Widow’s Lace
By Lelita Baldock
A hundred year old mystery, the widow left behind, a fallen soldier, the abandoned fiancée, an unnamed body and the young student determined to find the truth.
In 1886 famous English poet Edward Barrington moves from Derbyshire, England to a farm on the Finniss River, in South Australia. Two years later he disappears.
25 years later Archie Hargraves abandons his fiancée Clara and travels from England to meet with Edward’s widow, Rosalind. He plans to write a biography and make a name for himself, independent from his wealthy father. Returning to England in 1914 he abandons his work to join the war in Europe. His journal of notes from Australia is never released.
Ellie Cannon, a young PhD candidate at Sydney University, is writing a thesis on one of Barrington’s last known poems, The Fall. It’s not going well. Struggling with her relationship with her mother and loss of her father, Ellie is on the brink of failure.
Then a body is found by the Finniss River, 130 years after Edward’s disappearance. Could it be the famous poet?
The discovery draws Ellie into the worlds of Edward, Archie and Clara, taking her across Australia and England in her search for the truth.
Covering life in remote South Australia, the social pressures of 1900s Britain and the historical role of women, Widow’s Lace is an historical fiction, mystery cross-over dealing with themes of obsession, fear, love, inner-secrets and regret. But also the hope that can come from despair.
Publication Date: 23 March 2020
Publisher: Independently Published
Page Length: 242 Pages
Publisher: Independently Published
Page Length: 242 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction / Mystery
MY THOUGHTS
2018, Ellie’s life isn’t going in the direction she thought it would. The writing of her thesis has come to a standstill and, since losing her father, she has lost the spark that she initially had. Instead of putting work into her studies, she spends most nights with a bottle of wine and a pack of cigarettes. Her thesis, about the poet Edward Barrington, and more specifically, his poem The Fall, once enticed her, but now she has no new ideas, all she can do is rewrite the same ideas in different words. That is, until bones are found, buried in the grounds of the house Barrington lived in.
1886, Edward Barrington never envisioned leaving his beloved England and sailing across the world to Australia, but his wife is incredibly ill and he has been advised to make the move, for the sake of her lungs. Rosalind is his entire life, he wouldn’t risk putting her health at risk if there is something he can do about it. So they make the journey, to a new country, a new life. To a house in Australia, where he can write about the beauty of the land, or maybe even learn to work it.
1913, Archie’s life is falling apart, so he does the one thing that seems logical – he runs. He leaves behind his problems in England, along with his fiancé, and travels to Australia to spend the year with Mrs Barrington. He plans to write a book about Edward, a poet whose work he greatly enjoys, and about his disappearance. Where better to find out about him than from his wife, the Widow, the woman who has spent the last 25 years in black, with a veil across her face?
Throughout the entire novel, there is the question of who the bones belong to and how they got there. What happened to Barrington when he suddenly disappeared, leaving his wife alone in Australia. Could the bones be his? If they are, how did he end up buried on his own land without anyone knowing about his death? This book left me guessing until the very last chapter, where everything was tied up in a bow, but it is not a neat bow, for the ending is one that I wouldn’t have been able to guess if I had a million years to try.
Ellie’s struggled at the start of this book are apparent – she drinks too much, smokes too much and can’t write anything good for her thesis, not that she’s trying particularly hard. Although, the discovery of the bones sends her on a journey to find the truth about the life of Edward Barrington and, in the process, the story of Archie. Ellie doesn’t speak to her mother and would rather not hang out with her boyfriend, but on her search, she visits Barrington’s old home, now owned by one Deborah Jenkings, a woman who is more than happy to welcome Ellie into her home and help her in whatever way she can. Along with Deborah, she meets Taj, who, unlike her boyfriend, who couldn’t care less about Edward Barrington, asks her about him, lets her tell him about her discoveries and listens, helping her where he can and encouraging her where he cannot. These two characters and their interactions with Ellie are simply glorious to read about.
Edward’s story is one of unfamiliarity. He is a poet, a man who grew up rich, but ignored, who finds himself in a country he doesn’t know, with a wife who isn’t even well enough to leave their cabin on the boat during the crossing. They join a community, are welcomed in, and they settle. While Edward’s life in England was decided before he was even born, with a house to maintain, his life in Australia isn’t planned and he finds things that he has never even attempted before, things that he is good at and enjoys, skills that he wouldn’t have any need for in England. He can finally break free of the life he was stuck in and create his own life, his own home, and keep his wife heathy while doing so. However, if Edward thrives, Rosalind wilts like the roses she tries to grow. Sure, she is healthier, but she misses England and is miserable. Her struggles are, at times, difficult to read about and not unprecedented, but she is at a stalemate – if she stays where she is, she is healthy but unhappy. If she returns to England, she will be happy but will likely die before long.
Although not featured as much as the others, Archie’s story is one that greatly interested me. Archie is first introduced through the eyes of Clara, a girl who grew up with him and is in love with him. It is only when we see the world through Archie’s eyes that we can see why he is as distant as he is, why Clara must be constantly patient as she waits for him to write, to visit, to return from his trips. Archie’s life is difficult, for certain, and he is affected accordingly. His trip to Australia and, the information Ellie comes across about him is vital to the story.
This novel is written so wonderfully, the tales of these people, very different people, and how they correlate to the same outcome. The story is so intricately planned, with no detail left forgotten, and is an absolute triumph. The three different periods in time are portrayed incredibly and woven so expertly together, it is almost difficult to believe just how well it all fits together. I will certainly be reading this novel again, just to relive the realisations and watch as everything starts to slot together.
Lelita Baldock
Lelita has a passion for stories, especially those with a dark undercurrent, or a twist to be revealed.
She hopes to tell interesting stories that people will find themselves drawn into. Stories that are for entertainment and escape, and hopefully a little thrill of the unexpected. She truly enjoys the experience of writing, exploring human traits and reactions as well as the darkness that can lurk unexpectedly inside anyone.
Born and raised in Adelaide, Australia, Lelita holds a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English and History from the University of Adelaide and a Bachelor of Education from The University of South Australia. During her twenties she worked as an English teacher in both Australia and the United Kingdom, working with the International Baccalaureate curriculum.
Now Lelita and her husband run a web development business, and she makes time for writing after hours and on weekends. It can mean long days and late nights, but she doesn’t mind, stories are her passion.
Lelita’s long term goal as a writer is to be able to publish her stories regularly and hopefully appeal to a wide range of readers.
Lelita currently resides in the United Kingdom with her husband Ryan and beloved rescue-cat, Jasmine.
Social Media Links:
No comments:
Post a Comment