Jill Tattersall
Autor von The wild hunt
Über den Autor
Werke von Jill Tattersall
Haunted Greathouses of the Caribbean 1 Exemplar
Lady Ingram's Retreat 1 Exemplar
Getagged
Wissenswertes
- Geburtstag
- 20th Century
- Geschlecht
- female
- Nationalität
- UK
- Wohnorte
- Virgin Islands
- Berufe
- artist
Mitglieder
Rezensionen
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Nahestehende Autoren
Statistikseite
- Werke
- 16
- Mitglieder
- 162
- Beliebtheit
- #130,374
- Bewertung
- 3.5
- Rezensionen
- 2
- ISBNs
- 50
- Sprachen
- 2
The format Tattersall uses in Time at Tarragon is reflective. We begin with Mary, the heroine, as a very old woman, receiving a tidbit of news that throws her into memories of the past.
At nineteen, she was orphaned, with nowhere to go except to an unwelcoming godmother as a lady's maid. Her place is begrudged, and she's kept on the “other side” of the door separating the Family from the servants. Her position is dangerous, and almost immediately the abuse begins. Charles, heir to Tarragon, does not protect her (although she does seem to be interrupted before being raped, or having her hair shorn, or the other things that threaten her as a helpless servant). The first half of the book is uncomfortable indeed. After she manages to become more useful to her godmother, as a kind of assistant governess to the two young granddaughters, she escapes the thumb of the ruthless butler and the unreadable housekeeper.
What is the mystery that appears to keep the Family under the control of the servants? Why does Charles seem resigned to marrying the governess, when he's plainly attracted to Mary? Who cut the girth of the saddle, throwing Mary headlong into the rocks, and nearly killing her?
Someone is out to ruin Mary's reputation, and drive her from the house. She is forced to drink, so as to appear as an alcoholic. She is thrown at the head of the agent of a nearby estate, in the hopes she can be married off. She is threatened by the insolent and lecherous gaze of the footman, Thomas Boddie. At one point, Mary is even kidnapped by highwaymen, and barely escapes with her virtue and her life.
But Mary has the dangerous curiosity of any Gothic heroine, and continues to ask questions, and probe into the past of this secretive family. By adding together bits learned here and there, she tries to push things to a conclusion, and winds up drugged and thrown in the lake. This enterprising woman, however, knows how to swim and gets out, to hear the resolution of all the mysteries, as she crouches outside the french doors of the library, while the Family has it out with the servants.
The novel wraps up, again with Mary as an old woman. Altogether, there's a lot here that's inexplicable, and somewhat hard to swallow. Without giving anything away, I have to say that I found the end unsatisfying and a little from left field. Mary herself, while being both brave and feisty, didn't endear herself to me as most of Tattersall's women do, seeming a bit shallow and stupid. Charles didn't impress me at all... he seemed awfully tame and easily subdued. I guess the plot wouldn't have worked if he were a stronger man, but he really didn't seem worth the pursuit to me. I'll keep Time at Tarragon in my collection, because I'm a completionist, but I'm not sure when I'll bother to read it again.… (mehr)