A true historical mystery that takes a reader back into the England
of the 1830s, THE EGYPTIAN COFFIN from Jane Jakeman will thrill every
soul looking for an excellent story, a well-written narrative,
compelling characters, and a plot that delivers the treasure of a
mystery to solve. There is a murder, a second, and
possibly a third - in addition to a stealth threat - and yet, this
mystery is mere sub-plot to the actual story of international drama and
intrigue.
It,
along with Jakeman's exteriorly couth, while interiorly flawed
protagonist Lord Ambrose Malfine, could draw subtle parallels with Ian
Fleming's spy extraordinaire James Bond. Both are Englishmen. Both exude a level of urbane candor that loves the ladies and strong adventure. Both
showcase a mythic command for the complexities of life suggesting
something of a near supernatural origin -- as all great heroes tend to
exhibit.
However the difference, for Jakeman’s Lord Ambrose, is this heroic figure has a conscience to which the reader is made privy. He
remains fully aware of certain inherent characteristics which appall
him -- and which he fears will lose to him the one woman he truly loves,
Elizabeth.
Even so, duty continues its call. He is to leave Elizabeth,
his estate of Malfine, and his quiet existence behind to act as
protector to the life of seventeen-year-old Lillian Westmoreland, the
daughter of a childhood friend. Her life is not directly
threatened in any visible form; nevertheless, Ambrose suspects malicious
intent, propelling him into his stealth pursuit of her from England into the heart of Egypt.
What precipitated this gallant endeavor is the initial news of an accident from which the girl suffered. She was out riding her horse Selene, when she is thrown and the horse falls. Thus, she is bedridden in poor condition. Selene is killed for a broken leg. The groom, Adams, who attended Miss Lillian, and who was supposed to prevent such accidents from occurring, is dismissed.
Oddly, the household servants are likewise summarily dismissed; and Westmoreland Park, the estate Miss Lillian was heiress to is mostly boarded up by her Uncle Micah Overbury, her deceased mother's brother.
He is the one who decides Lillian should leave for Egypt to recuperate from her injuries, which showed themselves more serious than initially perceived. Egypt's climate will be more conducive to her recovery than England's,
and the costs of living will be far more agreeable to an estate's
finances which her Uncle Micah says have been sorely mismanaged.
All sounds sensible enough. So why would Lord Ambrose feel compelled to chase after them (Lillian is accompanied by her lady, Miss Jeanette, and her uncle's man, Casterman) when there is no clear affront to her life? There, in lies, part of the mystery.
After their departure, news reaches Lord Ambrose of a dead body found on the premises of Westmoreland Park.
In my opinion, THE EGYPTIAN COFFIN succeeds on all fronts. Jakeman write in a highly poetic style. Her prose is delightful to read just for the pleasure of hearing the words roll off the tip of the tongue. They hold an elegance that speaks for Lord Ambrose's valor and Miss Lillian's worthwhile virtue.
The alternating perspectives also give the story a more complete dimensional treatment. Rather
than the single point of view of one narrator, Jakeman tells the story
from both Lord Ambrose's vantage point and also Miss Lillian's view. This is expertly handled. By a lesser writer, the story could have drifted off its course. Not so here. Both perspectives are adeptly integrated into one single narrator told from two individual vantage points. Well done.
In
the end, the actual Egyptian Coffin, while not a major presence in this
drama, plays its role well in metaphorically linking the thematic
undercurrent with the literal conduit the box is used as to transport a
dead belief system (alive in that era) from one country to the next. Again I say, well done.
0 comments:
Post a Comment