I have been thoroughly enjoying re-reading Mary Sheepshanks’ novels - four of them in that name, and two in her alternative name of Mary Nickson. I’ve just finished re-reading ‘Secrets and Shadows’, written under the latter name. It’s a sequel to ‘Off Balance’ which I re-read in January, and I remember being delighted to discover this when I first read ‘Secrets and Shadows’ nearly twelve years ago.
This book takes place about six years after the end of ‘Off Balance’. Giles and Isabel have established an arts centre connected with their large home, and run regular writing retreats. As the story starts, one of this is about to begin, and the bulk of the story follows the participants as they start to explore their talents (or otherwise) and get to know each other.
One of the writing group is Marnie, a prickly young American woman who is on a quest to discover something in Scotland. We already know something about her when we meet her; the first chapters introduce her as a young child, neglected by her mother, when she meets and becomes friendly with an elderly lady called Luciana. Twenty years later we quickly learn that Luciana left her some clues to what she called a treasure hunt, and also a great deal of money.
Then there’s Louisa, a young woman of similar age, who is related to Isabel. She’s bright and very friendly, but there’s clearly something not quite right. She’s broken up with her likeable (but dull) boyfriend, but doesn’t know what she wants. It becomes increasingly clear as the novel progresses that all is not well with Louisa; and she is contrasted strongly with Marnie, although the two manage to become friendly.
Christopher is a personable young man who has a secret; again we learn fairly soon what it is, but he’s been through a very rough time, and has also recently ended a relationship. He is quite serious about writing and hopes to learn whether or not he has any talent. He doesn’t expect to find two attractive young women who both take a shine to him…
The other writing group participants are more caricatured. There’s one married couple: the husband is self-centred and arrogant; he’s had some writing published and thinks he is much more advanced than the rest of the group. His long-suffering wife is regularly put down by him, but she has done some writing too… and gradually emerges as a likeable, if rather flat character.
Then there’s a woman who’s passionate about gardening, a military man, and a woman who runs a shop. They are different enough that I could easily distinguish them, and they add some flavour and background to the group and the various subplots, but they’re not particularly significant.
Meanwhile Isabel and Giles have a visiting small boy, Rory, who is Isabel’s nephew… and they quickly realise that her sister Lorna is, once again, trying to destroy their marriage. This storyline is a good sideline to the main plot, which involves Marnie’s search and the gradual uncovering of other people’s secrets. Isabel is a very three-dimensional, believable person and I did find myself feeling a tad sorry for Lorna towards the end; she’s quite nasty, but it’s partly a result of her childhood, knowing that no matter how hard she tried, people liked her younger sister better.
I have to admit that, in places, the writing is a bit wordy. I skimmed a few of the descriptions of scenery, and skipped over a couple of authorial comments and one or two excesses of introspection. But they’re so minor that I don’t think I noticed them the first time I read the book, and they certainly didn’t detract from my enjoyment of this excellent novel.
Very highly recommended if you like women’s fiction, but It’s best if read after ‘Off Balance’. Sometimes available second-hand, or in Kindle form.
Review copyright 2020 Sue's Book Reviews
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
