Elizabeth Ironside
Author of Death in the Garden
About the Author
Image credit: (c)2006 ML Frank / GraphicsCount.com
Works by Elizabeth Ironside
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Manning, Catherine (Lady Catherine Manning)
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Northamptonshire, England, UK
- Places of residence
- Washington, D.C., USA
- Education
- University of Oxford (PhD|History)
- Occupations
- writer
diplomatic hostess - Relationships
- Manning, Sir David (husband)
- Short biography
- Elizabeth Ironside is the pen name of Lady Catherine Manning. Her husband, a senior British diplomat, was Ambassador to the U.S. from 2003-2007.
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Murder mystery set at 1920s English garden/weekend party in Name that Book (April 2013)
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Statistics
- Works
- 5
- Members
- 800
- Popularity
- #31,872
- Rating
- 3.6
- Reviews
- 30
- ISBNs
- 32
- Languages
- 2
- Favorited
- 1
The main character here is Théophile de Cazalle, a career army officer. After the German occupied France, he deserted the so-called Free France of Marshal Petain and escapes to England to work with the French government in exile. He faked his death, to protect his family. Now he returns for a brief visit to his family's last property, the farm Bonnemort, to find some of the people he left behind dead, some sent to Germany as forced labor, some as resistance workers, and his wife, with her head shaved, the mark of a collaborator. When he returns again, his wife has fled to Paris with the granddaughter of a friend of her father's. He begins to meet with her, to consider the repair of their marriage, and to attempt to learn what has happened in the years that he was gone. Was his wife a collaborator, and a lover the the German major who requisitioned the house, and was found lying naked and dead in front of it? Or was she a Resistance heroine?
Theo finds contradictory witnesses, whose testimony is dictated by their personal feelings and political beliefs. He finally has a very long talk with a Russian exile, Nikola, living in the area, Nikola, who helps him piece all the testimony together.
I am torn as to whether the conversation with Nikola is a strength or weakness of the book. Nikola likes to talk at length and in great detail, and as a reader, I shared the frustration of Theo. listening to a long-winded man whose testimony he needs, and therefore cannot hurry.
The story is told at a very interesting point in the war - the liminal time when the Germans are gone from the immediate area, but the war is not over, the people who have endured do not yet know all of their losses, and have not recovered from their privations. A time when those who united in resistance now, although not in strategy, now fracture to undercut each other for control of the hopefully glimpsed future.
I smiled a bit at the reviewer who could not believe that Theo is so obsessed with finding out whether his wife was a collaborator and perhaps lover of a German officer. They must be much younger than I. Their marriage, so unsuitable to both their families, was one of passion, which would make infidelity much more personal and cutting. The question is not only sexual jealously, but a need to know what kind of a woman she truly is. Has she has been undercutting the cause that he has dedicated himself to, and also a concern about the future consequences for him, especially should he decide to go into politics, of her conduct.
His daughter, Sabine raises a very difficult question. She has indeed suffered, but does suffering justify bad conduct? We may have some compassion, but what, exactly, do we do with it. I had a friend who argued that no-one commits a murder unless they have been wronged, not necessarily by their victim, and therefore they are not guilty, and deserve our compassion, not punishment. Be that as it may, I distressed her by saying, they cannot be allowed to continue killing people, or inflicting lesser sufferings upon them. Do we have free will? Two people may suffer the same misfortunes, and one may come out of it feeling empathy for other people, and the other may resent anyone who is more fortunate in their eyes, or turn their anger and resentment outwards on other people. What makes the difference?
I also think that it raises the question of attention to our children. Sabine was definitely abused at the convent school she attended. The nuns, when they were not vicious, were negligent. Should we take the attitude that it doesn't matter what one child does to another, it's "a learning experience" for the victim? As with Sabine, we may find that we don't care for what they have learned. I would argue that contrary to what is often thought, just because a child is old enough to left alone with regard to their physical safety, they don't require supervision for their moral and social development, and they often aren't physically and sexually safe, either.
Another question is "power over," the sometimes mysterious ability of one person to dominate another. This subplot is used three time, which I think is one time too many. In the first case, in the convent boarding school, the girl who has made herself dominate has many accomplices to help her wield her power. This probably leads to the second incident, where the victim dominates another girl. The third time, which comes at the end of the main story, not the epilogue, is one too many for me. It doesn't particular fit what we know about the character, not does it serve any purpose that I can see, unless it is to make her look bad. I hated that. That's a half-star off.
The second problem with the ending is that an adolescent girl has been given a severe beating - she even has a broken arm. Her friend decides to avenge her, but the method makes no sense at all. She baits the trap by telling the beater that the girl wants to see him. But surely he knows that she was badly hurt. He doesn't wonder why she would want to see him, or how she is in any condition to make a trek up to a cave? Is he expecting a declaration of undying love or a sexual encounter? It doesn't occur to him that when he gets to the cave, he will find her father with his sidearm? She hasn't told her family what happened yet, she's in pretty bad shape, but the beater doesn't know that? That's the other half-star. It's not so bad that it ruins the story, but once I had a chance to think about, it seemed pretty idiotic. Sometimes, when something is otherwise excellent, I'm able to mentally edit out bad scenes.
Aside from those two caveats, I found the story fascinating and thought provoking, and I love Elizabeth Ironside's writing.… (more)