The Story of Lucy Gault ~ William Trevor

Set in Ireland, opening in 1921 during the Irish War of Independence, Captain Gault finds himself the target of arsonists who aim to set fire to the homes of protestant land owners. Trying to protect the house Gault lets off a gunshot which accidentally wounds one of the arsonists in the shoulder, a troubled boy known to Captain Gault.  Filled with remorse Gault visit’s the young man and his parents and offers them money.  It is incredible that he feels that he is the one who is in the wrong, but that is his perception.  The money is refused, and in fear of repercussions for his actions he decides to move his family (wife and daughter) to the safety of England.

The Captain’s daughter Lucy is distraught at the thought of leaving her beloved ‘Lahardane’, but she is only eight years old and doesn’t understand the trouble surrounding them.  No matter what she says, she cannot change her parent’s mind, so there is only one thing for it – she runs away. Lucy believes that once her parents find her they will understand just how much she doesn’t want to go and they will change their minds, however, Lucy injures herself and never makes her intended destination.  A search is made for Lucy once it is realised that she cannot be found in her usual haunts and, when clothing is found on the beach, it is supposed that she has gone for a swim and drowned.  Travel plans are delayed in the hope of finding a body, but eventually the grieving Captain and his wife leave, not for England as now that is not far away enough but for Europe with no forwarding address.

Henry and Bridget are two servants left to maintain the herd of cows and the grounds, and shortly after the Gault’s departure Henry finds a bundle of clothing – and within it a starving child close to death.  His life and that of his wife’s will change forever.

With no forwarding address the Captain cannot be contacted and although various relatives are tracked down, the fact that Lucy has been found goes no further than these relatives for various reasons.  

As Lucy grows up, her vigil for her parents remains unwavering.  She is convinced that they will eventually return, but as the months turn into years this vigil will have an unalterable impact on her life and happiness. 

I absolutely loved this, it is incredibly sad, but it is so beautifully written that you hardly notice how tragic it really is.  

Maxine

Musings on my Recent Book Choices

I was thinking today about how various books have become interrelated in my reading choices.  

A couple of years ago I was reading Maugham’s Of Human Bondage and by chance picked up another book where one of the characters was also reading Of Human Bondage (Dr Blood Money by Phillip K. Dick) and as he was actually reading out passages as part of his characterisation (being on radio in outer-space) I had to be careful of any plot spoilers!

Lately though it’s been Homer’s The Odyssey and James Joyce’s Ulysses that seem to have featured in my reading.  Many of the books I’ve read in the past few months have made reference to The Odyssey (such as The Untouchable by John Banville) and one of my latest reads Elizabeth Costello by J M Coetzee is referenced back to Ulysses with the title character having re-written Ulysses, from the perspective of Molly Bloom, with a book called The House on Eccles Street.  The constant reference to The House on Eccles Street had me intrigued so I thought I would check out Ulysses, and when I read that it was loosely based on The Odyssey my next reading schedule was set.  

The Odyssey didn’t give me the same challenge as my copy of Chapman’s translation of The Illiad did, but I can see how it would have entranced youngsters for many years.  It is more accessible and more of an adventure story.  However, it was important for me to read it if I wanted to understand the structure of Ulysses and I do like to do things right!

I started Ulysses as an audio book, but I soon realised that I wasn’t ‘taking in’ the stream of consciousness passages whilst listening to it in the car (driving being my main focus).  I bought the book instead and looked up Shmoop on-line who have a study guide for it and started again.  I love the myriad of thoughts that go through a character’s mind in just one passage alone and it has made me notice my own thought processes and how they jump around and cut off in the same manner. (Thought is the thought of thought). I can quite identify with Stephen Dedalus, though my thoughts aren’t quite as high ranging as his!

As it happened, around the same time, I started a new audio book in the car (Umbrella by Will Self) and I couldn’t believe it when the opening quotation was announced …….

“A brother is as easily forgotten as an Umbrella.” James Joyce

…… and the opening passage began with Zachary Busner, the main character, singing “I’m an ape man, I’m an ape-ape man” rather gleefully indicating that the narrative style is copying that of James Joyce’s, and boy did I enjoy it, it was so cleverly written.  The start of a sentence could be in one time frame with one character and by the end of the sentence you are in another time frame with a different character.  Quite often I didn’t even notice the shifts, and rather than being annoyed I enjoyed the challenge of going back and finding where it happened, thinking ‘you crafty bugger’.  I don’t think I would have enjoyed it half as much if I wasn’t doing Ulysses and was already ‘in the zone’ for that style of writing.

I’ll be with Ulysses for a while as I intend to take my time with it because it has had such a huge influence on literature and once I have read it I shall so enjoy those literary references that I could not have appreciated if I hadn’t done so.

Maxine

A Dark Adapted Eye ~ Barbara Vine

This month’s Caffeine and Chapters Book Club read is an Edgar Award Winning Novel.  Having never read any books from the list of winners I realised this was a genre I probably hadn’t tapped into.  I liked the sound of this title over all the others on the list and so I downloaded it as an audio book.

I didn’t realise that Barbara Vine was the nom de plume of Ruth Rendell’s.  I had recently read The Killing Doll by Rendell and thoroughly enjoyed her characterisations and the dark nature of the novel, so once I realised who had written this book I was quietly pleased about my choice.

