Death Comes to Pemberley – PD James

Yes it’s that Pemberley, country seat of Darcy and his wife Elizabeth (nee Bennet) of Pride and Prejudice fame. The couple are well settled and have a couple of children by now, but their idyllic existence is about to be intruded upon.

A violent death occurs in the grounds; and Darcy’s old enemy, and now his shamed and shunned brother-in-law, Wickham is involved. This creates conflicted emotions with personal antipathy struggling against family honour.

This gives a lot of scope for Darcy to stiffen his upper lip, for the family servants to display commendable loyalty, and for Elizabeth to simper about from good sister to bad sister via sweet sister-in-law, while ensuring the house is kept up to scratch.

The crime investigation is minimal, no Adam Dalgleish here, instead a Justice of the Peace and Coroner just ask a few questions and assume that those interrogated are either telling the truth or are lying for good honourable reasons, and so should not be pressed further.

A trial takes place, enlivened by a late revelation, and eventually the whole truth comes out as those in the know don’t so much spill the beans as spoon them out carefully, strictly on a need to know basis.

It is an interesting curiosity of a read; those more familiar with Pride and Prejudice may get more out of it than a one-time reader like me. PD James clearly enjoyed attempting to write in the style of Jane Austen, and I for one do not begrudge her this indulgence.

Gone With The Wind (volume 1) by Margaret Mitchell

The journey

Part of the America 1850 reading journey

How it got on the shelf

It’s a bit of a mystery as no one in the house will own up to buying it, but it has been there a while, intimidating in its bulk and close knit print in this 1996 (60^th anniversary) paperback edition. It probably arrived as a second hand, but clearly unread, makeweight in a buy three for a pound offer; picked up due to its inclusion in both the BBC Big Read best 100 novels of all time and the Channel 4 books of the century list.

The Review

This thousand page blockbuster is helpfully split into two volumes, which will allow a two part review. There may be some spoilers below but the main story will be familiar from the film and, of course, history.

Volume 1 is very much the story of southern belle Scarlett O’Hara, eldest of four daughters of Gerald and Ellen. He of rough and ready Irish extraction, she with French ancestry, which gives Scarlett unrivalled beauty dangerously mixed with a belief that life is for living and convention is for others. Life on the Tara plantation suits her down to the ground as she keeps all the young beaux dancing to her tune, although the only one she really wants (Ashley Wilkes) is proving resistant to her charms.

The war with the North is coming, but the South’s preparation more resembles that for just another, if rather large, summer ball – what colour uniform should the Georgia cavalry wear, and should they let the ‘poor whites’ join, even if their horses are a bit of a disgrace? Indeed much of part 1 could be mistaken for a haberdasher’s manual as organdie, muslin, lace, silk and taffeta combine to great effect (in the ladies’ dresses rather than the gentlemen’s uniforms).

The coming war produces a scramble for husbands and, despite a desperate last ditch attempt by Scarlett (witnessed by the dashing, if socially unacceptable, Rhett Butler), Ashley opts for another. Scarlett settles on the rebound for an unlikely alternative but her marriage proves short-lived though productive, leaving her a widow and single parent at just 17 years old.

In part 2 Scarlett, restless at Tara, takes up an offer to move to the bustling town of Atlanta, moving in with Ashley’s wife, Melly and her aunt. As the war cranks up and the Yankee blockade begins to bite Scarlett is distressed at the consequent shortage of new dresses and hats with even ribbons hard to come by. Not to worry, for Rhett Butler, now  a ‘blockade runner’ is able to keep her well supplied, tempting her out of her widow’s weeds and wheedling his way into the ladies’ society.

By part 3 the war dominates as the confederate army struggles and is driven back towards Atlanta. Reality finally hits Scarlett as she is pressed into helping at the hospital and keeping the home going with Aunt Pittypat, as useful as her name suggests, the increasingly pregnant Melly, and of course the last remnants of their loyal  ‘blacks’ . These latter are treated throughout a bit like favoured household animals for whom affection is held but who need to be scolded and occasionally beaten for their own good.

When the unthinkable happens and Atlanta falls Scarlett needs all her innate Irish practicality, independent nature and sheer cussedness to get her though some tough situations (with a little help from Rhett before he, better late than never, heads off in support of the now lost cause). Scarlett heads back to Tara with her motley crew, not knowing whether it will still be standing, whether her family will still be there or how they will survive. Her transformation is illustrated through her reckless exposure to the elements and the ever present danger of freckles, and the selfless destruction of her petticoat to provide a halter for a stray cow encountered on the journey. More dramatic trials await her at Tara.

