A STEP IN THE DARK by JUDITH LENNOX

 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.