The Duke's Secret

 
Many families have myths about their ancestors. These often involve descent from someone historically important via the “other side of the blanket”, or illegitimacy, and there’s at least one family member who is convinced it is true without any shred of evidence. My mother-in-law was adamant they had at least two Earls in the family tree, the Irish Earl of Shannon and possibly the Scottish Earl of Bute. She even wrote to the then Earl of Shannon setting her case, and, to his credit, he replied with a gentle let down. (We still have his letter.) She remained undeterred, however, and continued to tell everyone that his ancestor had his wicked way with an innocent Devon girl resulting in her family line even after subsequent genealogical research disproved it all.
 
My father’s sister had a painting of King Charles II in her bedroom, totally convinced for some irrational reason that she was related to him and therefore somehow a member of the House of Stuart. On my mother’s side, there were whispers about an ancestor being an indiscretion of Catherine the Great of Russia. All total nonsense.
 
Why do people think having royalty or prominent individuals in their DNA is important? Is it a sign of insecurity, a need to prove they are better than others for some reason? Go back far enough and we are all related to one another, so why does it matter? I guess the psychologists can explain it better.
 
This novel is inspired by a similar story in the author’s family tree and creates quite a number of issues for anyone with a healthy dose of scepticism about such notions.
 
Throughout history, the great, good - and not so good – men have left the lives of many women in disarray. The Duke of Wellington (of boots and Waterloo fame) was certainly no exception, with a notoriously unhappy marriage and a litany of affairs with a range of women from Ireland to India and throughout Europe. He had two legitimate sons, but it is highly likely he had other descendants.
 
Mary Ann Marshall is just thirteen and a maid in the London household of the Countess of Mornington when she first encounters the youthful Arthur Wesley (later Wellesley) and over the years they become firm friends and, much later, lovers.  In time, Mary Ann gives birth to his daughter, Elizabeth. Complicating this situation is Arthur’s marriage to Catherine (Kitty) Pakenham. After being spurned several times, when he finally does marry her, he is on his way to becoming the greatest military man of his age but is no longer in love with her. His prowess on the battlefield is matched by the same in the bedroom and he has numerous affairs, including some with former mistresses of his arch nemesis, Napoleon. As their children grow up together, both Kitty and Mary Ann must deal with Arthur’s capriciousness with women and his increasing fame.
 
The modern-day narrative features Ava Washington, a Sydney journalist, who discovers she is reputedly descended from the Duke via an illegitimate line and she starts an investigation into her own family tree that includes digging in archival institutions and travel to places where he is known to have lived and the battlefields where he saw his greatest actions.
 
While Mary Ann’s story set in the early 1800s has the author's recognisable style with  evidence of meticulous historical research, the contemporary component flounders. Not only is there repetition of what we’ve already discovered from the other narrative, there is over-explanation of facts and travel details that read like tourist brochure copy.  Ava's complicated personal relationships and involvement in sideline research into property issues do little to advance the main objective.
 
As to characterisations, Mary Ann is amiable but unconvincing and naïve about the Duke’s intentions. Any chemistry in their relationship feels lukewarm at best. The seemingly empty-headed Kitty proves to be kind and forgiving in difficult circumstances. The Duke is attractive/repellent depending on your own opinion of how dynamic men treat women. Ava is annoying and silly at times; more than once she berates herself for not asking the right questions as a journalist. And as for her putting up with the truly awful Darren who gaslights her several times over, one despairs at her behaviour when any self-respecting intelligent woman would have sent him packing. (Am I expecting too much to have writers give us stronger 21st Century female protagonists with more self-respect and not be at the mercy of their fluttering hormones, easily swayed by men and therefore unable to assert themselves?)
 
At least the final resolution is probably the only feasible one. 
 
Basically, there isn’t enough substance here for a novel of 440+ pages and it falls into the trap of research padding and oversimplification. And then there are the tacky allusive chapter titles that include: “Hunger Games”, “Sleeping with the Enemy”, “Lord of the Ring”, “Finally Facing his Waterloo”, “Dangerous Liaisons”, “Root Rat”, “Bridgerton Betrayal” and many others. Is this is a case of publishers wanting an author to “dumb down” or to write in a way that will appeal to younger generations of readers who find history and family research boring?
 
A genuine, first-person, non-fiction memoir by the author of how she sought to uncover the family legend would have been so much than better than this.
 
Not the best from this usually excellent author and it is hoped that she reverts to her earlier strengths and doesn’t engage in more dual timelines with contemporary components that have proved problematic for so many other historical novelists - and their readers! - since this became a trend.
 
Two stars for the contemporary narrative, three-and-a-half for the historical.

amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

Booktopia

---