HISTORICAL
CORPUS by Rory Clements (Zaffre £12.99)
IT’s 1936: The Nazis occupy the Rhineland, stalin’s Great Terror is under way, spain is divided by civil war and, besotted by Mrs simpson, edward vIII threatens to abdicate.
The historical backdrop to Rory Clements’ Corpus is dramatic and, in many respects, has an impact on Great Britain — but does it have any bearing on the young woman found dead with a silver syringe beside her, or on the brutal murder of an elderly couple?
an expert on elizabeth I’s spymaster, Walsingham, and well-acquainted with undercover activity, Professor Thomas Wilde is persuaded that it does. Rory Clements’ John shakespeare novels have been bestsellers and this is the first in a series which, on this showing, will prove as pacy and assured.
Well-crafted, it has all the pleasures of an intriguing lead character, intricate plot and fascinating historical context.
THE LAST DEBUTANTE by Lesley Lokko (Orion £20)
ThIRTeeN-yeaR-OLd Kit is eavesdropping on the adults at Chalfont hall, where her beautiful older sister, Lily, is being groomed for marriage to a rich German who will restore the family’s fortunes.
however, the Chalfonts have not reckoned on a war. Lily disappears into the Third Reich with her husband and, after Kit’s disastrous visit to try to woo her home, loses contact. Kit is left to grow up in Blitzed Britain and her bewildered parents are forced to contemplate the law of unintended consequences, especially since Kit’s career and love affairs are far from conventional and change the course of her life.
Lesley Lokko’s characterisation is subtle and Kit proves to be an interesting woman; her lovers are boldly conceived and her uppercrust parents are far from caricatures.
What detracts from the novel is a choppy structure and some of the historical detail — for example, Kit’s involvement with the sOe — which is unconvincing.
THE VANISHING by Sophia Tobin (Simon & Schuster £12.99)
esCaPING a difficult situation in London, annaleigh accepts a post as housekeeper at an isolated house on the yorkshire moors, only to find she has leapt from a frying pan into the fire.
The house is dirty and neglected, the behaviour of her employers, Marcus Twentyman and his sister, hester, is troubling, and she is convinced that the house harbours some horrible secrets.
a girl of some spirit, she is resolved to forget her own unhappiness and sets about restoring order until she can no longer pretend Marcus’s attentions are benign.
dramatising the classic predicament of an ingenue confronting the realities of the early 1800s, The vanishing relies on its plot, rather than on its characterisation. depending on your taste, you might need to take the gothic set-up, heavily spiked with debauchery and addictions, with a pinch of salt.
Nevertheless, it has atmosphere aplenty and some real surprises.