A review from pre-blog days - Footsteps - Katharine McMahon

I'm sharing a book review I wrote before I started my book blog and which originally appeared elsewhere. My 'before the blog' review posts are inspired by Karen at My Reading Corner and Janet at fromfirstpagetolast.

(originally read and reviewed in 2009, I was given my copy of this novel by a colleague)

Synopsis

The women in Helena Mayrick's family have always led secretive and tragic lives, and when Helena's comfortable marriage is devastated by her husband's violent death, it seems that she, too, is locked into the cycle.

Helena is invited to research a book on her grandfather, H. Donaldson, the celebrated Edwardian photographer. At first she is reluctant to immerse herself in family history, particularly as Donaldson's relationship with her grandmother, Ruth, is shrouded in mystery and turmoil.

But gradually, as the story of enigmatic Ruth and the elusive, passionate Donaldson unfolds, Helena finds that the past, like the present, was shaped by cruel dilemmas and the demands of love...

~~~~~

I was given this novel by a colleague as a recommendation, and I'm so glad I was! It is the most enchanting, beautiful novel I've read for awhile. Wonderfully written, it tells the story of Helena Mayrick close to the present day, trying to overcome tragedy and embarking reluctantly at first on writing a book about her relation Donaldson, who was a famous photographer, and of her Grandmother Ruth Styles in the early part of the twentieth century, with a chapter alternately set in the present and then the past throughout the book.

Ruth Styles is the lynchpin to the whole novel and the most intriguing and devastating character, to whom all else somehow relates. She grows up by the sea in Suffolk, in a small village, and it is this place which shapes much of the lives of those involved. Young Ruth is intelligent, bright, and sparky, and has a profound and lasting effect on many around her, most noteably on Donaldson, the photographer who comes to Westwich and so begins his lifelong fascination with Ruth. As a reader, I was intensely curious and compelled to read on and find out what would happen to her, and so much does!

There is a marvelous sense of place within the novel, and it is clear the bearing the proximity of the sea has on several of the characters. The book is about the repercussions of the past; about love, forbidden love, lost love, unfulfilled love; it is about the draw of a particular landscape and how it can free or restrict a person, and it is about choices and fulfillment of potential, especially for women, which is a key theme of this author. Highly recommended.

The Woman in the Picture - Katharine McMahon

Set in London in 1926, this novel features Evelyn Gifford, who we first met in an earlier novel by Katharine McMahon, The Crimson Rooms. Now one of the first female qualified solicitors, Evelyn’s brother was killed in WWI and she is living with her young nephew and his mother Meredith. Two cases dominate the storyline; one regarding disputed paternity and another regarding union strikes. In her personal life, too, Evelyn faces challenges, decisions and conflicts, with the chance of happiness with a man who admires and loves her, and yet the lure of a past lover returned.

The Woman in the Picture is another beautifully written historical novel by Katharine McMahon, with super characterisation; it’s wonderful to revisit Evelyn and discover her current endeavours – though this novel can certainly be read without having read The Crimson Rooms. The narrative offers a compelling portrait of a time when a female lawyer was unusual and the preconceptions and judgements Evelyn therefore faces from others in the profession and from the general population.

The story moves along at a good pace, both the legal matters and the romantic aspects are intriguing and held my interest. The author has a skillful and elegant way with language and incorporates convincing authentic period detail. I think anyone who enjoys well-written historical fiction with an engaging, intelligent plot and an element of romance, and in particular if you like to read about a strong, independent female central character, will find a lot to love in this novel.

Reviewed for We Love This Book

Published by Weidenfeld & Nicholson

My review of Season of Light by Katharine McMahon

Season of Light - Katharine McMahon

