A Dreadful Splendor by B. R. Myers
Author B. R. Myers, best known for her young adult novels, has written a perfectly splendid novel for adults called A Dreadful Splendor. It can be easily read and relished by anyone ages twelve and up, as it is devoid of both crude language and explicit sex scenes. It is an attention grabbing, vividly imagined, suspenseful Victorian gothic mystery romance which this reader found impossible to put down!
It evoked memories of some of my late serious-minded mother’s favorite writers such as Daphne du Maurier, Victoria Holt and Mary Stewart whose works she dubbed “guilty pleasures”. A Dreadful Splendor hints of the magical reveal in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s A Little Princess. While it feels authentically vintage, the writing is fresh, original, full of surprises and features a captivating heroine in Genevieve Timmons. It’s a gem of a summer or anytime read!
A DESPERATE GIRL AND A DANGEROUS SHAM
The novel begins in 1852 in the poorer streets and back alleys of London. Genevieve, the beautiful and remarkably still innocent protagonist, is mightily troubled by her penury, her role in her mother’s recent death as well as fears of the hangman’s noose. She is desperate to escape her current situation as a reluctant “guest” of the Metropolitan Police Force in an overcrowded, squalid gaol.
Her beloved mother was cast adrift by her noble and wealthy French family when she married a handsome, penniless Englishman against their wishes. They were a poor but happy family until he tragically died when their only daughter was a young child. Due to their reduced circumstances, Mama (Justine) could barely afford the rent for a small room in Miss Crane’s “boardinghouse,” as her seedy bordello was euphemistically known. The alternative could easily have been a Dickensian nightmare of a poorhouse.
Mother and daughter had eked out a living as fortune tellers and dubious spiritualists conducting séances for grieving mourners wishing to contact dead relatives. Justine passed on her skill at reading faces and listening for clues to what reassurances they would wish to hear from their dearly departed.
Now that her protective mother is gone, the notorious madam Miss Crane is adding to her misery by pressuring this 18-year-old girl to join her stable as a prized attraction. Working alone after her mother’s death, Genevieve added occasional sleight-of-hand thefts to her performance. One such failed caper landed her in prison with charges of theft added to suspicion of murder.
DOUBT IS CAST ON AN UNTIMELY DEATH
Hope stirs when a well-dressed gentleman, a Mr. Lockhart, presents himself as her attorney and pays her bail after discreetly proffering a bribe to the corrupt constable. He wishes her to perform a convincing séance to bring peace to his employer, Mr. Gareth Pemberton, whose lovely bride-to-be, Lady Audra Linwood, died the evening before their wedding. If she is successful, Lockhart promises her dismissal of charges and continued freedom while making it clear he regards her profession as fakery.
The grand estate, Somerset Park, is many hours distant by carriage, situated on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The house is dark, mysterious and richly furnished with a veritable warren of hidden passageways and a dank, subterranean dungeon. Intrigue builds as the reader discovers that Gareth Pemberton is not mourning the death of his fiancé (a distant cousin); theirs would have been a marriage of obligation and convenience. He is convinced her death was deliberate and not suicide.
The manor house is populated with a mix of potential allies and treacherous foes and it will be up to Genevieve’s instincts and wits to sort them out. The housekeeper alone would give Mrs. Danvers the chills. While Genevieve knows her abilities as a medium are a sham, she senses a ghostly presence imploring her to expose the truth. The plot is fast paced, the characters finely drawn and as Sherlock Holmes often said to Dr. Watson, “the game is afoot.”
To be a proper Victorian Gothic, the heroine should be young, lovely and in danger of losing her virtue or her life (or both!) with a great deal of suspense and the tantalizing promise of a happy ending. A Dreadful Splendor delivers on all counts. B.R. Myers is a Canadian author whom I hope will become better known on this side of the border with this tantalizing work of fiction.
About B. R. Myers:
Always in the mood for a good scare, B.R. Myers spent most of her teen years behind the covers of Lois Duncan, Ray Bradbury and Stephen King. When she’s not putting her characters in precarious situations, she works as a registered nurse. A member of the Writer’s Federation of Nova Scotia, she lives in Halifax with her husband and two children — and there is still a stack of books on her bedside table.
As Daphne Dubois she writes contemporary romance in Canadian settings with swoony Canadian heroes and believes finding the right book at the right time makes all the difference.
