Islands of Mercy

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An exhilarating exploration of love, life, loss and death... A thrilling and seductive story... Vivid and beguiling Rowan Mantell, Eastern Daily Press life, so often so cruel in the way it thrust the human soul into prisons from which there seemed to be no escape, could sometimes place it athwart an open door.” After reading Rose Tremain's previous novel The Gustava Sonata, I pronounced that to be the best novel written in the English language so far in this century. I've not changed my view but, after reading Islands of Mercy, I had to think long and hard. Rose Tremain is a genius storyteller. In ‘Islands of Mercy’ she gives us yet another multi-layered narrative exploring, both literally and metaphorically, the importance of understanding who we are and our place in the world. From the jungles of Borneo to London’s relaxed soirées, from arak and rice served in a mud hut to Victoria sponge in the tea rooms of Bath, from a slum in Dublin to a rajah’s palace, the author explores many types of love, the importance of generosity of spirit and the need for mercy in a world full of greed and ignorance. She was 'The Angel of the Baths', the one woman whose touch everybody yearned for. Yet she would do more. She was certain of that.

Beautiful narration and the need to find out how they will develop made this story unputdownable for me. So the book is finished, I mean the audiobook version and I can now just go around yapping how talented Miss McGrath is cause she truly is! Listening to her I really had an experience many people narrated the book... Wow she is so versatile and... I am wowed! Jane, meanwhile, visiting her aunt in Chelsea and also mixing in bohemian circles, is petrified by the attractive Julietta as well as rapidly, gloriously, taken to bed. Jane’s exploration that she does not enjoy guys as well as does love ladies is gently dealt with, as if it has no unique value except that it needs a little bit a lot more assumed if she is to have the best of life– as Julietta already has as well as Aunt Emmeline desires for her. Julietta is notoriously dedicated to the pleasure of sex, and also her tongue, “la langue de Juliette”, is celebrated as “the best bringer of satisfaction a female might ever before recognize”; her understanding husband shares her with the “appeals” that come and go. Guilt-free, rich, happy as a wife and mother, Julietta has internalized and also claimed as her appropriate flexibilities previously reserved for the dominant sex. Her love is not without its troubles but it is flexible and capacious, its soft power contrasting with the violence of disappointed guys.Empire is a form of refuge in the novel. The Englishmen seek sanctuary in ways that involve them violating the spaces of others Rose Tremain gives Hilary Mantel a run for her money for the title of Britain's greatest living historical novelist... there are still few writers who can conjure up a version of the past that is so startlingly unfamiliar yet so convincing Charlotte Heathcote, Sunday Express Auffällig ist der detaillierte, antiquiert und etwas prätentiös anmutende Schreibstil mit seinen verschachtelten Sätzen, viel indirekter Rede und ausschweifenden Beschreibungen. Er macht das Lesen zum Teil ein wenig anstrengend und sorgt dafür, dass sich die Geschichte nur langsam entrollt. The young woman Jane, is known locally as 'Angel of the Baths', Jane, the daughter of the esteemed Doctor Adeane, for her therapeutic treatments and hands on healing that relieve the aches of the body, the pains of their souls and her voice of encouragement leading them to bathe in the waters of Bath. In Bath, a renown surgeon Sir William Adeane runs his practice with the help of his daughter Jane and a medical doctor Valentine Ross. In Borneo, Valentines brother and a naturalist - Edmund Ross, searches for rare specimen to send home and impress his countrymen, while a British Raja - Sir Ralph Savage, who by chance becomes his host, burns with desire to achieve some unspecified good on his lands.

While the part of the story situated in Bath reads like a classic Rose Tremain, with well developed characters and captivating stories, the Borneo plot seems to populated by flat-ish, lost individuals in desperate search for an elusive meaning of their existence. Maybe it is the absurdity and pointlessness of it all, that brings to mind Paul Theroux’ The Mosquito coast, which I by the way intensely disliked, that is to blame for my negative attitude to the Borneo plot? Or maybe it is just that it makes me feel just as lost as the characters which is rather unTremainesque? I found the descriptions of all paces vivid and, together with insight into social and moral aspects, Ms Tremain managed to provide an authentic feel of the places and times. I dont know if I d grab this book to read of my own volition, coz this is not always the genre I prefer, to be honest, but finding out it was narrated by wonderful Katie McGrath, spurred me on to get the audio version of the book. Just started it, but I ll properly comment on it when I finish it...Over a distinguished literary career, Rose Tremain has traversed genres with her customary flair... in her portrayal of the ways in which individual longing and frustration unfold against the constraints of forces beyond our control, Tremain has long been one of our most accomplished novelists, and here is further confirmation Stephanie Merritt, The Observer First of all, this is extremely well written as you would expect from a writer of the calibre of Rose Tremain. It beautifully and almost forensically reflects the times - it’s social mores, beliefs, attitudes, the scientific understanding and medical beliefs in particular, as this is intrinsic to the storytelling. The female characters are admirable- I love Clorinda’s work ethic and desire to overcome the poverty and famine of her native Ireland, I love Jane’s independence and unconventionality which is at total odds with the times, something she perhaps inherits from her artist Aunt Emmeline. The Male characters are less likeable with perhaps the exception of Jane’s father Sir William Adearne an eminent Bath surgeon. Valentine Ross gets less and less likeable as the book progresses as he perceives he will not be able to control Jane. I’m not sure what to make of The Rajah Sir Ralph Savage who is so rich he spends his money on pointless things just because he can - maybe that’s the point! All the characters are searching for something that’s possibly elusive and unattainable - be it love (whether of the kind at odds with society at the time), friendship, freedom, some are ambitious and ruthless in seeking their desires but all are trying to survive the constraints of the times and circumstances. There are some lovely descriptions of places especially Bath, London and the Paris of Haussmann but I found it harder to engage with Borneo. This is also true of the storytelling set in Borneo which I find less interesting and overlong. This is the sixth Rose Tremain novel I have read. I find her to be a very good historical fiction writer and have found all six novels interesting and satisfying reading experiences.

