Dark Palace: the companion novel to Grand Days by Frank Moorhouse
Sydney: Knopf, 2000 ISBN 009183676X
After racing through Grand Days, I've now whizzed through the second novel in the Edith Trilogy in quick time, which certainly attests to the ability of Frank Moorhouse to write a gripping fast-paced story. Part history, part diplomatic thriller, part bildungsroman, Dark Palace continues the journey of Edith Berry through the offices of the League of Nations, marriage, espionage and the seamier side of life in Europe during the 1930s and 40s.
The novel begins in 1931, and traces Edith's life up until the end of 1945 - tumultuous years for the World, the League, and Edith, as she becomes a critical part of the failed push for disarmament, loses a husband and some friends, and picks up where she left off with Ambrose Westwood, her cross-dressing English lover.
While there are chapters devoted to the workings of The League, and to wartime machinations in Switzerland, this second book spends more time delving into the workings of Edith's mind, as she moves from youth to middle-age, and navigates her feelings about her personal life, the political views of her friends and acquaintances, and world affairs in general.
And for much of the time it's a confused mind - Edith is impulsive by nature, and she realises early on in the book that her decision to marry Robert was a mistake - they were simply incompatible characters, and eventually she comes to the realisation that not only had her love for him died, but that while her life revolved around finding peace and order in world relations, Robert thrived on disorder and conflict.
When Ambrose re-appears in Geneva, she finds herself drawn back in to the demi-monde world of the Molly Club and all that it entails - while Edith and Ambrose realise that they have a life-bond, Ambrose's indiscretions with other men continue to put a strain on their relationship.
Partly owing to the strain, Edith spends what turns out to be a fairly miserable time on leave back in Australia - she half-heartedly entertains the idea of a job in the newly created Department of External Affairs, has an unfortunate proposal from her old friend George, and has to leave her Father for the last time. Her sojourn does make her realise that she had become what she had strived to be when she first made it to Geneva - an internationalist.
During the War the League became fairly impotent, and the end of the novel well conveys the shock of Edith and her colleagues when they realise they have been completely shut out of any role in the new United Nations organization.
Both Grand Days and Dark Palace are tours de force: the product of much research into the workings of The League, and wonderful re-imaginings of what it might have been like to be a part of it during that time and in that place. Moorhouse's story telling craft is at its height in these books - the reader is swept up by all the activity, and swept along by the well-paced tension that is created by Moorhouse in his writing.
And yet... for me, there is a flaw at the heart of this story. I have found it hard to fully engage with the characters in the novel - especially Edith, Ambrose, and Robert. It could be that Edith is a little too earnest, Ambrose a little too flippant, and Robert a little too cynical, but I think it's more than that. I just think that Moorhouse gets them to do things that I think go against the types of characters that he has made them out to be. I think in the case of Edith in particular, he hasn't fully got into the skin of her as a woman, and some of the things she thinks just don't gel. Of course that is my opinion, I am not a woman, so it could be that I am wrong. But still...
This issue would seem to be a fatal blow for the success of these novels, but it doesn't seem to be. I could get over that reservation because the story itself was so enjoyable to read. It's a bit of a quandary for me to try and work through as I more fully digest this book.
And now, on to the third and final part of the trilogy, Cold Light!
Cheers for now, from
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