Just had to try another Leon Garfield. I enjoyed SMITH so much. Once again I found myself gripped from the start; "It is the story of fourteen year old George Trent, eldest son of a family of strolling players. They seem a family with a golden future; actors of genius who represent happiness is only marred by the twice yearly visits of the stranger in black, with his cold uncanny stare and the feeling he conveys of some devilish and unwholesome bargain eating away at his soul."Oh my giddy aunt , Leon Garfield did it to me again as he majestically drew me in, the paperback cover as enticing as the one before, fog shrouded and mysterious, the stuff of Sheridan Lefanu or Wilkie Collins. It is another dark tale of devious plots and uncanny characters, with a young protagonist thrust into a tale where no one is who they seem and thus there is no one to trust or turn too for support. One more Anthony Maitland provides a series of interior illustrations that do much to drive the narrative forward. As though you have entered a haunted house you thought was empty only to find it stuffed to the gills with antiques and Victorrianna. This is a formidable creative team and I wish I had discovered them when I was twelve years old, or so. As I was in the last century.They could have shared shelf space with my beloved Doctor Who novelizations.
Devil In The Fog confronts class divisions with a blunt clarity you rarely find in the media anymore. Tackling subtlely notions regarding nature versus nurture in a mature and even quite moving fashion. I found myself caring and drawn to the plight of George Treet and his bohemian family. An adventurous family of actors and performers who share close and loving bonds in a world which will shatter such notions in a heartbeat. This was a family who had experienced the highs and lows of a life performing in venues which were physically dangerous places to be should their act fail to entertain. They had honed their many talents in open air performences and before tavern audiences, basically anywhere they could set up stage. Yet they are out of their depth when confronted with the moral ambiguitiews of their so called betters.Cruel plans are revealed and put into practice, the innocent flounder while the criminal flourish. Ah, t'was ever the way.
A superb tale full of engaging and interesting characters wrapped up in a foggy curtain that allows us glimpses of a world long passed.
