A
STEP IN THE DARK
by
JUDITH
LENNOX
THE
BLURB:
Simla,
India, 1914. Married at 18 to the dashing Jack, beautiful Elizabeth
Ravenhart is devastated when their dazzling party of a marriage is
cut tragically short.
Without
a penny to her name, Bess is persuaded by Jack's mother, the
indomitable Cora Ravenhart, to return to England, leaving her infant
son, Frazer, in his grandparents' care until Bess can afford to send
for him, But Cora has no intention of parting with the boy, and
Bess's desperate attempts to track him down come to a shattering
conclusion.
Twenty
years later, a knock on Bess's Edinburgh front door sets in motion a
chain of events that no one, least of all Bess, could have foreseen.
For Frazer has come to claim his family- and his birthright, the
majestic, brooding Ravenhart House. None of their lives will ever be
the same again...
THE
REALITY:
It
was the second time around for me with this book and it was weird- I
woke up one morning and thought about the novel, and how I'd like to
read it again (I tend not to keep all the books I read- if I did I'd
have a veritable library!) Later that day I chanced upon it in a
second hand book shop- coincidence and fate are weird beasts!
I
have read most of Judith Lennox's work, after an ex-boyfriend found a
proof copy of heart-touching Footprints on the Sand in a charity
shop. The Shadow Child and The Dark Eyed Girls also feature up there
with novels of hers that really caught my attention and
enthralled, as did The Heart of the Night. A Step in the Dark tugged
at me for a different reason, and that was mostly due to the
beautifully described locations in Scotland, especially those
involving the enigmatic highlands. I haven't been to Scotland since
I was nine (although a trip to Glasgow and Edinburgh has been
discussed for next year) and I found the intricate references to
tumbling waterfalls, rippling, secluded pools as (spoiler alert!) a
place for murder to take place, wild, overgrown valleys and the way
the days are so short in midwinter really captivating.
As
for the characters, I loved Bess and enjoyed reading about her
developing relationship with Martin, who went on to become (another
spoiler alert!) the love of her life. I enjoyed the way that women's
choices- or rather the lack thereof- at the turn of the Victorian
century were unpicked and put into novel form, and I could also
relate to Bess's personality. She was someone not quite refined
enough for genteel society, yet certainly at home around men;
understanding how their minds worked (possibly not quite enough?
Read it, and you'll see what I mean...) I also could strongly relate
to Naomi, who had a real need for total and all-encompassing love,
and the need to be loved, being a much-wanted daughter who
disappointed her parents (the same happened to me) and Maxwell, with
his need to be independent following a troubled relationship with a
father who could resort to too much violence disguised as
discipline at times. The homosexual inclinations of Frazer (yet
another spoiler alert!) were something that was easy to spot before
it was spelled out to you.
This
was a saga that did draw you in, although I'm glad add-on characters
remained just that (Hugh, Margot, Oliver and Billy moved the story on
but didn't do much for me. I loved the intrigue that kept you
guessing as to what Maxwell and Frazer's fate really was, and who was
involved. I loved the way the important relationships in this novel
were explored in depth, including what I once would have termed “the
psycho-babble” but since studying the human psyche as part of my MA
understand a bit more. But most of all I loved the Scottish scenery/
setting.
I
flattened this tome in 48 hours, so it comes highly recommended on my
part.
