Novel set in the first half of the 20th Century HUNGARY
A novel of family set largely on the ISLE OF WIGHT
25th January 2023
The Garnett Girls by Georgina Moore, a novel of family set largely on the Isle of Wight.
The novel fluidly slides into the enmeshed dynamics at the heart of this family. The three daughters – Imogen, Rachel and Sasha – are well distinguished and the individual relationships with their mother, Margo, is hinted at from the get-go. She is the matriarch to whom the story returns as the central pin.
The novel opens in Venice, where Imogen is spending a few days with her boyfriend, William. Venice was where Margo and their father Richard came to mark their – as it turned out – short-lived marriage. Richard abandoned his family quite early on, after Margo had tolerated his heavy drinking for some years. She struggled to be a good enough parent to the girls after his departure and took to her bed with depression, leaving the girls almost to fend for themselves. She has been working as a journalist and so nothing really escapes her acute eye, and now she is working in a pub, enjoying the company of various suitors, mainly Jack.
Richard’s disappearance inevitably left its mark on the girls and now, as adults, they have to negotiate their own intimate relationships, but of course it is not plain sailing. Rachel is living in Sandcove, the family home, with her partner Gabriel and the emotional weight of the building and its history bear down on her. Imi is wanting to get settled with reliable William but perhaps she is pandering more to her mother’s need for her to marry. She is about to celebrate her burgeoning career as a playwright. And youngest daughter, Sasha is portrayed as the wild one, the free spirit.
It is a beautifully nuanced story of family. The minute observations of interaction and co-existence are well observed and family dynamics feel credible and well portrayed. Interestingly, I got a sense that the women felt quite a lot older than their their actual years and I was quite surprised to discover their actual ages.
The sense of place is strong and it is possible to recognise parts of the Isle of Wight.
If you liked I’m Sorry You Feel That Way by Rebecca Wait and The Exhibitionist by Charlotte Mendelson, you will also I suspect like The Garnett Girls
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I can’t recall having read a novel set on the Isle of Wight before, which is just one reason for adding it to my ‘wish list’. We also have friends who have retired there and we are often down near the ferry and hovercraft ports, destination IoW, in Portsmouth, which is our favourite coastal retreat close enough for a day trip from our Somerset home!
Nice review 🙂