tasmanian_bibliophile's review
5.0
‘I had shed the past to become, I liked to think, something new.’
This novel draws on the real life case of Lord Lucan, who disappeared from Belgravia on the night of 7 November 1974 following the brutal murder of his children’s nanny. In Ms Rose’s novel, Lord Lucan has become Henry Kennedy, a Scotsman who emigrates to Australia and settles in Tasmania.
Henry is living a quiet life outside Hobart with his partner Lili when he is diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer. The growths in his brain impact on his memory and his speech which undermines his ability to keep the past and the present separate. Henry has to work hard to guard against revealing his carefully hidden past.
‘I stole from the past to make a life in the future.’
In this narrative, we have glimpses of Lord Lucan’s life in Belgravia, of his transformation into Henry Kennedy via plastic surgery and life in Africa as well as his current life in Tasmania. In Tasmania, Henry’s terminal illness and secrets from Lili’s past both shatter his seemingly peaceful life. The appearance of Lili’s daughter and grandson add a new dimension to Henry’s life.
I enjoyed this novel with its themes of deception, and links to the past which can never entirely be severed. As a fictional alternate life of Lord Lucan, the novel works well. For me it works even better as a reminder that memory and the past can never be totally controlled.
‘The curse of growing older is that we must live not only with what we have become but also with what we will never be.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
This novel draws on the real life case of Lord Lucan, who disappeared from Belgravia on the night of 7 November 1974 following the brutal murder of his children’s nanny. In Ms Rose’s novel, Lord Lucan has become Henry Kennedy, a Scotsman who emigrates to Australia and settles in Tasmania.
Henry is living a quiet life outside Hobart with his partner Lili when he is diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer. The growths in his brain impact on his memory and his speech which undermines his ability to keep the past and the present separate. Henry has to work hard to guard against revealing his carefully hidden past.
‘I stole from the past to make a life in the future.’
In this narrative, we have glimpses of Lord Lucan’s life in Belgravia, of his transformation into Henry Kennedy via plastic surgery and life in Africa as well as his current life in Tasmania. In Tasmania, Henry’s terminal illness and secrets from Lili’s past both shatter his seemingly peaceful life. The appearance of Lili’s daughter and grandson add a new dimension to Henry’s life.
I enjoyed this novel with its themes of deception, and links to the past which can never entirely be severed. As a fictional alternate life of Lord Lucan, the novel works well. For me it works even better as a reminder that memory and the past can never be totally controlled.
‘The curse of growing older is that we must live not only with what we have become but also with what we will never be.’
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
scherzo's review
5.0
A rich, careless, selfish man who flees a disastrous night to create a better life with a woman who survived the worst of the Vietnamese war.
Two images will haunt me: The jar of honey & a spoon and the first person final good-bye.
Two images will haunt me: The jar of honey & a spoon and the first person final good-bye.
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