Greygallows (1972)

Listening: Nights in White Satin

Orphaned young heiress Lucy Cartwright finds herself maneuvered into marriage with the mysterious  Baron Clare before she has time to think. Spirited off to his Yorkshire estate, ominously called Greygallows by his oppressed villagers, she finds his distant attitude towards her puzzling...but not more than the family ghost who has begun to stalk her steps. Fearful, Lucy must marshal her wits and defy the strictures of society she has tamely followed until now, for it's not just her sanity that's at risk...it might be her life.

I don't know what prompted MPM's return to Victorian England (1846, to be precise), but here we are, back amidst the tried-and-true tropes. The narrative here is similar to that of Master and Sons--an orphaned young woman, a dangerous man, an isolated estate, a series of mysterious happenings, etc, etc, etc. Perhaps MPM wanted a guaranteed seller. Perhaps her publishers put pressure on her. Perhaps she simply thought she'd like to revisit a genre she was comfortable with and thought she could do better with than her previous efforts showed.

And it's true, MPM has improved as a writer by now--the plot is stronger, as are the characters and motivations. And I appreciate Lucy's character-arc: initially a spoiled, sheltered child, she grows into a woman interested in social welfare, with a strong sense of right and wrong. While she bores initially, she becomes sympathetic the more in-over-her-head she becomes. Her love interest, Jonathon Scott, is equally endearing with his interest in women's rights and the rights of the working man. He also brings a much needed sense of perspective and wry humor to a story that often feels a little heavily drawn.

And once again, our villain is in the gaslighting business. Attempting to frighten our heroine int mental instability with the family ghost is a classic, even if it wasn't the core part of his wicked plot. The build-up to the climax is rather good--MPM clouds the evil baron's intentions with sufficient confusion and inconsistency to make the ultimate root and reason of his plans worth guessing at.

Favorite thing? Has to be the respect MPM offers the villagers, who are the real heroes of the story, sprinting to the rescue despite the decades of abuse and ill-treatment they have suffered at the hands of an uncaring 'ruling class'. It would take an American to write that, I have to say.

Overall, one of her better Victorian Gothics, but nowhere near as good as the books she writes to laugh at the genre.

Ranking: ***

Favorite Line: "I expect you will want to go to Oxford, to complete your education," Jonathon suggested. "I can go on strike with you. We will riot and march, and perhaps attack Buckingham Palace..."

*Look for another reference to Richard III's much-maligned character in the Yorkshire villagers, who speak of him as "Dickon" and resent the Tudor usurpers!