MacDonald, Malcolm. The Carringtons of Helston. St. Martin’s Press, 1997.
Reason read: so…this is a weird one, so hang on. I am reading The Carringtons of Helston because it takes place in Cornwall. Every December 23rd the townspeople of Mousehole, Cornwall, celebrate a festival called Tom Bawcock’s Eve. Bawcock was a 16th century fisherman who was rumored to have saved the town of Mousehole from starvation by going fishing during a storm. His boat was small but his courage was mighty and he caught more than enough fish to save the entire village. There you have it.
This takes place right before World War I in Cornwall, England. To give you an idea – tomatoes have just been deemed nonpoisonous. It is a society where people dance around topics in a valiant effort to not say what they really mean to say – all for the sake of politics, politeness, or both. The cat and mouse games people play are humorous during this era especially when each party takes a turn being the cat. But, don’t be fooled by the prim and proper society of Helston, Cornwall! MacDonald makes sure to include very real human desires and jealousies of all his main characters. Leah, the Carrington daughter, is a young woman with modern thoughts. Old enough to be a spinster, she wants friends with benefits. She doesn’t want the marriage, just the intimacy with a good man. A good dose of humor is peppered throughout the story. Housemaids are saucy. Gentlemen are not above acting the fool on occasion. Characters are so well drawn I could see this being a PBS or BBC show (something a little spicier than Downton Abbey).
Lines I liked, “Of course, any old building must have been a silent witness to the whole gambit of human activities and emotions” (p 35).
Author fact: The Carringtons of Helston is the only MacDonald book I am reading for the challenge. He wrote many others.
Book trivia: The language and mannerisms of The Carringtons of Helston characters is so modern I kept forgetting what era the story took place.
BookLust Twist: from Book Lust To Go in the chapter called “Cornwall’s Charms” (p 71)
~*LunaSea*~ 