Phoenix Book Reviews would like to thank John for his review
John Van der Kiste lives in Devon. A library assistant, former DJ and musician, he has written over twenty books, mostly historical or musical biographies, and reviewed records and books for national and local journals and fanzines.
Charlotte Campion, a bright young thing in London of the 1820s, has no reason to be dissatisfied with her lot in life. Her husband Charles may be twenty years older than her, and it may have been an arranged marriage carefully brought about by her father Francis Wakefield, but with the best of intentions. They live in the more prosperous part of London and she never wants for anything. If only Francis had never gone back on a whim to his childhood town of Whitby…
For when he returns to Yorkshire, a chance meeting brings him face to face with the talented young artist Richard Parker, the odd man out in his family who was expected to join them in the whaling industry. Richard, he decides, must come south and paint Charlotte's portrait. Dazzled at being offered a prestigious commission, with every chance of making his mark as a painter in the fashionable London art world, he readily accepts.
Once she is introduced to Richard and begins to sit for her portrait, Charlotte realises that she may love the kindly Charles, but she is not really in love with him. The talented, handsome Richard, who is the same age as her, seems to be the one. Wilful, headstrong and used to getting her own way, she dismisses the possibility that to persist in her passion could spell ruin for both of them. They can maintain their illicit love affair, she tells him in private, and need never be caught if they are careful. He is the first to notice that her family are starting to regard them with suspicion, and that they must break it off. To complicate the problem, Charlotte's best friend Marietta starts taking more than a casual interest in him.
Once the portrait is completed, he knows the only way out is for him to abandon any thoughts of studying art in London, despite invitations from more potential patrons which are almost too good to refuse. Returning to Whitby, he bites the bullet, astonishing his father and brothers by telling them that he wants to join them on the next whaling expedition. Only his mother has seen through this about-face and has any idea what lies at the back of his mind. A lovestruck Charlotte, thinking only of herself and throwing caution to the winds, goes north to Whitby - just missing the ocean-bound Richard.
This novel treads a fine line between stirring historical narrative and 19th-century romance. There are moments when the story and dialogue almost become a little too sentimental, but they never quite fall into that trap. At the same time, there is sufficient insight into character and descriptions of the world around them, be it in fashionable London, the family ancestral home at Lincolnshire, or seafaring Whitby, to keep mawkishness at bay.
Another intriguing facet to the story is that it could have been set at any stage of the 19th century. We know it opens in 1820 because the first paragraph of chapter one tells us so, and that the final scene takes place in 1856. Even so, there is an interesting absence of topical events and associations with true life characters, apart from occasional passing references to Sir Thomas Lawrence, noted Regency-era portraitist and President of the Royal Academy.
Charlotte may be an empty-headed, selfish young woman, though the reader can't but feel sympathetic in a way towards her - though far more sorry for the hapless, less worldly Richard, trapped in a situation hardly of his own making. I read this book twice, and on the second time round found it equally enthralling.
Publisher: Piatkus
ISBN: 0 7499 3148 5
Price: £5.99 p/b
Date Reviewed: August 2002
John's Rating: 4.5/5
