Past Caring

Read Past Caring Storyline:

Martin Radford, history graduate, disaffected and unemployed, jumps at the chance to visit Madeira at the invitation of an old university friend who is running the local English language newspaper. Luck continues to run for him when he is offered a lucrative commission to research the mysterious resignation and subsequent obscure retirement on Madeira of Edwardian cabinet minister Edwin Strafford. However, his investigation triggers a bizarre and inveitably violent train of events which remoreslessly entagles him and those who believed they had escaped the spectre of crimes long past but never paid for.From Publishers WeeklyWritten in clear, resonant prose, Goddard's first novel, nominated for the Booker prize, is a poised telling of a complex tale. A fascinating "could this be true?" story within a story is reminiscent of Josephine Tey's Daughter of Time, while Thomas Hardy's tragic characters are deliberately echoed in the Edwardian British politician Edwin Strafford and the troubled historian Martin Radford, who has been chosen to research Strafford's tormented life. Radford finds a memoir that contains hints of a political and moral crime, past but not forgotten, so devastating that even in 1977 it reverberates through the corridors of power. As he reads the memoir, Radford eventually comes to regard the dead Home Secretary as a friend, even as his search uncovers corruption and murder. The novel's subtlety is reflected in the different meanings of its title, and the satisfying climax weaves together the strands of past and present. In one sense a historical thriller, and in another a romantic novel of a love affair gone disastrously wrong, this is, in any case, a wonderful read. Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library JournalUnemployed and disenchanted, Martin Radford is delighted to accept an old schoolmate's invitation to visit him in Madeira where not only the climate but an offer of funded research from his friend's employer revives this historian manque. Leo Sellick gives Martin the memoir of the previous owner of his estate, former British consul and member of Asquith's cabinet Edwin Strafford, hoping he will unearth the reason for Strafford's abrupt dismissal by his suffragist fiancee and his political peersa mystery that baffled Strafford as much as anyone. Exploring the sudden downfall of the rising politician, Martin enters a maze of lies and intrigue that forces him to confront his own past as well as Strafford's. Psychological drama and intricate plot will entice readers.Cynthia Johnson Whealler, Cary Memorial Lib., Lexington, Mass.Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.