Gothic crime and Victorian intrigue

A Victorian novel in the form of an epistolary, this is the supposed journal of 17-year-old Richard Shenstone, who has just been sent home, or “rusticated,” from Cambridge because of misdeeds that are only slowly revealed in the course of the novel. Richard has recently learned that his father, once a respected deacon of the church, has died of a heart attack while under suspicion of embezzlement of church funds–and worse–and that his mother and older sister are living in dire circumstances in a delapidated house from which they might soon be evicted. Not only are his mother and sister not happy to see him, but they want him out of their lives for unknown reasons. He keeps interrupting them in whispered conversation, and this reader, at least, joined Richard in deciding to stick around long enough to satisfy our curiosity.

Richard is precocious but also unpleasant, and indulges in opium smoking, nighttime strolls around the dank and foggy village, and lustful thoughts about nearly every female of any age that he encounters. His sister is a manipulative bitch who is determined to make a wealthy catch at an upcoming ball, and his mother is a secretive wretch who seems to be dying of consumption. Richard’s family is largely shunned by many in the village amid lurid stories about his dead father. In fact, the entire village appears to survive on mostly malicious rumor and gossip, each against the other, and the most powerful writing in the book is author Palliser’s brilliant portrayal of the small town mentality steeped in pettiness and scandal.

All things seem to be leading to a ball being planned by the wealthy earl of the town, while all the eligible women–Richard’s sister included–are desperately vying for the attentions of–and ultimately matrimony with –the earl’s young nephew. Meanwhile mysterious tortures of domestic animals and strange lights at night have the villagers in a tizzy, and stirring the gossip pot is a series of letters being delivered to virtually every member of the village, filled with lewd accusations and dire threats against every leading family.  As fingers start pointing at Richard as the dissolute author of the animal desecrations and frightening letters, Richard suspects that a conspiracy is afoot. The final revelations prove satisfyingly shocking.

Rustication is not entirely successful, although I stuck with it if only to discover who was behind the tortures and the letters. Palliser introduces too many characters, not all of whom are relevant or necessary to the plot, and his gothic atmospherics are overdone. Nonetheless, a nice change of pace for a rainy Sunday.