Some Old Lover's Ghost

From Publishers Weekly Popular British writer Lennox (Footprints in the Sand) frames her romantic mystery, spanning a century's worth of family intrigue, adultery and betrayal, with a modern-day dilemma. London biographer-documentary filmmaker Rebecca Bennett is 31 years old, bright and ambitious, but after having been left abruptly by her selfish lover when she miscarries his child, she's devastated. Depressed, Rebecca almost turns down the chance to write the biography of Dame Tilda Franklin, an activist who devoted her life to saving orphaned or unwanted children. Rebecca knows that saints make for dull stories, and she's interested in the "skull beneath the skin." But Tilda reveals a wealth of skeletons in a long-locked closet and Rebecca is drawn to Tilda and to her handsome lawyer grandson, Patrick. Gradually, frail, elderly Tilda recounts her complicated early life; her mother was raped by wealthy Edward de Paveley, who connived to have her sent to an asylum, and Tilda was raised by a strange, vengeful aunt. Her first love, Daragh Canavan, marries de Paveley's legitimate daughter, but never stops loving Tilda, though Tilda weds journalist Max Franklin and has a family of her own. Decades later, as Rebecca is researching Tilda's story, a body is discovered, believed to be Daragh's. A mysterious caller accuses Tilda of murdering Daragh years ago, so Rebecca plunders the family history, chasing ghosts and rumors in hopes of revealing the truth. Little does she know she's in danger herself from an unexpected source. Believable characters and a tale rife with shocking scandals make for a chilling mystery, though at times the plot whips through historical eras and switches narrative voices with little warning. Readers may sympathize with Tilda's mother, whose life was ruined in 1914 by bearing a child out of wedlock, but will have a harder time understanding modern-day Rebecca, an emotional basket case who seems to make a habit of getting pregnant at the outset of her romances, and seems powerless in directing her life, despite her description as a worldly, enterprising career woman. Agent, Robin Straus. (Nov.) Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal Readers of Rosamunde Pilcher and Angela Thirkell should enjoy this very entertaining novel, a contemporary tale that intermingles flashbacks to 1930s and 1940s Britain. Thirty-one-year-old Rebecca Bennett is still recovering from a disastrous affair when she is asked to write the biography of Dame Tilda Franklin, a highly regarded social activist who has devoted her life to rescuing children from appalling situations. As Rebecca becomes increasingly involved in her subject's extraordinary life, her research into the sinister disappearance of Tilda's first love decades ago strains her new relationship with Tilda's grandson, Patrick. The author effortlessly blends moments of suspense with pathos and humor (including one hysterical scene that anyone who has ever wished to take revenge on an old flame will appreciate). The shift between Tilda's past and Rebecca's present is never confusing or annoying, and both lives are equally interesting. This well-written and thoroughly enjoyable novel will have readers eagerly turning the pages until the end.AElizabeth Mary Mellett, Brookline P.L., MA Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist Set in East Anglia, Lennox's latest romance is a fulfilling, enriching story of how the past determines the present. Rebecca Bennett, who has just lost her newborn child and been abandoned by her lover, is at first diverted and then absorbed by the task of writing a biography of the elderly Dame Tilda Franklin. Tilda has spent her life caring for neglected and abandoned children, and children both wanted and unwanted are at the book's core. As Rebecca delves into Tilda's past, an intricate tapestry of secrets, betrayals, revenge, and even murder emerges. The rape of a servant girl by a wealthy landowner in 1914, which resulted in Tilda's birth, still haunts the family years later. Love, misplaced and confused, has led to animosities as well as marriages that pair the wrong partners. But happiness awaits as Rebecca slowly realizes that she has been chosen to solve the puzzle of the past, and that her quest has lead her to Dame Tilda's grandson, and to her becoming an integral part of the family. Holly Cooley From Kirkus Reviews Precariously balanced somewhere between historical romance and contemporary fiction, this latest effort from Lennox (The Secret Years, 1995, etc.) casts an inviting spell, seducing the reader despite its rather predictable storyline. Devastated by the abandonment of her boyfriend (he gives her the heave-ho in the hospital, where shes recovering from a miscarriage), biographer Rebecca Bennett, 31, plunges into her latest assignment: the life of Dame Tilda Franklin, a Mother Teresa to Englands orphaned children. Old yet razor-sharp, Tilda recounts her life, starting with her ignoble beginnings, as bastard child to Edward de Paveley and a servant at his estate. Tildas mother was committed to an asylum for convenience, leaving Tilda to be raised by her vengeful aunt Sarah. When Tilda meets Daragh Canavan, the course of her life is forever altered. The handsome Irishman, in England to escape debts and build a fortune, falls in love with Tilda, whos swept away by his extraordinary charm. Through a series of Sarah-generated misunderstandings, Daragh marries heiress Jossy de Paveley, Tildas unknown half-sister, propelling Tilda to London, where she builds a virtuous life during WWII, rescuing children from the Nazis. Tildas children, both natural and rescued (including Daraghs petulant daughter), eventually force a wedge between her and her husband, Max, whos further unhinged by the horrors he witnessed as a wartime journalist. While uncovering a glorious past riddled with sadness, Rebecca falls in love with Tildas grandson, Patrick, but becomes suspicious of his motivations: Is he truly in love, or is he distracting Rebecca from uncovering a catastrophic truth?that Tilda may have murdered Daragh after the war. A now-pregnant Rebecca must either abandon her principles and the biography, or forge ahead alone. A sizable assemblage of well-honed characters. Despite some swooshy plot devices, a compelling and even at times suspenseful yarn. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. "Judith Lennox's writing is so keenly honest it could sever heartstrings." -- Daily Mail Judith Lennox is the author of seventeen novels. She lives in Cambridgeshire, England with her husband and three sons. Read more