Grace and her gay brother Andrew have a special sibling
relationship, so when they inherit their Grandmother`s house, they move in
together to be free of rent and of annoying housemates. However, they have ignored one
very important possible tableau – what would happen if one of them wanted to
add to their ménage with a lover?
Grace is developing her doctoral thesis on how unmarried
mothers in literature were treated in the past. This becomes ironic, as Andrew
falls in love with James, who subsequently takes up residence with Andrew in
his half of the house. James and Andrew, on one of their nights out, are
witnesses to the murder of a gay man by a group of homophobes. James is
distraught and turns to Grace for comfort which becomes more than just a
shoulder to cry on. Grace finds that she is pregnant and wants to keep the baby
but the fallout from the murder has near-fatal consequences.
Barbara Vine interweaves the present with a fascinating
parallel story, also involving family betrayal, murder and the consequences
both of having a gay brother and being an unmarried mother, set in the 1920s through to the 1950s. Although
on the surface the facts in the two stories are similar, the treatment past and
present is very different in some ways but prejudice has not disappeared. I
love Barbara`s rich prose and thought-provoking perceptions on the topics of
single motherhood and homosexuality – she has enhanced her writing here with much research. A
mesmerising and thoroughly excellent read.
Review by Liz.
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