Martha Peake (Paperback)

McGrath seems to love claustrophobic, Gothic novels (so do I) and, when I began MARTHA PEAKE, it more than filled the bill. MARTHA PEAKE begins when a young Englishman named Ambrose is trudging over the misty, windswept, moors to a decrepit place called Drogo Hall. He has been summoned by his dying Uncle William, who, before he expires, wants to tell him the story of Harry Peake and his fiery, red-haired daughter, Martha. We realize almost immediately, however, that Uncle William is not going to be a reliable narrator, due to age, illness, alcohol and drugs, so it is Ambrose who pieces together the bits of William's narrative into something coherent for the reader.

William is relating events that took place many years ago, and, in some of them, he took no part. Ambrose never knew Harry or Martha, so we are not always getting a first hand account here. To me, this seemed a rather odd way in which to narrate a story, but, for the first half of MARTHA PEAKE, at least, it seemed to work well.

The story of Harry and Martha Peake takes place during the Gothic period and Drogo Hall seems quite Gothic, indeed (though by the time William and Ambrose are "telling" us the story, the Gothic period has ended). It's a sinister, malevolent place, filled with horror and depravity.

Harry Peake's story is filled with horror and depravity as well. Because of his own drunkenness, Harry's wife, whom he loved very much, was killed in a fire and Harry, himself, was terribly injured. His spine was broken in several places and, when it failed to heal properly, he became, physically at least, a sort of monstrous creature with a hideously deformed hump in the middle of his back. With his young daughter, Martha, Harry travels through the most squalid parts of London's East End reciting poetry and displaying his deformity for money like a circus freak. During one of these sojourns, he meets William and Lord Drogo, a well-known anatomist, whose interest in Harry is limited to his deformed spine. Thankfully, McGrath has not psychoanalyzed Harry (or anyone else) during this portion of the book, but, instead, has let the scenes stand on their own.

The above forms approximately the first half of MARTHA PEAKE and it is, by far, the best half of the book. I thought it was absolutely marvelous. The violence, the depravity, the sinister aspects, the musty, moldy Gothic atmosphere...everything about MARTHA PEAKE was pulling me in further and further and, what's more, I wanted to be pulled in. And then McGrath (and William) sent Martha to American and dispensed with Harry. I wanted to cry because I didn't care about Martha in America and I didn't care about her role in the American Revolution.

The first half of MARTHA PEAKE had been near brilliant in its Gothic portrayal of Harry and his wanderings through London's East End. The book was highly atmospheric, claustrophobic, intense and brooding. After Martha leaves for America, however, MARTHA PEAKE doesn't just continue; it becomes a very different, and different kind, of book and one I didn't like nearly as well. Gone was the intense claustrophobia, the depravity, the highly charged atmosphere. America was a far more "open" place than was London and, with the change in setting, MARTHA PEAKE becomes a far more "open" book. This is also where I think the narration runs into trouble. While William knew Lord Drogo and Harry Peake, neither William nor Ambrose had ever been to America, so Martha's story and her part in the revolution there is pure assumption on the part of Ambrose.

It's quite obvious that both Harry and Martha are symbols: Harry of the Old Word and its claustrophobic, narrow minded ways and Martha of the New and its openness and expansiveness. While both Harry and Martha work well as symbols, the book suffers because of Martha's departure and would have been far better (and darker), I think, had McGrath let Martha live out her life in London (or at least close by). McGrath had the chance to spin a very dark tale here and, instead, he let it grow into something much lighter. I really felt let down...and surprised, since McGrath is well-known for his penchant for darkness and horror, especially psychological horror.

At the novel's end, McGrath does bring his diverse storylines together and we learn that all is not as it has seemed. The ending, however, isn't entirely satisfying because McGrath has simply "strung us along" for far too long. The ending seems too brief and a bit too hollow.

I think MARTHA PEAKE is an uneven book. Some parts are simply magnificent, others just "good," and others definitely lacking. Still, if you're a Patrick McGrath "junkie" like I am, MARTHA PEAKE is going to be a book that you'll want to read and one that you won't soon forget. But...it will be Harry you remember, not Martha.

I would definitely give the first half of MARTHA PEAKE five stars and the second half two. Three and one-half, overall.