19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must Read, October 8, 2000
This review is from: A Little Death (Mass Market Paperback)
You can believe all the rave reviews that this book has garnered -- they are all true. I was totally engrossed with this book. And what a dark and subtle plot!
The book starts out ordinarily enough with an obituary ( a prologue of sorts that frames the plot) for one of the minor characters in this mystery novel, Louisa, Lady Kellaway. From this article we learn that she was the cousin of Georgina Gresham, a notorious society matron who was tried for the murder of her husband, James Gresham in 1928. Georgina was later found not guilty of the charge, and she withdrew from society after the trial to live in seclusion with her brother, Edmund Lomax and a housekeeper Ada Pepper. We also learn that in 1955 all three were found dead from gunshot wounds. The consensus then was that one of the three had killed the other two and then committed suicide; but no one was ever sure which one of the three had pulled the trigger, or why.
And then having provided the reader with the blueprint of the plot, Laura Wilson begins the construction of a truly amazing story. There are three voices to this tale: Georgina -- careless, self-absorbed, manipulative and secretive; Edmund -- lacking self confidence and easily lead; and Ada, the servant -- loyal and shrewd. All three are bound together by circumstances and by some pretty nifty manipulation of Georgina's part. The narratives sort of slid from the 1950s to the late 1890s. Each trying to convey to the reader their idea of what really happened, and why and how it occurred. For the most part Ada is our most reliable guide; and it is from her that we get the sense that everything started to go wrong for the Lomax siblings the day their younger brother, Freddie, was killed. After that dreadful event, their father took to drink. Neglected by her father and living in total isolation, Georgina marries James Gresham in order to escape. But that marriage soon turns out to be a disaster as the two have nothing in common with each other. Georgina soon starts up an affair with a friend of James's, Edward Booth, and also takes up with a much wilder society crowd. And then James is found dead from an overdose of drugs, and Georgina is arrested for murder.
This book was engrossing reading. Each time you think that you're ahead of the author and that you know what really happened, Laura Wilson drops a bombshell, so that you even begin to wonder if any of the narratives are truthful or accurate at all. The novel is well written, and all the characters, major and minor are nicely and fully depicted. In fact, it would be accurate to say that there are no minor characters in this novel. Each character, no matter how small the part, plays an integral role in the tragedy that unfolds for Ada, Georgina and Edmund, and helps to shape what happens. And Georgina, Edmund and Ada also affect the people they come into contact with.
This is a truly dark tale, full of twists and turns that will keep you guessing and totally engrossed. An amazing read.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Caught me offguard!, March 29, 2001
This review is from: A Little Death (Mass Market Paperback)
I wasn't too sure when I started this little caper if it was a retelling of a true crime story or an inventive package designed to steal my attention. I wasn't even certain after the first couple of chapters that this was the type of mystery story that I would enjoy. BUT, look out, this book will creep up on you and seize your imagination and there will be no way out until you've completed it. And, even then I found myself going back to the beginning of the novel and rereading the first several chapters.
Wilson does a great job of captivating the audience through the use of three very different protagonists all with varying but valid points. It takes the sum of the parts to more than equal this great first novel. Keep em coming Laura. I can't wait for your next enterprise to hit the streets. I know that it will be as inventive and unique as this adventure. Great Read!!!
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Southern gothic set in England . . ., March 9, 2001
This review is from: A Little Death (Mass Market Paperback)
Any family without secrets is in strong denial--or moribund. In this inventive novel, three distinct voices unveil several family secrets. Although each of the voices may briefly overlap here or there, they do not generally tell the same portion of any given episode of the half-century or so history of the Lomax family.
Georgina was the daughter of the house, with two brothers, Edmund and Freddie. Ada Pepper went into the family's service when not much older than either Miss Georgina or Master Edmund, and so they remained to her for as long as they all lived. Freddie, unfortunately, was the first victim in the family, at the age of five, just about the turn of the century.
The entire family saga unfolds in the interweaving of these three narratives, from little Freddie's death; through World War I; Georgina's marriage, her lovers, and the subsequent death of her husband; the death of the Lomax father; the return of Ada's long-lost love; Edmund's unrequited love. Each segment, no matter how brief, sheds light on the history as it unfolds to the stunning dénouement.
The writing is simply superb in maintaining the three separate voices. You won't soon forget having met the Lomax family.
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