I’m a fan of Jill Dawson’s writing. Her last novel, The Crime Writer, was a wonderful piece of literary fan fiction, a perverse love letter to Patricia Highsmith. However, when I read that The Language of Birds was based on the notorious Lord Lucan affair I dismissed it. I’m old enough to have seen far too much in the way of tawdry media coverage of that. Then I spotted a publishers’ giveaway on Twitter and decided to give it a try. I’m so glad I did. Far from being a rehash of the infamous murder replete with speculation as to Lucan’s fate, Dawson’s novel reimagines the story from the nanny’s perspective.
Mandy and Rosy meet at a psychiatric hospital: Mandy is recovering from a breakdown but Rosy suffers occasional psychotic episodes. Each is the other’s first real friend. Rosy goes on to pursue her studies in child development, becoming a Norland nanny. When she hears of a vacancy with the Morverns, she recommends Mandy. Katharine Morvern is desperate for help with her quiet, eager-to-please son, James, and Pammie, the baby Mandy hears squalling when Katharine opens her front door. Katharine is in the midst of an acrimonious divorce from her husband who is given to frequent silent phone calls and posting private detectives outside the house. The apparently charming, urbane Dickie has weaponised the children against his wife in a bitter custody battle. Katharine unburdens herself to Mandy, sharing her gorgeous clothes and the grubby secrets of her marriage with both Mandy and Rosy on their Thursday evenings off. While Mandy voices her concerns about Dickie’s behaviour, the violent streak Katherine has talked of and his unpredictability, Rosy is seduced by the attention he pays her, unheeding of his manipulation. One night, breaking their usual routine, it’s Mandy rather than Katherine who goes downstairs to make a pot of tea.
Touchingly, Dawson has dedicated her novel to Sandra Rivett, the nanny who spent a scant ten weeks in the Lucan household. Readers of a certain age will remember the incessant, prurient coverage of her murder, and of Lucan’s subsequent disappearance. Dawson turns this coverage on its head, telling her story from Mandy’s perspective interwoven with Rosy’s occasional reflections. Both are complex and convincing characters – Rosy a little immature and caught up in the glamour of the circles she finds herself attached to while Mandy’s complicated past is slowly revealed. Through these two, Dawson reveals a society still deferring to and obsessed by its upper echelons who farm out the care of their children, seemingly incapable of looking after them themselves. Violence against women is a constant undercurrent, culminating in Mandy’s murder and the attack on Katherine. By telling the story from the nanny’s perspective, Dawson’s careful, compassionate and compelling novel honours her memory, tipping the balance away from a media obsessed with Lucan which reduced Sandra Rivett to ‘the lovely young nanny’ rather than a vibrant young woman with a life of her own. For me, it’s one of Dawson’s best.
That’s it from me for a few weeks. H and I are off on our travels again, no doubt taking a book or ten with us. I’ll be back to tell you all about it in July.
This is a book I am very interested in reading. Shockingly I have never read anything by Jill Dawson, but keep seeing people talking about how good she is. I do have one of her books on my kindle.
I think you’d like her, Ali. She has a knack of telling historical figures’ stories with flair and originality, and she gets her period detail right.
Hope you have a wonderful time on your travels, Susan.
Thank you, Paula. We’re both hoping we’ll encounter a bit of sunshine.
You know how much I love fiction based on true life – this sounds right up my street. Hope you have a great time on your trip!
Thank you, Cathy, we’ll be setting off in a couple of hours! I think the Dawson would suit you down to the ground.
I really liked The Crime Writer and will definitely try this.
I loved The Crime Writer, a real bit of literary fan fiction. This one is equally good if not better but in a very different way.
Although I’m a fan of Dawson, this didn’t appeal to me because I find Lucan and his circle repugnant. You’ve changed my mind though! I should have known she would write sensitively and redress the balance of the tabloid coverage somewhat. Happy travels Susan!
Thank you from Gdansk where we’ve just settled in to our apartment! I’m with you absolutely on that repugnance.
Have a wonderful trip, Susan!!
Thanks, Naomi. We’re having a great time! Now in Krakow on our way up into the mountains.
I’ve just finished listening to this and you’re right, Susan. Jill Dawson does a brilliant job of pointing out the outrageous privileges given to male toffs by the world. Could anything be more timely, I wonder? She is very strong on class and gender issues here but also tells a powerful tale. I was spitting with rage by the end at men, courts, and media. Well, no change there really, lol! But excellent stuff from the ever-wonderful Jill Dawson.
No change, indeed, sadly. Dawson seemed rightly determined to make Mandy’s voice ring out loud and clear as Sandra Rivett’s never did.