As a murder mystery, this is an odd
one. While there is a murder to be solved, and the themes of the
novel add to our understanding of the case, this is really more of a
period drama with added murder-mystery.
A body is found shackled to a dingy on
the Thames, a man dressed in a woman's gown and strewn with flowers
in the style of Ophelia. Superintendent Thomas Pitt tries to discover the
dead man's identity, and finds himself thrust into the theatrical world of
actors and photographers.
What feels like the main focus of the
novel, however, is the marital relationships of three couples: first,
Pitt and his wife Charlotte, currently on holiday in Paris, who
he misses greatly and thinks of with tenderness. Charlotte's
mother, Caroline, who remarried after the death of her first husband to
an actor 17 years her junior, feels insecure about the age
difference and worries she may be too old-fashioned for him. Her
widowed mother-in-law, Mariah Ellison, who is staying with them, is
still haunted by memories of her abusive husband.
The lives of these three very different
couples, linked into one extended family, intertwine and affect each
other in subtle and moving ways. There is a lot of consideration
given to concealment and censorship, both with regards to artistic
creation and to personal relationships.
It really is the social dramas within
this novel that stayed with me, rather than the murder, which is
thrust onto the sidelines a bit. I feel as though the blurb would be
better off mentioning this rather than presenting it as a traditional
detective novel, but all the same I enjoyed it – it gives a very
compassionate view of the challenges of living honestly in a society
bound by strict social convention.
Next up: Bitterblue
by Kristin Cashore
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