Thomasina 'Asa' Ardleigh is the spirited, abolitionist heroine of this wonderful historical novel. It is 1788 and Asa is in Paris with her newly married sister Philippa. There is talk of change in the air, and there are revolutionary ideas being discussed. Asa has sympathies with the revolutionaries, and is enlivened by the talk around her. 'Yes, this was it. This was being alive; to be amid people who were actually at the heart of tumult and change.' When she meets Didier Paulin, a dazzling man full of ideas for change, she falls in love with him. However, as events in France turn more precarious, the sisters return to England, and Asa goes home to her father. Their home, the Ardleigh estate, is entailed to Harry Shackleford, whom Asa's other sister Georgina sees as an ideal match for Asa. Georgina begins to meddle, and a mysterious French émigrée, Madame de Rusigneux, is employed to instruct Asa in refined ways of behaviour. Asa hears of the events in France and has to decide where her future, and her heart, will lead her. 

The author captures the atmosphere and mood of the period beautifully; I felt like I was walking with Asa through the scarred, troubled streets of Paris when she returns there, and could picture the scenes amongst the angry crowds. The details of the revolution and the mention of real figures from that time are enough for a reader who knows little of the events to understand the times, but the background is never too dense to deter from the storyline. Equally, with echoes of Austen, she conveys through Asa the situation for a young woman in society at that time whose life, however independent a woman they were, depended on making a good match with a man of means;

'The books that Asa had studied with Caroline, her work among the poor, the vigorous walks she had taken on the Downs, above all her precious love affair; all that made up Thomasina was reduced to this muslin-wrapped bag of flesh labelled Miss Ardleigh, available to the highest bidder.'

This is such enjoyable writing, with some wonderful creations, especially Asa and the enigmatic Madame. Georgina is also wonderful as the interfering sister who feigns doing a lot of work and actually does very little other than meddle, and is over dramatic about it all. 'I suppose I shall have to organise everything, as usual. The fact is,' dramatic pause, 'I have invited a surprise visitor to Morton Hall.' In Harry Shackleford we have a kind, generous young man, but who is tainted, in Asa's eyes, by the slavery through which his family have made their fortune. Asa is forward-thinking and has a strong social conscience. It all makes for another really good read by a favourite author of mine, with rich period detail, witty dialogue and a compelling storyline. Reading groups would find much to discuss about the characters, and the historical setting.

5/5


Thank you very much to newbooks magazine for sending me a copy of this book to read and review. 


Published by Weidenfeld & Nicholson and available to buy now in hardcover.

Wishlist Wednesday

I'm taking part in a weekly blog hop today, hosted by Dani at Pen to Paper. Visit the site and join in.

Wishlist Wednesday is a book blog hop where we will post about one book per week that has been on our wishlist for some time, or just added (it's entirely up to you), that we can't wait to get off the wishlist and onto our wonderful shelves.

This week the book I am highlighting that is on my wishlist is Season of Light by Katharine McMahon. This is her new novel, coming out in the UK in November this year I think. She is one of my favourite authors, I've read many of her previous novels, so I'm very much looking forward to this one.

Synopsis from Goodreads:


Season of Light begins in 1788, in the heady days just before the French revolution, when Paris is fizzing with new ideas about liberty and equality. Asa Ardleigh, the impressionable 19-year-old daughter of a country squire, has traveled to the city with her older sister, Philippa, and Philippa's new husband. In Paris, they are introduced to the literary salon of Madame de Genlis. It is in this salon that Asa meets, and falls in love with, a dashing intellectual and idealist, Didier Paulin. Their affair is curtailed when Asa is forced to return to England, but they continue to write as the storm clouds gather over France and war with England seems imminent. Meanwhile back at home, no one knows of Asa's liaison. Asa's middle sister, Georgina, has met Harry Shackleford, the most eligible man in London that season, and to whom the Ardleigh estate is entailed. After the death of their mother, the Ardleigh girls' father began to drink heavily and now the estate is nearly bankrupt. In Shackleford, Georgina sees not only a fortuitous marriage for her sister, but also the solution to their financial woes. However Asa's accomplishments need some polishing. Georgina therefore employs Madame de Rusigneux, a French Marquise. Asa soon discovers there is more to this woman than meets the eye.