the sexism and anti-gay bias depicted in the narrative.