Source: Proof copy from Bonnier/Eriu books for the Random Things blogtour – thank you.
Hourican’s novel is based on real events. In January 1965, Princess Margaret and her husband Tony, Lord Snowdon, visited Abbeyleix House, County Laois, the home of his sister Susan, Lady di Vesci). This was a private family holiday, without their two children, not an official one. But as the Queen’s sister, there was naturally much political interest in the visit. When a bomb went off just outside the estate’s walls, it took out the power to the whole area, and Margaret found herself under lockdown for the duration.
Little wonder that relations in the house were strained, and Hourican’s novel explores the events of that 48 hours. We don’t just see the goings on in Abbeyleix House, but also in the village down the road through the eyes of Cait, who runs the grocers and looks after her crippled mother.
We begin though with Margaret and Tony’s arrival at Dublin airport where they are met by a silver Mercedes,
‘I asked for the top down,’ he mutters. […]
‘I said the top must be up,’ she says now, curtly. ‘Of course the top must be up. I cannot drive through the country with the wind streaming through my hair.’
‘It’s Ireland, darling,’ His voice is exasperated. ‘Even you can do anything you like here. ‘That’s why we’ve come.’
She’d wanted to go to Mustique, he said he took too long to get there, and didn’t want her to go on her own. She’d thought it touching, then realised he had meant otherwise.
… like so much of what Tony did and said, it had two meanings that he was able to switch easily between: found, and cruel: affectionate and unpleasant.
So we know that five years and two children after they married, their relationship is strained, but it’s obvious that Margaret is still in love with him, but is he with her? Tony is skilled at put-downs.
They arrive at Abbeyleix, the road is line with people waiting outside to get a glimpse of them, not all friendly – there are anti-British and anti-royal flyers being circulated. Margaret notes a girl there who looks frozen and nearly waves to her.
That was Cait, who we meet in the next chapter as she looks after her mother Eileen. Cait is a bright girl, she could get a good job in the city, but is trapped looking after their mum and minding the shop. Her brother Pat can’t be relied upon to look after Eileen, besides he has a girlfriend and a band of dodgy mates he meets down at the pub.
The narration mostly switches between Margaret and Cait, building a picture of each woman’s caged life. Once the IRA’s firebomb goes off on that evening, bringing down a tree and part of the wall and taking out all the power, there are occasional chapters between told from the PoV’s of Tony, Susan and their mother Anne, who is a bit of a dragon towards Margaret – no love lost there, a sentiment returned by the Princess.
Cait must try to find Pat, and work out if he is involved and what they should do. On a visit to the pub to see if he’s there, she finds unlikely support from Michael Healy, who is slightly older, but has a gentlemanly thing for Cait – she’s not sure whether to encourage it. The next morning, luckily Fr. Andrews is there when the police call and puts in a good word for Pat.
Hourican’s narrative takes us through the next couple of days building up the picture of Margaret and Tony’s disintegrating relationship on the one hand, and the hunt for the perpetrators of the bomb on the other. She portrays Margaret quite sympathetically, which is not something we usually associate with her. Although at times she can give as good as she gets, we are left in no doubt that growing up in Lillibet’s shadow – P2 to her P1 as their security codes called them – has left a mark on her, making her insecure and aloof at times, but gregarious and glamorous at others, and rather fond of the bottle.
The author has obviously researched her subjects and that visit thoroughly, the novel was full of detail that added to the drama. It was a compulsive read which gives a window into a tricky royal and her marriage. Hourican has previously written novels based on the Guinness family and the Kennedys – which are going onto my list.
Bonnier/Eriu hardback, 256 pages. BUY at Waterstones or Amazon UK via my affiliate links.
