“Imelda Burova has spent a lifetime keeping other people’s secrets and her silence has come at a price”
- Book: Madame Burova
- Location: Brighton
- Author: Ruth Hogan
Wow! This story held so many unexpected surprises, that trying to shoehorn it into a specific genre, is almost impossible for me. Maybe a cozy mystery with mystical fantasy undertones, would be a good first pass. However there were also so many underlying cultural and social mores which were examined under the spotlight, with some subtle twists and turns in the storyline, that the whole experience became so much more than the sum of its individual elements.
Set in Brighton, a place which the author knows so well and loves so much, this dual timeline story seamlessly jumps back and forth between the early 1970s and the present day and is narrated in short, well signposted chapters. The footprint of the storyline stretches much further afield than the promenade of Brighton’s seafront, however that is where much of the action takes place, in one small corner where little seems to have changed over the course of the last five decades, with Imelda’s booth and the adjacent cafe still recognisable, although the cafe has undergone a change of name. However, nearby Larkins Holiday Park where destinies are foretold, star quality is noticed and hearts are won and broken, is sadly destined to be no more by the time we reach the present day!
In 1972, teenager Imelda Burova, the only daughter of a feisty Romany mother and Russian father, is set to take over the reigns of her mother’s successful, “Tarot Reader, Palmist and Clairvoyant” booth. The ‘gift’ has been passed down through the generations of her mother’s family and Shunty-Mae now feels that Imelda is ready for the responsibility, although letting go completely is going to be very difficult (no make that impossible) to do, as Imelda is about to find out, especially when Shunty meets Dasha, a stray Borzoi Imelda has adopted and who goes everywhere with her, including the booth! This is essentially Imelda’s story; about the people she meets, the friendships she forges, the battles she fights over affairs of the heart, an all consuming love story which was never destined for a happy ending and the mystery surrounding an abandoned bundle of joy.
All this set against the backdrop of a time, which probably places the author and myself at a similar age, as my memories are almost identical to her own, when society was overtly racist and sexist, mixed race marriages were taboo and the bigots always chose to vent their feelings on the mixed race child who couldn’t fight back. Pregnancy outside of marriage was inconceivable, so adoption and foundling babies were an increasing statistic. Being openly gay, although decriminalisation of homosexuality was enacted in 1967, was condemned and retribution for ‘coming out’ was swift and often painful. Imelda soon realises that she is a confidante for the troubles of some of her regular clients, with the booth often doubling as a mini confessional, to the point where she eventually invests in a small, hidden, safe area, where her regulars can deposit their secret treasures for safekeeping and discretion.
Fast forward to the present day and a still single Imelda, is contemplating covering her crystal ball and dealing the tarot cards for one last time, before retirement. She has one last ‘confessional’ promise to honour, although this one is also very personal to her and has the potential to either make her very happy, or shatter her already broken heart irrevocably. She wavers about actually opening the envelopes left in her possession, however professional pride won’t allow her to leave this particular job unfinished and a promise left unfulfilled. The next few weeks sees Imelda’s life turned upside down and inside out, changing in ways she might never have imagined, when old friends are reunited, new relationships are forged and she can make peace with herself when a ghost is finally laid to rest. When Billie and Henry arrive on the scene in search of the truth, does this signify the end of an era, or the beginning of a whole new chapter for Imelda?
Trying to offer up a non-spoiler trailer for this complex storyline was so difficult in such a few words. This is a multi-layered, well structured, quite unique and unconventional story, which throws into focus an era of cultural and societal history, which is dealt with sensitively, whilst at the same time exposing prejudice for what it was and still is and confronting it head on. There are also some sad, poignant and profoundly touching moments for Imelda, for whom her devotion to her one and only love, seems to have destined her to live her life alone. The narrative and dialogue is fluent, rich in atmosphere and wonderfully textured, making every word count and managing to evoke a very visual sense of time and place into which I could immerse myself; so much so that I could almost imagine myself back in the 1970s joining in the fun of a holiday park entertainment evening; or in my later years, walking along the promenade enjoying an ice cream in the summer sunshine, perhaps stopping to rest my feet for a time, joining Imelda and her friends for a drink and snack in the cafe.
There are plenty of red herrings and twists craftily woven into this intriguing storyline, to hype up the tension a little and I kept wavering about who might have been Imelda’s mystery couple, or if indeed this might have been much more personal to Imelda herself, but ultimately I was only ever destined to be partly correct, with the remainder of the final reveal being a huge, but pleasant surprise, to just about everyone concerned.
Author Ruth Hogan has gathered together a large, diverse and eclectic, sprawling cast of multi-faceted, unique and colourful characters, many of whom transcend the passing of time and all of whom are given a voice which is loud and clear enough with which to tell their own story. There is some excellent camaraderie and great synergy between them, although as you might expect in such a large group, there are the obvious rivalries and jealousies, together with a complex jigsaw of human emotions, which often make them rather vulnerable and often volatile. I don’t think that any of them were particularly easy for me to identify with, or invest in; however I believe that in their own way they were compelling and addictive, vibrant and genuine to the roles they had been allocated.
Another new to me author, who persuaded me to read out of my natural comfort zone, then led me on an amazing journey, which fired my imagination, stirred my emotions, stimulated my senses and evoked so many memories of the past. Could I have asked for anything more!
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