Off-Balance (by Mary Sheepshanks)

(Amazon UK link)

When I first discovered Mary Sheepshanks' books, nearly twenty years ago, they were not all easy to get hold of, and I acquired them gradually. She only wrote four novels under this name, and by the time I read ‘Off-Balance’, I had not noticed that it was - in a sense - a sequel to ‘Facing the Music’. But I re-read that just a couple of months ago, and the name Flavia is an unusual one…

Not that Flavia is the main character in this book. She doesn’t appear until about half-way through, as a guest musician. The main characters are the Grant family who live in an old mansion in Scotland, part of which they are turning into a performing arts centre. The building work is complete, and at the start of the book they’re expecting a young and talented artist called Daniel who will come to paint some backdrops.

Giles and Isabel are happily married, and have two children. Ten-year-old Amy is a very talented violinist, but her twin brother Edward has quite severe special needs: nobody quite knows what they are, but there’s much that seems like autism, and some other difficulties. Amy loves him and often defends him against nasty comments, but inevitably he needs a lot of attention, and even his parents sometimes find him frustrating.

Isabel is sociable and they have a wide circle of friends. They have two Australians working with the family, who deal with a lot of the chores and take on some child-minding, and they’re all reasonably contented. Then Isabel’s sister Lorna arrives after a divorce, and offers to help with some of the administration. She’s talented in this respect, but also very manipulative with a jealous and vindictive streak. Edward takes an instant dislike to her, and Amy is unimpressed too.

I found Lorna a difficult character to believe in. There’s a bit of back-story, and we see her as a well-behaved, polite and very pretty little girl who adores her little sister. She finds it upsetting that Isabel, despite being very mischievous, rarely gets into trouble - people laugh about her, and roll their eyes, but seem to find her cute. But when Lorna does something she shouldn’t, nobody laughs. I could understand and even sympathise with this child who feels usurped, and unappreciated by her family. I could see too why, when she starts to fall in love, she doesn’t want to introduce her boyfriend to the family - and why she is deeply upset when, after she takes a break, her boyfriend (Giles) has become engaged to her sister.

But none of that seems consistent with the really nasty person Lorna has become by the time we meet her. She’s so unpleasant that everyone - other than Giles - finds her almost unbearable. But Giles seems to have a blind spot… and Lorna is determined to win him back.

It’s a character-based story, revolving around this mostly likeable community of people, with a bit of music as an extra theme. The plot is mostly gentle, exploring relationships and friendships, testing love and integrity. Other than Lorna I found all the main characters three-dimensional and believable. There are some caricatures amongst the neighbours; that doesn’t matter with minor characters, and adds a touch of humour to balance the more serious issues.

It’s extremely well-written and overall I found it a very enjoyable story. I did remember odd incidents, mostly the ones involving Edward, although I had forgotten all the details. I found myself moved to tears in an incident near the end.

I had not remembered how the story ended, nor whether Giles and Isabel managed to stay together. And I had totally forgotten that, after the book seems to have finished, there’s an epilogue which paves the way for a sequel. It took me a long time to realise that there actually is a sequel - ‘Secrets and Shadows’, by the same author under her alternative name of Mary Nickson. I look forward very much to re-reading that in another month or so.

Very highly recommended. It’s not necessary to have read ‘Facing the Music’ first, but I find it adds to the enjoyment to know some of the past history of someone who has appeared in an earlier book. 'Off-Balance' is long out of print, sadly, but often available second-hand.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's Book Reviews