Nathaniel
Hopson is a journeyman in the workshop of the great cabinet maker,
Thomas Chippendale. He is also an opinionated, self-serving little
git who believes he is God's gift to women. Initially I found this
novel very hard to get into because of the excessive wordiness of
the style (no doubt an attempt to recreate an 18th century novel).
Also, in the first few chapters there is a flashback, then a
flashback of the flashback - all very confusing. However, I did
stick with it, and became increasingly drawn in, almost against my
will.
Nathaniel has been sent by Chippendale to complete the installation
of a library in a brooding country mansion, Horseheath Hall, the
seat of Lord Montfort, who is rapidly found dead of a gunshot wound
in the exquisite new library. As Nathaniel is the first to find the
body, he gets involved in the investigation of the death at the
request of Lord Foley, a close acquaintance and neighbour of the
deceased. He is at first very reluctant, being anxious to return to
London to pursue his amorous intrigues, but the following day he
discovers the corpse of his best friend, John Partridge, a fellow
journeyman at Chippendale's, who had done most of the installation
and designed the library in co-operation with the great Chippendale
himself. Partridge's body is found frozen into the garden pond, with
the fingers of the right hand amputated by a rather blunt instrument
- ugh!
The plot gets increasingly convoluted in the manner of one of
Chippendale's ingenious cabinets, with inumerable secret
compartments and subtle inlays. Nathaniel falls in love with Alice
Goodchild, a London wood merchant, who is running the business on
behalf of her absent father - an extremely bright young woman who is
worth ten of Nathaniel. This doesn't prevent him chasing the serving
wenches and housemaids. He makes further visits to Horseheath Hall
and to members of the Montfort family - a group of appalling
individuals. The only one who seems reasonably civilised is Lord
Montfort's much put-upon sister, who acted as his housekeeper.
Through an Italian actress, a customer of Chippendale's, Nathaniel
learns of a possible secret connection between Partridge and Lord
Montfort. There is in fact enough material for about three novels.
In spite of the labyrinthine twists I rumbled the murderer very
early on, leaving Nathaniel in hot pursuit of someone else for
another three hundred odd pages.
Clearly a great deal of research has gone into this book, and it
has much to commend it. Horseheath Hall really existed, and Lord
Montfort did come to a sticky end in his library. Was Thomas
Chippendale really such an absolute bastard? Strangely, there are a
number of close analogies to Deryn Lake's John Rawlings series - an
apothecary, a flighty actress, Coram's Foundling Hospital, a
character named Alleyn, a sinister black carriage et al. Devotees of
Georgian furniture will love the wonderful descriptions of the
exotic woods available to the craftsmen of the day.
|
|