By the end of volume 1 the war has been lost and along with it the comfortable plantation life, the cotton crops and worst of all the youth of the South; will Ashley and Rhett be numbered among them?

The Cat’s Table – Michael Ondaatje

On the ocean going liner Oronsay, the Cat’s Table represents the opposite end of the social scale to that of the Captain and his dinner guests; and this is where 11 year old Michael takes his meals during his three week voyage from Ceylon to London, where he will be reunited with his mother.

His fellow diners, as well as some interesting adults, include two boys of his own age with whom he soon forms a companionship based on a shared appetite for adventure and mischief; which without any meaningful adult supervision (it is the 1950s) they are able to indulge to the full.

The story is related by the adult Michael looking back with a mixture of nostalgia and hindsight, and as the book (and the voyage) progresses the lives of the adults on board take on more significance than the boys’ pranks. The fellow cat’s table diners, crew members and others on board form an eccentric bunch, with rich seams of adult experience for the boys to mine.  

As the book delves into their lives, and into more recent events in Michael’s life, its pace drops to a meandering reflective stage almost mirroring some sort of mid-voyage doldrums.

Just as the reader begins to accept that the book is no more than an enjoyable series of episodes and character sketches, the pace picks up again with moments of tension and glimpses of potential resolution that last to landfall in the Thames.

The sense of time and place and the unfolding of chance encounters carry the narrative along effortlessly, even though little happens most of the time. But how little is needed to disproportionately affect us at an impressionable age?

As Ondaatje says “it would always be strangers like them at the various Cat’s Tables of my life who would alter me”.

The Evil Genius – Wilkie Collins

The title seems at first a bit of a misnomer. There is no wicked mastermind at work here, all the damage is caused by unwise love and misguided good intentions. This does not diminish the melodrama that is Wilkie Collins’ familiar house style; but it places the reader in unfamiliar territory without clear villains to hiss and heroes to cheer.

Instead we have a (so far) upright husband, the good wife and their precious child; then the young, vulnerable but pretty governess arrives (not the wisest appointment as pointed out by the opinionated mother-in-law). Things happen, as things will, and suppressed desires emerge and moral dilemmas multiply with the involvement of the brother, the lawyer and the philanthropic but mysterious ex-sea captain.

It is an intellectual challenge to keep track of who knows what about whom as paths criss-cross with folk popping in and out of doorways in the various locations – Scottish estate, seaside guest house, London hotel – missing each other narrowly to keep the tension high.

The challenge emotionally is with whom to sympathise, as the balance of blame shifts about with the vagaries of human behaviour, all too often at the bidding of their ‘bad angel’ – presumably the evil genius of the title.

So although lacking the high criminal drama of ‘The Moonstone’ and ‘The Woman in White’, this still draws the reader into a gripping story of uncertain outcome.

The Blackhouse – Peter May

DI Fin Macleod returns to work in the Edinburgh Police following a personal tragedy only to be despatched to the Isle of Lewis to assist in enquiries into a gruesome murder. Not only does the crime resemble an unsolved case he investigated recently, but he was born and bred on the Isle, so he knows the turf and can speak the Gaelic.

However it has been 18 years since he quit the island and though many of his generation remain they have changed as well as him. As Fin unpicks the crime’s motives and opportunities, some threads lead back to the time of his youth, causing him to recall and relate the events of his formative years.

The contemporary murder investigation combines satisfyingly with the coming of age tales through well-crafted linkages. The Isle of Lewis is lovingly described, with the wide open landscapes and huge horizons contrasting with the claustrophobic nature of island society, where secrets are held close, strangers are mistrusted and returning exiles resented.

Added into this is the strange (and apparently authentic) custom of an annual expedition by a select group of men to cull or ‘harvest’ two thousand young gannets needed to prepare the local dietary delicacy of ‘guga’. Fin’s one and only involvement ended in tragedy, and this year’s trip, almost due, may have a bearing on the case.

The various ingredients provide a heady mix of topography, mystery, nostalgia, loss and redemption. It is well written and richly layered with an exciting climax and resolution uncertain until the very end.

