Through a Darkening Glass: A Novel

I love historical fiction, and this one did not disappoint. It is charming, mysterious, vivid, humorous, relatable, and as I said, captivating. I could not put it down. Although I always hate it when a good story has to end, this one did leave me satisfied as to what the potential future of its characters might have been. Great story.

This is one of those rare instances where I really enjoyed the story and the characters, but I found the writing rather simple. It wasn’t enough to stop my reading because I enjoyed everything else so much.

‘Through a Darkening Glass’ is the story of Ruth Gladstone, a refugee fleeing the London Blitz at the start of WW2. She goes to a remote village in northern England with her Gran to stay with her elderly Aunt Vera, Gran’s sister. It is here that she meets Malcolm, an injured war veteran and his wife, Elise, a wounded civilian with severe head trauma. Elise is like a walking (not talking) person that cannot function except for the most rudimentary tasks. Ruth also discovers a wraith around the town, a ghostly apparition clothed in white that seems to skim along the countryside at night. This specter is well known and feared by the citizenry.The book is very good for about 250 pages. There are mysteries to quest all around this little town. The characters are interesting and real. The storyline is engaging as the reader sees a love interest growing between Ruth and Malcolm as well as the wraith’s uncanny ability to escape capture. The pages fly by in anticipation of what will happen.Spoilers AheadBut a wall is suddenly reached as the reader is confronted by an abundance of modern day politically correct notions thrust into the tale. The geriatric aunts are not what they seem to be, on many levels. They have a secret but everyone that discovers their secret life is very supportive. The boy, Johnny’s, missing brother is really his sister and has been secretly supported for many years by the town barroom singer that doesn’t want the child maligned by ‘small minded men’. So, she keeps the child hidden in a secret room in an abandoned mill. The ending is revealed by people talking in a bar over a couple of pints. Classic tell, don’t show. Ok, everyone spills their guts. Why at this particular time, I have no idea. In the end Ruth and Malcolm settle into a weird life together with Elise, probably sitting in a corner, watching them.Actually, the final pages are a mess of revelations that become so contrived that they jumble into each other, creating confusion and frustration.

R. S. Maxwell's first novel, Through a Darkening Glass, came to me via a free book email service. I do not, however, write this review out of obligation for the complimentary read. I write because it is good--excellent, in fact.The novel is coherent, interesting, funny, wise, and heartfelt. Maxwell's characters are lovable and engaging, if perhaps a bit too virtuous. The fog-laced mystery of the English countryside is not missing here, and the setting becomes essential to the book's overall effect. In an afterword, the author states that she "agree[s] with Horace, who wrote of poetry that it ought to instruct and delight." The book even does that. The villains may be a bit one-dimensional, but I must excuse that in a freshman effort with as much to recommend it as this one. There is the occasional lapse of factual precision (for instance, the idea that both Ruth and Maude shoot a "12 bore rifle" for the first time--their first time shooting--and make no comment about the recoil--we are talking about a 12-gauge shotgun, after all--"12 bore" and "rifle" must be colloquial because shotguns are smooth bore, not rifled), but these are the kind of inaccuracies that one will notice only if one has past experience; so again, excusable in my opinion.Small spoiler alert here: The novel never becomes the romance novel I expected, and I am grateful for that.Maxwell does come up with some surprises, solving mysteries where we thought there were none. The epilogue is lengthy, but it turns out to be fun to read because of its surprises.Before I was halfway through this book, I was already searching to find out the names of Maxwell's other novels, only to be disappointed. I'll have to subscribe to her email list and hope for something new soon.

The beginning failed to capture me, but once it did it was a pleasant read. The author has a good sense of character development and pace, and beautifully crafted setting a descriptions. However, many parts carried on too long. The author had a little bit too much going on in this story.As for the story itself, I am not a fan of the ending. Without giving it away I will say that of the options that were available to solve the mystery with, the one that was chosen was the most convoluted and least interesting to me.

Or clarity, I'm not much of a critic. I enjoy reading, and so long as words are used as they're intended to be used, I am happy. That said, I loved this book. Anything set in another time will grab me, but this book was so well written that it was immersive. I loved all the characters except one spoiled, unhelpful, and gross military boy. (I'd love to hear the gossip on who he was inspired by.) This book was an enjoyable read for me, and I've already recommended this book to my mom. Thank you for informing us readers that Martynsborough was a fictitious place and confirming that I'm not bad at reading maps. I searched for probably 20 minutes ;) I look forward to seeing what this author will come up with next.

I enjoyed reading this book as it dived into WWII England"s Backcountry and remind me of those days when everything was simple and down to earth.. really recommend this book.

I really enjoyed the story with the backdrop of WWII. It had lots of interesting female chat haters and kept you guessing until the end. A well-written, gentle tale.

Loved it, lots of threads to consider and would make a great Gothic Romance movie. The images if the colourful moths perched on the old man's shoulder would be stunning.

When Ruth leaves London with her grandmother for the small village of Martynsborough, she had no idea of the adventure that was about to begin. Her natural curiosity draws Ruth into discovering the truth behind a village mystery. A great tale with twists and turns to keep you guessing.

This is an intriguing story, with many revelations dotted throughout, that maintains interest to the end even though it stumbles occasionally with lack of flow to the writing. It almost seems, at times, as though bits have been added after the story was written as there are pages which just seem to halt what would otherwise be a good narrative flow.The author has clearly taken pains both to research the background to the story and fit in a good smattering of historical happenings. Even so, occasionally the conversational English sounds forced and false as well as colloquialisms which falter towards Americanisms. For example the use of 'purse' instead of handbag and, worst of all, the repeated reference to hair 'bangs' instead of 'fringe'. These really should have been edited correctly.Get past these mild annoyances, however, and the story has charm, deals with peoples lives in a small village remote from the war, though they are still affected by it, and gives a good idea of what life was like under wartime and contemporary social restrictions during this period. I enjoyed it but felt that, under the control of a good editor, it could have been so much better.