Auguries of Innocence by William Blake
Every night and
every morn,
Some to misery are
born,
Every morn and
every night,
Some are born to
sweet delight.
Some are born to
sweet delight,
Some are born to
endless night.
This is a novel from 1967 and the central character Michael
Rogers is the narrator of the story. He is a happy-go-lucky young man doing
various short-term jobs. He manages to travel in some of these jobs too. He sees
an old property called Gypsy’s Acre with land around it and fantastic sea views
and he wants to buy it and built a
house. Clearly this is a pipedream as he is a poor man. While walking around
the place he comes upon a young girl and falls in love with her. They spend
some time together and realise that the attraction is mutual. Fenella had to go
away and they made a date to meet up in London. Soon they decide to get married
but in secret, as Fenella informs him she is a rich girl and her family would
object, should they find out she is marrying a poor man.
Only after they marry he realises the extent of her wealth
and that she has bought the property Gypsy’s Acre and also commissioned the architect
to rebuild the house that they both had been talking about and dreaming of
living in forever. He suddenly is confronted with the ‘family’ and the trustees
looking after Fenella’s fortune. But all is not well in the rosy romantic world
of Michael and Fenella. The local gypsy lady keeps giving out dire warnings of
dark deeds and befalling of bad fortune. The first day they move in there is a
stone through the window with a threatening note attached to it. Who is trying
to drive them from their dream home? Why are they against people living at
Gypsy’s Acre?
A nice slow unfolding of the story, showing an idyllic life
in the country. The menace is always unclear, a dark spectre hanging about but with
no clear focus that can be tackled. The reader is kept wondering for the first
part exactly what is the root of the darkness and in the second half a tragedy
befalls and then one wonders what exactly happened? I must say the end was
surprising and most unexpected. It was a good read and would recommend it as it
is an unusual Christie novel.
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