DOUBLE THE THRILL
Gareth Rubin’s ‘The Turnglass’ is two short novels that can be read back to back to make one complete, utterly satisfactory mystery, writes Sanet Oberholzer
If you’ve not yet experienced the thrill of reading a tête-bêche, consider this your opportunity. The latest book from British journalist and author Gareth Rubin, The Turnglass, has been written in this format. From the French term meaning literally head-to-tail, a tête-bêche is two short novels printed back to back in one book, meant to be read one after the other.
Part of the fun is that you get to choose which side to read first. In the case of The Turnglass, the two options are to start out with the story set further in the past — in 1881 in England — or the one that takes place 58 years later.
In the first part, young doctor Simeon
Lee travels to Turnglass House on the island of Ray, off the Essex coast, to treat a relative who believes he is being poisoned. His theory may well be plausible, but his main suspect, Florence, lives imprisoned in a room made entirely of glass in the house’s library after she was accused of killing her husband in a jealous rage. Her presence proves to rather unsettle Dr Lee, and he soon finds himself solving not only the mystery of his relative’s ill health — but why Florence came to be kept here.
In the second part of the book, Dr Lee has had a son and three grandchildren. Tragically, his middle grandchild was kidnapped when he was very young at a time the family lived in Turnglass House.
His kidnapping was never solved, and the child’s mother committed suicide shortly after.
Fast forward to 1939, Los Angeles. Aspiring actor Ken Kourian befriends Dr Lee’s eldest grandson, Oliver, only to lose him abruptly in an apparent suicide. Ken, however, doesn’t believe Oliver would have taken his own life, and delves into unravelling clues in Oliver’s recently published book — a tête-bêche novel about a young doctor called Simeon Lee.
In uncovering the reason behind Oliver’s troubled state of mind shortly before his death, Ken travels with his sister, Coraline, to see what clues Turnglass House may reveal. If he is to truly understand what has happened to his friend, he must solve the not-quite-open-and-shut cases from the past. But he’ll have to act quickly, lest the menacing character hot on his trail catches up with him.
It took some time to get into the first part of the book, but once the mystery began to unravel, it was an easy read, if somewhat irksome on the account of one or two despicable characters who make the story what it is. The second part started off as more of a slow burn. But after the halfway mark, it became impossible to put down.
Rubin has done a masterful job of crafting two storylines into one complete, utterly satisfactory, overall tale. Laced with intrigue, Rubin’s unlikely protagonists solve mysteries so unusual they’ll stick with you for a while.
My suggestion is to read the book in the same order I did. Having thought of both timelines, doing so gives the biggest thrill when it comes to the shocking revelations Rubin has been clever enough to think of.