As the first part of a trilogy it will be hard to follow, but harder to resist.

Ladies and Gentlemen by Adam Ross

Read as part R of the “Along the Library Shelf” reading journey

Chosen because

My eye was drawn by the unusual cover showing a hotel door handle, complete with hanger displaying the book title rather than Do Not Disturb. A peek inside revealed a collection of short stories (not previously featured in the journey) and the opening pages of the first one soon hooked me in.

The Review

The seven stories, ranging from 14 to 60 pages, show slices of contemporary middle income life in the USA.

In ‘Futures’ a job interview has an unexpected outcome. In ‘The Rest of It’ and ‘When in Rome’ professional men move out of their comfort zone into murkier depths of society. The prospect of an extra-marital adventure arises in ’Ladies and Gentlemen’, as in ‘Middleman’ does the chance for an adolescent to finally connect with an out-of-his-league dream-girl. ‘In the Basement’ questions whether beauty is only skin deep and ‘The Suicide Room’ draws some college kids into dangerous territory.

These well-varied story situations are used mainly to provide a stage to examine a range of personal relationships and interaction; as such not all have a neat resolution, indeed some are left deliberately, and not inappropriately, ambiguous.

The prose is sharp and the dialogue particularly authentic, which makes for a satisfying read in bite size, meaty chunks.

Read another?

It would be interesting to see his style and characterisation operating in a full length novel, so I will look out for ‘Mr Peanut’.

Ten Top Sports Books

The sport reading journey has been going unofficially for some years and these are the best of the back list. Presented in chronological order of reading.

Fever Pitch – Nick Hornby

An account of growing up as an Arsenal fan in the 1970s and 80s. Perceptive, funny and bitter sweet with coming of age episodes recalled through inevitable links to his obsessive (at this time) support of his favourite club.

French Revolutions – Tim Moore

One bike enthusiast’s hilarious account of his attempt to ride the Tour de France course.

3 Nights in August – Buzz Bissenger

This uses the St Louis Cardinals v Chicago Cubs three game series in August 2003 as a backdrop to delve into major league baseball. The back stories of the players and staff alternate with the tension, tactics and action on the field.

Moneyball – Michael Lewis

The account of Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane’s iconoclastic attempt to apply statistical analysis, more at home in business and finance, to bring success to a major league baseball franchise; buying players undervalued by traditional ‘experts’, proving their worth, and selling them on at a profit.

The Damned Utd – David Peace

Told as if by Brian Clough, expletives not deleted, this gives an explosive account of his 44 days in charge of Leeds United in the autumn of 1974. Alongside we have his reflection on his career up to then, particularly his success at Derby County and his fruitful if fraught partnership with assistant Peter Taylor.

Friday Night Lights – HG (Buzz) Bissenger

In 1988 the author spent a year immersed in the Texas town of Odessa following the fortunes of the high school (American) football team, Permian Panthers. He discovers a passion for the game that both exacerbates and transcends differences in race and class, and puts tremendous pressures on the young men who carry the hopes of the town as well as their own college sporting ambitions.

All Played Out – Pete Davies

An extraordinary account of the 1990 ‘Italia’ world cup finals. Having blagged press accreditation and associated access, the author gives a fan’s insight to the competition and the England set up under the now legendary manager Bobby Robson.

The Bodyline Controversy – Laurence de Quesne

An in-depth exposition of the preliminaries, the events and the echoing repercussions of the notorious 1932-33 Ashes test series in Australia when England came with a new tactic to subdue the previously irrepressible batting of Don Bradman. With a 50 year perspective and a scholarly approach, this is an authoritative account covering the personalities, the politics and the sport with an even handed detachment.

A Very British Coop – Mark Collings

An outsider’s look from the inside at the arcane world of pigeon racing, from the back streets of Oldham to the glamour of South Africa’s Sun City. Strangely fascinating mix of working class culture, obsessive behaviour and the lure of high stakes.

The Blind Side – Michael Lewis

An examination of the system of discovering, developing and grooming talented high school athletes to become NFL superstars. Written around the story of Michael Oher, a black kid with no home to speak of but with an abundance of physical attributes and natural ability. He is spotted and taken in by a rich white family to enable him to join their local high school team and progress through college to the NFL. Inspiring or disturbing by turns, but always fascinating.