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The title is based on a quotation from Oscar Wilde about the effects of drinking absinthe and reflects events of the novel as well as its 1880 setting. We are not, however, in Wilde's sophisticated London but in the grittier surroundings of the American West. This is the third of Michelle Black's books about Eden Murdoch - a feisty heroine who had willingly defied conventions by marrying a Cheyenne medicine man; he has since died and she is engaged to Brad Randall, who also featured in previous books. This historical adventure begins with Brad's nephew, Kit, describing his absinthe-induced erotic dreams in which he feels something unspeakable lurks. Perhaps they were real experiences, however? The lusty young man was involved with a lovely lady with a son only a year younger than him and Kit is a suspect for her sensational murder. There is considerable scope here for some of the usual Victorian preoccupations - women's status and correct behavior, achievement of wealth, the occult and spiritualism. Leadville is a mining town with rough tough predatory characters - both male and female. As Kit puts it 'he had never seen a place with more wealth and less refinement.' There has been labor trouble in the town against Kit's mistress, Lucinda, the owner of the Dazzler silver mine and she has dismissed the superintendant of the mine very publicly - these complications probably account for the police's failure to arrest Kit. On the other hand the justice meted out in Leadville tends to be at the hands of lynch mobs rather than the police. This is sexually powerful stuff as Kit worries about the aberrations he may have committed under the influence of absinthe; his situation complicated by the prudery of the era and his own strong response to the effects of absinthe. The Victorian obsession with the occult enlivens the book as Bella, Kit's girlfriend, uses 'magnetic sleep' (we would call it hypnotism) to discover past events. Pure melodrama concludes the tale. An era and a background is clearly shown with the raw emotions of the characters adding a psychological element. The detection of the villains is subtly woven into the canvas. Subtlety is not the overall impression of the book - a roaring, fast moving tale carries you on through betrayals, sexual adventures and charismatic figures. If you remember the old Westerns here we have characteristics of them leaping from the pages. A brawling mining town, a flawed hero and determined women remind us of the Victorian American West.
Reviewed by Jennifer Palmer, November 2003
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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