For the content of the book, plot, characters, I have to say I have enjoyed the build up of the book, the progress and I like how the author decided to finish the book and where she led her characters to in the end... Somehow I feel that at least justice had been served... Beautiful narrative and also the requirement to find out how they will create made this story unputdownable for me. I was very much looking forward to this new novel by Rose Tremain and to begin with I thought I would really love it. She creates a delightful character in Irish Clorinda Morrissey who remakes her life in Bath in the 1860s. Then we meet Jane Adeane, who works as a nurse with her father and is known as ‘the Angel of the Baths’. It seemed to me that Tremain was showing us how, in the midst of trouble, illness and despair, there are ‘islands of mercy’ in the small things of life. A friendly hand, a cream tea, sunshine through the mist. At a certain point while reading, when I thought of all the female characters, and realised how strongly independent all of them were, and looked at the relationships they had to the men around them, I wondered if this novel was actually satire. For most of the yearning and longing is done by the male characters, the female characters are all strong and given the era and location, none of them sit around in parlours pining for suitors, they're too busy creating their lives, working and supporting each other.The year is 1865, and Clorinda Morrissey leaves Dublin to look for ton of money in Bathroom. Jane Adearne, a registered nurse called the Angel of Bathroom, assists the infirm to restore their health. Valentine Ross, a specialist collaborating with Sir William Adearne, Jane’s dad, chooses to ‘stand out an inquiry’ to Jane. Valentine’s bro, Edmund, travels to Borneo to expand his knowledge on anatomy. These are the moments when the real quest starts for the characters. Islands of Mercy is also an erotic novel. All the sex scenes are between characters of the same sex except, occasionally, reference is made to heterosexual pairings. The narrative is thrilling made more exciting by constant changes engineered by the author with frequently leaves the reader uncertain with whom to empathise. Islands of Mercy is a novel that ignites the senses and is a bold exploration of the human urge to seek places of sanctuary in a pitiless world. The year is 1865, and Clorinda Morrissey leaves Dublin to seek fortune in Bath. Jane Adearne, a nurse called the Angel of Bath, helps the infirm to regain their health. Valentine Ross, a surgeon working together with Sir William Adearne, Jane's father, decides to 'pop a question' to Jane. Valentine's brother, Edmund, travels to Borneo to expand his knowledge on botany. These are the moments when the real quest begins for the characters.

It highlights some of the issues of that era, but does so with a cast of characters that are not stereotypical, which makes it all the more interesting to read, because it defies expectation and presents an alternate scenario by focusing on those who defy convention, transgressing this straight-laced, Victorian society daring to live in ways outside mainstream society and getting away with it. Of Islands of Mercy, Rose Tremain writes: ‘This novel explores the primal and timeless human quest to find meaning in a life, an aspiration which engages people in wildly different ways across the globe. I chose two contrasting locations: the genteel city of Bath and the harsh island of Borneo and unfolded in them both stories of sexual entrapment, material striving, loss of love, untimely death and – through them all – the desperate and unending search for places of consolation and solace.’ After this encounter with Valentine, Jane goes to London to spend time with her childless, unmarried, financially independent Aunt Emmilene, an artist. She is like a mother to Jane and it is during this visit that Jane discovers more of the essence of who she is, an aspect captured by her Aunt in a portrait she sits for. The events that unfold create a significant dilemma for Jane, that she must navigate. A novel which has several protagonists, all so different and peculiar and interconnected, and who are special in their own ways, and who seek something or run away from something. This makes for a striking comparison: most of the women’s stories in Islands of Mercy are triumphant, and beautifully told; by contrast, the medical men are helpless without them, and the preening English rajah is in fact a diminished nobody, more Basil Fawlty than degenerate Kurtz. However, in the light of this amplification of women’s voices, it is difficult to know what to make of the relative silence of Savage’s subjects. In one scene he observes a group of Chinese workers, who with their “small, slim bodies and their wide conical straw hats, [appear to him] … to resemble little mushrooms, bobbing out, scrabbling for a place in the earth”. It’s a reductive image, reflecting the homogenising perspective of a coloniser. But nowadays a historical novel in which “lost tribes” remain lost runs the risk of appearing out of step. Tremain – who, after all, is one of the best novelists writing today – does not quite make this mistake. She has Savage’s servant, Leon, whom he has taken as his “primary bed companion”, articulate the frustration of having to kowtow to a buffoon: when Sir Ralph shows him the completed Savage Road, he exclaims: “White and strong, Rajah, Sir – just like you and the British empire!” Leon is also as blunt and clear-sighted as any of the female characters, pointing out, for example, that the Englishmen are thieves: “You come. Take our gold. Sail away.”

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Jane is a nurse in Bath, working with her doctor father, and frequently requested by patients as having some kind of special healing touch; she's unusually tall so stands out from the crowd as she accompanies her patients to the baths. Her father's assistant, Dr Valentine Ross is taken by her charms and sets out to propose to her - little does he know of her passionate love affair with the exotic Julietta...