THE TURNING POINT by JUDITH LENNOX.

THE TURNING POINT

BY JUDITH LENNOX

THE BLURB:-

1952: Ellen Kingsley travels to Gildersleve Hall in Cambridgeshire to work for renowned scientist Marcus Pharoah. But her pride in her new career falters as she finds herself caught up in the rivalries, desires and ambitions of her colleagues. When a tragedy occurs, the course of Ellen's life is changed forever.

In London, Ellen encounters an old friend, India Mayhew. But the events at Gildersleve continue to cast a shadow and India's involvement with Pharoah ignites a trail of destruction. After Ellen falls in love with dashing Scotsman Alec Hunter, both women must confront the revelations and passions of the past before their path to future happiness becomes clear.

THE REALITY:-

I've read most of Judith Lennox's novels and they don't disappoint. Although not my favourite offering of hers, this book certainly wasn't the worst.

What I love about her writing is not just the working of the characters, but the sense of time and place that is offered up through descriptiveness. This is a book that you can really “get into” and imagine being a part of.

I do think that novels can be as good as informative non-fiction for offering insight into something that is totally foreign to the reader- in this case the world of the geeky scientist. It is not a field I know much about, but I finished this novel a little less in the dark. Ditto the remote Scots island family home of the character Alec, and Vermont, where Marcus Pharoah goes to live with India. Both places are beautifully described and you get a real feel for actually being there.

There is a dark and mysterious element that begins at the start of the novel and runs a thread throughout, adding a backbone to a very believable cast.

I love the way human relationships and upsets are so carefully and realistically detailed, including the nasty death that leaves two young children orphaned and the impact it has on them, and one character's mental illness (bipolar disorder, if I am not mistaken) and the effect it has on her husband.  The strange, ghostly goings on in Mrs. Hunter's house, and her obsession with her dead husband really kept me reading well past my bedtime!

1950s London came alive for me, from struggles with employment, glamour, living conditions and organised crime. Make time to read this or, if it doesn't appeal, give another Judith Lennox novel a go!