What a great story it is.  It is the tale of a family with dark secrets and the secrets are slowly unraveled by Faith, the niece of the main character Vera, after she is approached by a true crime writer who wants to write about Vera’s life.  The title of the novel relates to the opening of Faith’s eyes to events in her family and seeing them with an adult’s new perspective.

The novel opens with Vera’s execution and Faith mentions just about all the main characters without us knowing who they are and how they will relate to the story.  As the novel progresses some of these characters and their relationships are a revelation.

In short Faith’s father has two sisters – Vera and Eden.  He places these two women on a pedestal as paragon’s of virtue and Faith finds it very hard to live up to their standards only to find that they were not very virtuous at all as she pieces together their past.  Vera is much older than Eden and pushes her son away in favour of raising Eden when their parents die.  Faith often stays with them on holidays only to find them whispering and keeping secrets and making her feel very uncomfortable a lot of the time.  Vera’s son is very scornful and cruel to her but Eden appears to counter his presence with beauty and a strong love for her sister Vera.

Things take a turn when Faith’s family are told that Vera is expecting.  She is a much older lady and with her husband away (this is set during the 2nd World War) they can do the math.  They don’t receive much communication whilst she is pregnant but are relieved when they are told eventually by Eden that she has delivered a healthy baby boy – Jamie.

Vera is completely devoted to Jamie, but when she falls very ill she is devastated by the fact that Eden has taken him to live with her and her new very wealthy husband.  Eden has been trying for a child of her own, but a miscarriage and subsequent problems mean that she can no longer have a baby.  What ensues is a very bitter custody battle to try and bring Jamie back home to Vera, which culminates in murder and Vera’s execution.

What I loved about this novel were the insights by Faith describing the time she spent with the two women.  What seems innocuous at first becomes darker when viewed in light of the later events.  The characterisations are absolutely brilliant and their history quite complex.  What we have here is a mystery story, but we are still left with a mystery at the end of it – well two actually.  Who was Jamie’s father and who is actually Jamie’s mother?

This is a fantastic read and Barbara Vine/Ruth Rendell will be on my reading list for the rest of this year.  With Rendell’s passing a few days ago I can see there are a lot of novels I need to catch up on.

Maxine

Strangers on a Train ~ Patricia Highsmith

Architect Guy Haines has the ability to achieve anything he wants in life – a successful career, a fantastic home, and a beautiful new wife……. but all this changes on the day he catches a train to Metcalf to talk to his estranged wife about a divorce.

On the train Haines is subjected to a very uncomfortable conversation with the wealthy but bored Charles Bruno, though when Haines reaches his destination he has pretty much dismissed Bruno as a harmless crackpot.  But Bruno sees this fortuitous meeting as the start of a very beautiful friendship ~ one that will come at great cost.

Bruno believes that he has the idea for a perfect crime, one that attaches no motive to the perpetrators, and which will secure each of their futures.  But Bruno’s careful planning doesn’t account for Haines having a conscience and the fact that there will be others who are determined to get to the truth.

Highsmith had me on tender hooks throughout this novel.  Her characterisations were excellent, I detested the smarmy alcoholic Charles Bruno and felt all of the emotions attributed to Haines.  The nightmare world that she portrays is unshakeable as is the persistent Bruno.  Living out his fantasies Bruno drags Guy, a once honest man, down into hell without the strength of character to make it back in one piece.

I did this one as a ‘buddy read’ with a couple of readers who I have connected with on Twitter.  All three of us felt the high anxiety of the storyline, and once we had finished we agreed that we needed something calming to read afterwards!

Hitchcock made a movie by the same name, but he detracted from the novel considerably and it is extremely dated by today’s standards.

Maxine

A Dark Love Letter to Iceland

Hannah Kent intended her debut novel to be ‘a dark love letter to Iceland’ and I think she has succeeded.  I certainly feel a desire to visit this country with the beautiful place names and unforgiving landscapes after reading Burial Rites.

This is the story of Agnes Magnusdottir the last person to be executed in Iceland back in the 19th Century.  It is a story of abandonment, poverty, lust and murder.  The narrative has been based on extensive research by Hannah Kent and whilst there may be some invention/speculation as to Agnes Magnusdottir’s true personality, and her relationship with the compelling Natan Ketilsson, the story on the whole has been based on historical fact. 

There are several narrative voices which makes the story quite interesting.  I don’t always like this device but in this instance it works.  The story opens with Agnes in a very deprived state after her arrest and trial.  She is relocated to her home valley and housed with an unwilling farming family for the duration of the period leading up to her execution.  The family initially abhor this filthy criminal that has been brought to their croft, but as Agnes’s dignity begins to return they find themselves drawn to her and her impoverished history as she relates her story to a young priest who visits regularly to prepare Agnes for what is to come.  

I liked how Kent opened each chapter with an historical document relating to the case.  Ie how the axe was to be made, how much it was to cost, who they chose as executioner and why, and the specific preparations for the day of the execution.

This is not a happy story, but it is beautifully written.  I did it as a Bolinda audio book and the narrator was excellent.  Those Icelandic names just rolled off her tongue and I found myself repeating them because they are so gorgeous to pronounce.

After I read the book I went on the internet to find out more about Agnes Magnusdottir and whilst I mainly just found articles on Hannah Kent I did stumble across this blog post which I found interesting:

http://icelandica.net/tag/agnes-magnusdottir/

Maxine