Stevie‘s review of Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley
Timeslip Contemporary and Historical Fiction published by Sourcebooks Landmark 07 Aug 18
Susanna Kearsley is one of my favourite authors for timeslip fiction and other stories in which contemporary characters investigate historical mysteries. This book is a timeslip in more than one sense, as not only do we see the mystery solved both in the present and the past, but there are times when one of the characters from that past seems to be trying to communicate with our contemporary heroine.
Charley Van Hoek moves from New York to Long Island, close to the home of her long-estranged grandmother, to take up the post of curator at the local historic house museum and to care for the home and teenage daughter of her recently deceased brother. Her family name is well known in the area, both for the long history attached to her family and for her father’s resistance to the draft during the Vietnam War, which resulted in his moving to Canada – Charley’s birthplace – and his disowning by his immediate family. Charley is fascinated by the history of her new workplace, the Wilde House, particularly the story of Lydia Wilde, who is reputed to have died while trying to elope with a French Canadian army officer, a prisoner billeted with the Wilde family during the Seven Years War.
Although Charley’s primary brief is to build a display about Lydia’s more famous relative, the privateer and Revolutionary hero, Captain Benjamin Wilde, she finds herself discovering more and more about Lydia and her Lieutenant and begins to wonder what really happened to them. Meanwhile, we readers get to follow Lydia’s story alongside Charley’s as we watch the family of the past going about their daily lives, sometimes helped and sometimes hindered by the two men foisted upon them by their wealthier upstate relatives. At first Lydia is opposed to the men’s presence. Her fiancé was killed and her brother badly wounded by men fighting for the French, but slowly she comes to see that not all enemy combatants are the same.
Jean-Philippe de Sabran is attracted to Lydia from the start and tries every way he can to help her family and to relieve some of the burden they feel due to their two unplanned guests. By contrast, his French comrade wants nothing more than to return home with all the glories of war attached to him, having suffered none of the hardships. As Jean-Phillipe and Lydia begin to reach an understanding, politics and family loyalties – including ties to those Lydia cares about every much as if they were her own family – threaten to tear them apart. In the end, though, it’s Benjamin and his ship, the Bellewether, that provide the means for all of those living in and around the Wilde House to find the sanctuary they need.
Back in the present day, Charley is becoming more and more integrated into the local community and growing ever closer to one of the local men, as she tries to help her bereaved niece find a new path in life, and builds bonds with her grandmother. In the end, she learns the truth of what happened to Lydia – and the meaning of the cryptic note everyone thought referred to Lydia’s early death and burial – from a most unexpected source.
I loved this book so much. Every potential clue leads to at least as many mysteries as it solves, and the ghost – if indeed there is a ghost – turns out to have very different origins and intentions to those Lydia initially imagines. I particularly enjoyed the way the book sheds light on parts of US history I knew little about, and not always from the expected points of view. Another one to reread, because there’ll be more to discover second time around, I’m certain.
Grade: A
Summary:
“The house, when I first saw it, seemed intent on guarding what it knew; but we all learned, by the end of it, that secrets aren’t such easy things to keep.”
It’s late summer, war is raging, and families are torn apart by divided loyalties and deadly secrets. In this complex and dangerous time, a young French Canadian lieutenant is captured and billeted with a Long Island family, an unwilling and unwelcome guest. As he begins to pitch in with the never-ending household tasks and farm chores, Jean-Philippe de Sabran finds himself drawn to the daughter of the house. Slowly, Lydia Wilde comes to lean on Jean-Philippe, true soldier and gentleman, until their lives become inextricably intertwined. Legend has it that the forbidden love between Jean-Philippe and Lydia ended tragically, but centuries later, the clues they left behind slowly unveil the true story.
Part history, part romance, and all kinds of magic, Susanna Kearsley’s latest masterpiece will draw you in and never let you go, even long after you’ve closed the last page.
Read an excerpt.
