REVIEW: The Amazing Affair at Highlands
May. 30th, 2018 07:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllThe Amazing Affair at Highlands: Elizabeth Tarrant, Evans 1951
Elizabeth Tarrant was, of course, a pseudonym for Eric Leyland, and there’s a similarity in character types and interaction in the books written under both names. And oh boy, does the author like to insert himself into proceedings, continuously interjecting with commentary like ‘Or so it seemed…but later the events of the evening were to assume a tremendous significance. And, strangely enough, not only what had happened was to prove important, but also what hadn’t happened!’ (p47). If you can’t tell, it grated on me, punctuation and all – that exclamation mark is typical.
So, what about the amazing affair at Highlands? Who does it concern? Well, when old friends Pen Dudley and Judy Revell happen upon each other at a seaside resort, they’re both in a tough spot. Aged 17, their fathers are pushing the girls to follow them in directions they aren’t suited for. Pen wants to study, not to go into business, while Judy would like to do the opposite. A string of coincidences make bright spark Judy wonder if they could get away with exchanging places, for Pen to go to Highlands as Judy and for Judy to go to work at big department store Holland’s as Pen. Even the more cautious Pen is swept along in the masquerade.
Their masquerade would have been enough plot for a whole book for some writers. In fact, it would have made an interesting book if we’d followed the both of them – one older girl trying to adapt herself as a new girl in a boarding school for the first time, and a girl the same age being the most junior member of staff at the beginning of, hopefully, a long career.
But, hot on the heels of Judy and Pen we meet twins Sheredan and Steve Walters, and siblings Henry and Brenda Shaw. Sheredan and Brenda are big-wigs at Highways school, which Judy is down to go to, indeed, Sheredan is the head prefect. The boys attend a day school. Henry is a clever-clogs, while the others are sporty, although Sheredan had become more thoughtful since her promotion. They are the first victims of the masquerade.
Henry is distracted by rumours of smuggling in the area, as are a bunch of Middles at Highlands, ruled by Suky Thompson. They have graciously allowed Tony Walters to join their gang, which they call the Crooked Hand. Like Henry, they decide there’s something mysterious about Judy and Penelope, investigate them and happen across much more.
It’s a series of events that are spelled out by the author, with little time for characterisation – Suky is impulsive, calculating, clever and thoughtless as the plot demands; while people don’t underestimate Henry as much as the author claims. The trouble between Brenda and Penelope-masquerading-as-Judy is underdeveloped, even though it’s interesting. Despite living on her nerves because she’s the cautious one, more closely scrutiny at school, and therefore in greater danger of being discovered, Penelope manages to be a brilliant scholar. The author is more interested in preparing us for various times various characters cross paths and making sure we understand what their interactions meant.
I read this with gritted teeth, occasionally forcing myself to read another chapter in one sitting. The characters aren’t likeable or realistic. Perhaps I would have been amused or thrilled by their adventures way back when. As it was…
Elizabeth Tarrant was, of course, a pseudonym for Eric Leyland, and there’s a similarity in character types and interaction in the books written under both names. And oh boy, does the author like to insert himself into proceedings, continuously interjecting with commentary like ‘Or so it seemed…but later the events of the evening were to assume a tremendous significance. And, strangely enough, not only what had happened was to prove important, but also what hadn’t happened!’ (p47). If you can’t tell, it grated on me, punctuation and all – that exclamation mark is typical.
So, what about the amazing affair at Highlands? Who does it concern? Well, when old friends Pen Dudley and Judy Revell happen upon each other at a seaside resort, they’re both in a tough spot. Aged 17, their fathers are pushing the girls to follow them in directions they aren’t suited for. Pen wants to study, not to go into business, while Judy would like to do the opposite. A string of coincidences make bright spark Judy wonder if they could get away with exchanging places, for Pen to go to Highlands as Judy and for Judy to go to work at big department store Holland’s as Pen. Even the more cautious Pen is swept along in the masquerade.
Their masquerade would have been enough plot for a whole book for some writers. In fact, it would have made an interesting book if we’d followed the both of them – one older girl trying to adapt herself as a new girl in a boarding school for the first time, and a girl the same age being the most junior member of staff at the beginning of, hopefully, a long career.
But, hot on the heels of Judy and Pen we meet twins Sheredan and Steve Walters, and siblings Henry and Brenda Shaw. Sheredan and Brenda are big-wigs at Highways school, which Judy is down to go to, indeed, Sheredan is the head prefect. The boys attend a day school. Henry is a clever-clogs, while the others are sporty, although Sheredan had become more thoughtful since her promotion. They are the first victims of the masquerade.
Henry is distracted by rumours of smuggling in the area, as are a bunch of Middles at Highlands, ruled by Suky Thompson. They have graciously allowed Tony Walters to join their gang, which they call the Crooked Hand. Like Henry, they decide there’s something mysterious about Judy and Penelope, investigate them and happen across much more.
It’s a series of events that are spelled out by the author, with little time for characterisation – Suky is impulsive, calculating, clever and thoughtless as the plot demands; while people don’t underestimate Henry as much as the author claims. The trouble between Brenda and Penelope-masquerading-as-Judy is underdeveloped, even though it’s interesting. Despite living on her nerves because she’s the cautious one, more closely scrutiny at school, and therefore in greater danger of being discovered, Penelope manages to be a brilliant scholar. The author is more interested in preparing us for various times various characters cross paths and making sure we understand what their interactions meant.
I read this with gritted teeth, occasionally forcing myself to read another chapter in one sitting. The characters aren’t likeable or realistic. Perhaps I would have been amused or thrilled by their adventures way back when. As it was…
