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When she is assaulted by her husband Marcus, Lydia Langstone flees her pampered life and seeks refuge with her father, whom she has never really seen, in his dingy rooms at number 7, Bleeding Heart Square. The Square is one of those strange corners of London, and the house itself has a peculiar history. It belonged at the beginning of 1930 to a Miss Penhow; extracts from Miss Penhow's diary, read and commented on by a narrator whose identity is unknown to the reader, at least at first, appear at the start of each chapter. It soon becomes apparent that all the lodgers at 7, Bleeding Heart Square, not to mention the current owner, one Serridge, have their own stories and peculiarities. The vacant attic room is soon rented out to Rory Wentwood, a young man who has just returned from India; Rory was engaged to Fenella Kensley, Miss Penhow's niece and he takes the rooms partly in the hope of discovering something about that lady's disappearance. Any mystery set in this period - the inter-war years, the Golden Age of mystery writing - must, by its nature, be either imitation, pastiche, or revision. BLEEDING HEART SQUARE belongs very firmly in the revisionist camp, though there are bits of imitation (or tribute, to be more polite). The areas on which revisionists tend to concentrate, with perhaps considerable justification, are class, gender, politics, and sexuality, areas that are perceived as being absent from the Golden Age writers themselves. It is fascinating that BLEEDING HEART SQUARE follows so closely on the heels of Laura Wilson's STRATTON'S WAR, which takes a similarly revisionist look at exactly the same areas, if a few years later. This is in no way intended as a complaint, as these two books are the best it has so far been my pleasure to review here, but mere observation. Taylor and Wilson are very different writers, each with their own strengths which are reflected in the peculiar strengths of their books; the comparison is of great interest and use. In terms of class Lydia moves from the upper-class world of comfort, luxury and servants to a hand-to-mouth existence where she has to count her pennies and take a boring job as a dogsbody in a solicitor's office; she becomes aware however that even this existence is privileged in comparison to some. Lydia is reading Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own throughout the novel; apart from the obvious irony in this, I wonder if Taylor is thinking of recent revelations (and a book) about Woolf's own troubled relationship with her servants. Whatever, much amusement is had at the expense of Lydia's domestic inexpertise. The position of women is clearly examined in terms not only of Lydia's own predicament (and virtually everyone urges her to return to the abusive Marcus) but in that of various women throughout the novel including, of course, Miss Penhow herself. Many of these stories are, inevitably, tragic. The role of politics in BLEEDING HEART SQUARE is overt, as Marcus is heavily involved with Mosley's fascists (the British Union of Fascists) who are an ever-present threat and menace, brought home with a terrible clarity later in the book. Similarly the consequences of the First World War and the possibility of a second one lie heavily in different ways on some of the book's characters. Sexuality and sex make more of a token appearance in Taylor than they do in Wilson, perhaps quite inevitably (I am unconvinced that any man could write as well about a woman's sexual experience as Wilson does in STRATTON'S WAR, but that is another hot potato which it would be well to drop). I said that there were elements of imitation in BLEEDING HEART SQUARE and the writer whom Taylor's description of quirky and sometimes menacing London backwaters inevitably calls to mind is Margery Allingham, who was the mistress of this kind of location and mood; Bleeding Heart Square itself would fit nicely into a number of her books. Taylor throws in a few wry jokes as well, such as a dig at Tennyson, whom Christie liked to quote and was the particular stand-by of Patricia Wentworth's Maud Silver. All of the foregoing pleasures, and slight imperfections, would by themselves be inadequate were it not for Taylor's ability to write a wholly engrossing and perfectly paced mystery. The book starts slowly and gathers momentum, sweeping the reader along towards the climactic scenes. This kind of narrative art is all too rare nowadays. Surprises are delivered in a deceptively casual manner and the various plot strands are gradually tied together in a most satisfactory way. I think it would be fair to say that there are no sensational plot-twists or revelations, though it is unlikely any reader would guess every conclusion and resolution. The clever dual endings allow for Taylor to be both light and dark - which one the reader takes away would be a matter of personal choice. This is a tremendous revisionist mystery. In comparison to STRATTON'S WAR it is perhaps less perceptive in its judgements on those issues - class, gender, politics and sexuality - which are at the heart of the revisionist's concerns, but BLEEDING HEART SQUARE compensates with a more involving narrative; you pays your money and you takes your choice - it doesn't really matter, as they are both great books. All power to the revisionists!
Reviewed by Nick Hay, May 2008
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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