11 Mar / The Meaning of Night: A Confession by Michael Cox
If, like me, you’re in the throes of Downton Abbey withdrawal, might I highly recommend the late Michael Cox‘s only two novels [sadly the noted expert on the Victorian ghost story passed away two years ago at just age 60]. Yes, the British monarchs are different (Queen Victoria reigns in Cox’s double volumes – this and its fabulous sequel The Glass of Time – while the Lord Crawleys bow to King George V), but the upstairs/downstairs class-inspired intrigue is just as (if not more so) wicked and delicious!
Constructed as a diary-like “confession” from the mid-19th century that is discovered and edited (with such convincing annotations as to send you google-ing often) by a 21st-century Victorian literature professor with Cambridge credentials, Meaning begins with an unforgettable first line: “After killing the red-haired man, I took myself off to Quinn’s for an oyster supper.” WOW.
Over the next 700 pages (or 22 hours if you’re listening to David Timson’s narration with just the right fear factor woven in), the ‘confessor’ Edward Glyver reveals the story of his extraordinary life, moving in and out of various decades, not to mention multiple identities. Raised by his widowed mother, his modest childhood will be the most stable period of his tumultuous life. His admission to prestigious Eton College ends ignominiously when he is wrongfully accused of theft, an incident that sparks his life-long enmity for his former friend, Phoebus Rainsford Daunt. That relationship will define the rest of his life.
With the death of his mother, Edward inherits her private papers, including her journals which hold a secret so shocking Edward will take years to fully unravel. Detail by detail, he will need to find the proof to his true identity, all the while trying to keep his nemesis from usurping his rightful inheritance. He travels the world, becomes quite the independent literary scholar, and maneuvers himself into well-placed employment as a personal assistant to a powerful solicitor with the very connections he needs. Step by careful step, he moves closer to Evenwood, the principle seat of the Tansor Barony. To both the estate and title, Edward believes himself to be the only legal heir …
Edward’s labyrinthine quest is rife with heart-thumping twists and turns. Sure, you might guess a few of the outcomes, but you’ll be so absorbingly entertained, you won’t be able to stop turning the pages. [For listeners, fair warning that you’ll most likely revert to the page as you’ll want to know more, more, more at a speed that even the best narrator can’t provide. It’s that good.]
As soon as you get to page 703, rest assured that the sequel awaits … and that, too, proves to be spectacularly memorable.
Readers: Adult
Published: 2006