REVIEW: Pomeroy's Postscript
Apr. 30th, 2011 05:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feather_ghyllPomeroy’s Postscript: Mary Fitt The Children’s Book Club by arrangement with Nelson.
The postscript is to a letter to Marguerite (aka Meg) and it's from her twin brother, who understandably prefers to be called 'Roy' rather than his full name of Pomeroy. The letter is from an eccentric rich woman’s legal representative and next of kin on her behalf, inviting Meg to join Roy on holiday at her Cornish home. Meg has been expecting to spend her August at her north of England boarding school, because she and her brother have been, as far as they know, doubly orphaned. They are each other's only family. They were castaway babies found in Crete by a man they came to know as Uncle Jack, who later died, leaving them to the care of trustees. But although the postscript backs up the invitation, it uses code that tells Meg that Roy wants her to do the exact opposite.
However, Meg’s headmistress and lawyer think that her going is highly desirable – no-one asks Meg what she thinks and when she reaches Creek House where the River Lith meets the sea, the same pattern of behaviour continues. ‘Cousin Job’ and ‘Aunt Maude’ tell the twins what to do and they are never left alone, especially when fat, bespectacled know-it-all Merrit arrives. To add to Meg's unease, Roy is acting most unlike himself. Fitt does a great job of building up a suspenseful atmosphere here, with Meg confused and powerless but forced to conform politely.
The story’s resolution doesn’t, couldn't, live up to the air of mystery. Although some of it is different - swotty Merrit discovers the clues and is clever enough to put them together - there are too many happy coincidences (several people thought dead turn out not to have been!) It all goes downhill when Cousin Job leaves the house, autocratically hiring a tutor for the boys who turns out to be a bruiser (he was almost Dickensian). He brings physical danger in his wake, which even livewire Roy, who can box and swim and likes to be active baulks at – Marguerite is forced to play buffer between active Roy and swotty Merrit, who can be insufferable, even if the twins discover he's trustworthy. But those opening chapters were very atmospheric.
Edited 30/8/11.
The postscript is to a letter to Marguerite (aka Meg) and it's from her twin brother, who understandably prefers to be called 'Roy' rather than his full name of Pomeroy. The letter is from an eccentric rich woman’s legal representative and next of kin on her behalf, inviting Meg to join Roy on holiday at her Cornish home. Meg has been expecting to spend her August at her north of England boarding school, because she and her brother have been, as far as they know, doubly orphaned. They are each other's only family. They were castaway babies found in Crete by a man they came to know as Uncle Jack, who later died, leaving them to the care of trustees. But although the postscript backs up the invitation, it uses code that tells Meg that Roy wants her to do the exact opposite.
However, Meg’s headmistress and lawyer think that her going is highly desirable – no-one asks Meg what she thinks and when she reaches Creek House where the River Lith meets the sea, the same pattern of behaviour continues. ‘Cousin Job’ and ‘Aunt Maude’ tell the twins what to do and they are never left alone, especially when fat, bespectacled know-it-all Merrit arrives. To add to Meg's unease, Roy is acting most unlike himself. Fitt does a great job of building up a suspenseful atmosphere here, with Meg confused and powerless but forced to conform politely.
The story’s resolution doesn’t, couldn't, live up to the air of mystery. Although some of it is different - swotty Merrit discovers the clues and is clever enough to put them together - there are too many happy coincidences (several people thought dead turn out not to have been!) It all goes downhill when Cousin Job leaves the house, autocratically hiring a tutor for the boys who turns out to be a bruiser (he was almost Dickensian). He brings physical danger in his wake, which even livewire Roy, who can box and swim and likes to be active baulks at – Marguerite is forced to play buffer between active Roy and swotty Merrit, who can be insufferable, even if the twins discover he's trustworthy. But those opening chapters were very atmospheric.
Edited 30/8/11.
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Date: 2011-05-01 08:42 am (UTC)Never heard of this one, but it sounds worth a read!
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Date: 2011-05-01 08:17 pm (UTC)