Irish Gothic

I emerge, blinking, into the light of the end of term. Huzzah. Back next week with a couple of longer posts; in the mean time, a reprint of an SFX review from late summer: Heart's Blood, by Juliet Marillier, an Irish Gothic tale with an all-too-obvious ‘twist'.

(And I do mean obvious. Niall was relieved when I got to the end, because it meant that I stopped making irritated tutting noises and reading bits aloud to him.)

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It’s rarely a good sign when you spot the resolution of a book’s central mystery several hundred pages before any of its characters do, including the narrator. Still less when said narrator’s inability to join the dots is so transparently due to a bad case of plot-induced selective stupidity.

Like many of Marillier’s other books, this is set in a fantastical (and somewhat fluffy) medieval Ireland: in this case, the twelfth century, as the Normans invade the province of Connacht. Having run away from her childhood home – and the abuse she suffered there – Caitrin takes up the job of scribe to a reclusive chieftain, Anluan, who lives in a spooky fortress atop a hill that local villagers warn her is haunted. Cue omnious music...

Marillier builds her atmosphere thoroughly and effectively, creating a strong, creepy sense of place through Caitrin’s disquieted observations. At times it has the feel of Gothic horror, or a du Maurier ghost story (there are also strong elements of Jane Eyre in the romance, in case you hadn't already guessed): appealing, and well done, but it robs the setting of specificity. Much of the story could be happening anywhere, anywhen, and characters expressing some decidedly un-medieval ideas doesn’t help (it’s wrong to judge by appearances, sexism is a social ill, God might not exist, etc.).

The ending – the plot’s resolution, not its revelations – is excellent. That it is emotionally satisfying rather than mawkish is a testament to Marillier’s quiet skill at characterisation, and to the way it draws out the book’s themes of generation-spanning consequences, injustice, and forgiveness. Sadly, it’s not enough to make the process of reaching it – the many, many instances of characters missing the stunningly obvious – less frustrating.

(Oh, and the ‘heart’s blood’ of a the title is a plant, from whose flowers a very expensive ink can be made.)

~~Nic

Comments

[Victoria]

I've always wondered what Juliet Marillier was like. Given the covers and the pseudo-historical settings I have a feeling that my 14 year old self would have been a briefly enamoured fan.

Can't help but notice though that your published review is a little more positive than your post intro suggests it will be. Was that intentional or am I just reading too much into it?

[Nic]

Yeah, I think I might have enjoyed her more as a teenager, although I would've had even less patience with the romance. You may remember that when I visited you in July, I was reading her previous book (this for my long-delayed David Gemmell Award shortlist review); _Heart's Blood_ was better than that one, at least in part because it wasn't *all* about the romance.

You're right to read a more positive tone in my review than might be expected (although I did still give it two and a half stars...). It's a reflection of how good the ending was - that is, of the emotional and thematic pay-off - which really did offset my annoyance with the rest of the book. Marillier has some real skill as a writer; but her stories, unfortunately, appear to be Not For Me.