THE GLASS OF TIME
Michael Cox
W. W. Norton & Company
Mystery
Hardcover: 9780393067736
Paperback: 9780393337167
Michael Cox has worked in the music business, edited horror anthologies and is the biographer of the scholar and ghost-story writer M. R. James. More importantly, his previous bestseller, THE MEANING OF NIGHT, was the result of nearly 30 years of work. Having been stricken with cancer and taking medication that threatens the loss of his eyesight, Cox worked furiously to finish the book for publication in 2006. In the follow-up companion piece, THE GLASS OF TIME, he acknowledges several of his physicians that have kept him going for the two years it took to write the sequel.
THE MEANING OF NIGHT featured an anti-hero who was morally compromised, a lost inheritance where a legitimate birthright was denied, and an ancient country house named Evenwood. THE GLASS OF TIME picks up this story 20 years later in the autumn of 1876. Nineteen-year-old orphan Esperanza Gorst arrives at the great country house of Evenwood to become a lady’s maid to the 26th Baroness Tansor. We had been introduced to the latest Lady Tansor in the prior novel when she was still known simply as Emily Carteret. Having survived the tragic murder of her beloved Phoebus Daunt, she went on to marry Colonel Zaluski and bear two children with him, Perseus and Randolph. Colonel Zaluski has since passed on, and now Baroness Tansor, nee Carteret, resides in Evenwood as the oldest living relative of the Duport bloodline.
Esperanza Gorst is more than just a mere servant. She has been sent from France by the mysterious Madame de l’Orme to uncover secrets that Lady Tansor has sought to conceal, as well as seeking to right a past injustice that involves Esperanza in a way that initially is not revealed to her. Esperanza has been well-trained by both Madame de l’Orme and her private tutor, Mr. Basil Thornhaugh. They have raised Esperanza since she lost both her parents tragically at an early age. Madame de l’Orme and Mr. Thornhaugh keep in regular contact with Esperanza via mail and with each letter reveal a little more of the history behind their extensive revenge plot.
While at Evenwood, Esperanza meets with Lady Tansor’s two sons --- and potential heirs to the throne --- Perseus and Randolph. Perseus is an aspiring poet and always overly serious, while Randolph is the younger brother and far more adventurous. At times throughout the novel, Esperanza wavers between her affections for both brothers. She’s having a hard time acclimating to the “upstairs-downstairs” social strata that exists within Evenwood between the family and the household help. She finds particular difficulty in figuring out Mrs. Battersby, the head housekeeper, who is near her own age but seems to be unwelcomingly jealous towards Esperanza.
Lady Tansor treats Esperanza as much more than a maid, and their relationship grows to the point where she eventually elevates her from the status of household help to Lady’s Companion. Even though Lady Tansor appears moody and is quite secretive with her late-night travels through unexplored parts of Evenwood, she seems to genuinely relish her times with Esperanza. Lady Tansor, however, has a small circle of mysterious confidants; one in particular, Mr. Armitage Vyse, is not well liked by either of her sons. Vyse also appears to be rather suspicious of Esperanza and suspects she has an ulterior motive for being at Evenwood that goes beyond her employment as a maid/companion to Lady Tansor.
We find Esperanza learning a little more of Lady Tansor’s history with each passing letter from Madame de l’Orme and Mr. Thornhaugh. She still does not fully understand where she fits into this history and why the revenge plot is so personal to her own existence. To reveal any of this would simply spoil things, so let me leave the reader with the understanding that what takes place during this perfectly plotted novel is a complicated web of seduction, intrigue, deceit, betrayal and murder that is impossible to resist.
In an interview, Michael Cox said he has rarely read anything published post-1930. It is this dedication and understanding of the past that helps him create the deeply layered atmosphere in THE GLASS OF TIME. He has stated that he planned on this story to be a trilogy; I eagerly await the finale in this wonderful saga and pray that he remains healthy enough to bring the next tale to us soon!
--- Reviewed by Ray Palen
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