It’s easy to see Mary, the mother, as very naive. However she did have a rather sheltered life, both at her father’s and while hiding with her child in Melthorpe, which sort of explains her trusting nature and her little resistance in face of trouble. She is overall a good person and she cannot help thinking that all other people are the same. Her son John is a good person too (but way less trusting and with good reason to), and also preoccupied to see justice done – out of a love for justice not out of self interest.

I have to say that the part of the book that kept me on the edge of my chair the most (though there were a lot of scenes that have kept me there) was the part where John and his mother were penniless in London. Because… because it seemed like a near to impossible thing to survive in a big city with very little money or none at all. I really felt for them and their plight, it must have been very hard for them, especially as they have known nothing of poverty until then.

This is an absolutely amazing book. I have to admit that at first I was sort of confused by the complicated genealogical tree unveiled bit by bit in the pages of the book, and also by the legal implications each act of each person had, especially as I couldn’t always relate them to legal matters as I know them (not that I do know that much of them). For example I have never heard of a base fee, nor could I understand at first how was it that the Mompessons only had use of the estate, while in truth it belonged to someone else. However the legal matters were stated quite a few times in the book so after a little while I had no more problems with them.

The structure of the book is very interesting too. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about it:

The book follows a theme of the number five – it traces five branches of one family over five generations, as they circle and maneuver around a fortune being determined in Chancery, and which of several wills (and one codicil) will be found valid. The book is divided into five parts, one named for each branch of the family (although they don’t necessarily focus on that branch of the family, but are still primarily told from the point of view of one character, John Huffam.) The family branches are The Huffams, The Mompessons, The Clothiers, The Palphramonds, and The Maliphants.

Each part is then divided into five books. And each book is then divided into five chapters. In general, in each book there are four chapters from first-person narrative of John Huffam, and then one chapter about other characters in a much more detached Dickensian tone, very similar to the way Esther Summerson’s narratives are alternated with others stories in Bleak House.

In at least one case, this pattern is reversed, and there are four chapters about other characters, and only one about John Huffam.

And, last but not least, in case you didn’t know (I didn’t), a quincunx is “the arrangement of five units in the pattern corresponding to the five-spot on dice, playing cards, or dominoes.” (again courtesy of Wikipedia :) )

What I liked most: Well, sort of… everything. The sheer complexity of the book. The plots and subplots and the way people kept reappearing in what seemed at the time like very awkward coincidences. The legal matters that have seemed so complicated at the beginning but rather captivating after I got the hang of them. The huge number of twists and turns. The way we never actually know how it all ends (though the author does hint at it somewhere in the book). Simply everything.

What I liked least: I have to admit that I did find John rather annoying at the beginning – especially the way he kept asking his mother sensitive questions in front of other people. When he grew a bit older I have also found a bit annoying the way he always thought bad of his mother, seeing her as silly and being ashamed of her. I do know, of course, that all these are not weaknesses of the novel but actual strengths, as John was then a kid and was thinking and acting not as the adult I wanted him to be but as the kid he then was. Hey, this is a near perfect book so it’s hard to find it an actual fault :)

Recommend it? Absolutely.

As a bit of trivia, did you know that Charles Dickens’ full name was Charles John Huffam Dickens? :)

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