Palladian, Tree Surgery for Beginners and I Capture the Castle

 

This was my last of Elizabeth Taylor's twelve novels. It was the second she wrote and not quite up to the class of her later works. Twenty-year-old Cassandra is shutting up her home for the last time now that both her parents have died. She's back at her old school, where the headmistress Mrs Turner "reserves intolerance for the truly intolerable". But this was a quick visit before she is off to be the governess for young Sophy at the large and rambling Cropthorne Manor.

Here we find a strange collection of family members. The head of the household is Marion Vanbrugh. He suffers from neuralgia; hence, the darkened room. Sophy is his daughter, never having known her mother, who died in childbirth. Other cousins include Tom, a complicated young man often to be found at the local pub and in conversations with Mrs Veal, the landlady.

The author splendidly captures the interactions between this extended family. There is, for example, one horrible argument between Aunt Margaret and Marion about Tom and his drinking. The death of Marion's wife haunts the story. Tom was equally in love with her, which might explain his state of mind. So a family story where not a lot happens, but as usual it's the prose that impresses. I will look to see which of Taylor's stories I liked best to put on my to-read shelf.

Having enjoyed all of the eight novels by Patrick Gale, this was a big disappointment. The prose is as good as ever, but the story had too many coincidences to be believable. Late on I thought that this must be some kind of farce, but not when there are deaths. Laurence is a strange young man. It seems like an accident that he marries Bonnie. He is not cut out for the state of matrimony. He is only interested in trees. His passion and his job as a tree surgeon.

It's his uncle Darius (as a long-time bachelor) "who perceived in Laurence a kindred, unweddable spirit". There is an interesting section in the middle when Darius persuades him to join him with a free ticket on a cruise, where his uncle is playing bridge. Encounters with Bee and the enigmatic Lala are women whom Laurence is lucky to meet.

However, the crazy coincidences in the second half of the book spoilt the whole novel. I started to wonder who might turn up next, and they do.

This was the first book I chose to re-read from those on my bookshelves. I had forgotten that Cassandra Mortmain is the narrator of this novel. I like how she is writing in the present, describing what is actually happening around her. A kind of diary or journal that is full of wit and insight. She describes her family. Her sister Rose is twenty-one; her reclusive father is eccentric to say the least; and her clever brother Thomas is fifteen and is at school miles away. And finally, stepmother Topaz, who is a lot younger than her father but is OK. Then there is Steven, who is nineteen, not part of the family but does all the jobs. 

They all live in this dilapidated castle miles from anywhere and have no money. Their father refuses to work and royalties from the one book he wrote have long since disappeared. So they eke out a living, not paying rent as required and having very little in the way of food and wearing old clothes. There is a wonderful back story about how their father found the castle and how they explored the ruins the first time and made them sort of habitable. But "anyone who could enjoy the winter here would find the North Pole stuffy". 

 All until who should arrive at their landlord's home but two young men from America. And how their blossoming friendship with the sisters starts to make life more comfortable. Somehow the wealth of this family, especially the generosity of the boy's mother, starts to rub off on Cassandra. The second half of the book has much introspection, as these relationships begin to be a source of tension. Is Casandra growing up at last? The final part develops into a strangely action-packed story that still involves all the family in a plot to get their father writing again. But it all ends perfectly well. 

See my review of 13th July 2012. This is what I said then: , the introduction mentioned two male readers. Christopher Isherwood read the draft in 1949, and Ralph Vaughan Williams (the composer) chose it as his "Christmas Book of the Year" for the Sunday Times. So I am good company, believing this was one of the best books I have ever read. Cassandra is seventeen, and it is her journal that relates her experiences of a year in the 1930s. It is the story of her family, the Mortmains, who live in a medieval moated castle in what would now be termed poverty. But Cassandra's father wrote a highly successful book, so that was not always the way. His second wife Topaz is a wonderful creation, and the family also includes Cassandra's older sister Rose and younger brother Thomas. Their lodger Stephen is a miracle. Things take off when two half-American brothers and their mother arrive at nearby Scoatney Hall, landlords of the castle estate. The characterisation is just marvellous, and the descriptions of the places give a great feeling of intimacy. This is a top class feelgood book that is no wonder, a classic.