Marlford by Jacqueline Yallop

I was lucky to hear Jacqueline Yallop read extracts of this book at an author reading at the library in Parisot, Tarn-et-Garonne.   The book is set in 1969.  The main character, Ellie Barton is a young woman who has grown up in a crumbling manor house.   She has led a sheltered life, her only companions being her ancient father, Ernest, Oscar Quersley who works on the estate and runs the memorial library with Ellie, and three old men who live on the estate.  Ellie’s grandfather was a philanthropist who built Marlford the village, but the family money has long since dried up and everything is in a state of decay.  Then one day two radical young men, Dan and Gadiel, show up at the manor.  Their arrival is the impetus for the change that has been building within Ellie.  Dan and Gadiel decide to set up a squat in a disused wing of the manor.   Ellie has been protected from the outside world, cocooned and controlled by the men on the estate.   It is Ellie’s unworldliness that attracts both Dan and Gadiel and it is they who open Ellie’s eyes to the wider world.  I found the setting well drawn, the descriptions dark and some of the characters unsettling.  

The Light Behind the Window by Lucinda Riley

The main characters in this story are Emilie de la Martiniéres and Constance Carruthers.  The story alternates between the 1990s and 1943/44.    It opens with Emilie who is finalising the affairs of her mother’s estate.   Emilie, an only child, has inherited the family fortune, including a chateau in the South of France.  Emilie’s parents had always seemed distant to her.  Her father, who was a lot older than her mother, died when she was young and her mother was too busy socialising to give Emilie any attention.  Emilie had turned her back on her aristocracy ancestry to forge a career as a vet.   In the opening chapters, I found the character of Emilie too gullible and a little unbelievable.  However, her character does improve once the story progresses.   Emilie is finding the prospect of sorting out the chateau daunting and, when she meets Sebastian Carruthers, he feels like her knight in shining armour.  He tells her that his grandmother knew Emilie’s family. 

In 1943, Constance Carruthers, a young office clerk, is drafted into the Special Operations Executive and arrives in occupied Paris.  Unfortunately the members of the resistance team she is meant to be helping have disbanded or been arrested by the Gestapo.  She ends up at a safe house belonging to Edouard de la Martiniéres and is forced to masquerade as Edouard’s cousin for her own safety and his. 

As Emilie sorts out the family affairs and begins to unravel the family’s past she eventually discovers how Sebastian’s family and hers are connected. 

The end was tied up a little too neatly for me, but I found it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story.  It was an easy enjoyable read.

Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin

A friend lent me this book.  It is not my usual read, but I always like discovering authors I have never read before.  The novel was first published in 1952/3 and is semi-autobiographical.  It explores the role of the Christian Church in the lives of African-Americans.  It is a short book, but is packed with emotional and racial tension.  The story is set in Harlem in 1935.  The book is divided into three sections.  “The Seventh Day,” which focusses on John Grimes, who is 14 and is debating whether or not to turn away from his father’s religion; He is afraid of his father, Gabriel, who is a preacher, but has a secret sinful past.   The second section, “The Prayers of the Saints,” depicts a revival church service where we glimpse the past life of John’s aunt Florence, his father Gabriel and his mother Elizabeth.  Florence was my favourite character - strong and feisty.  In the last section, “The Threshing-Floor,” John is possessed by the spirit and is saved – or is he?   I now want to read Giovanni’s Room also by James Baldwin.