Bleeding Heart Square

Storytelling or Storyweaving? BLEEDING HEART SQUARE is a classic example of a carefully woven psychological suspense story written by one of the English masters. Mind you, this isn't going to be a book for everyone. It's one of those stories that starts out with central threads that slowly are interwoven towards the conclusion.

Something has happened in connection to 7 Bleeding Heart Square. In 1934, Lydia Langstone seeks refuge there from her violent husband. It's a decaying London cul-de-sac, in a time that is feeling the threat of war. It's a seedy part of the city and the people who live in Number 7 are all somewhat marginalised. Not least of all Lydia's estranged father, Captain Ingleby-Lewis, who is determinedly drinking himself show more into oblivion. Turning to the Captain is safe for Lydia - she's got a difficult relationship with her mother, at the very least, a supporter of her abusive husband. For Lydia life with her father brings no expectations, a brand-new start. Despite the spectre of the scandal of a divorce, the problem is not Lydia and her father, who learn to rub along together surprisingly quickly, but rather events that seem to weave in and out of the house at Number 7. Unknown to Lydia the middle-aged spinster that owns the house - Miss Penhow vanished 4 years earlier, and there are people who are very keen to find out what happened to her. Many of those people make their way to Number 7 as a starting point, unaware of other's interest. The story unfolds between Lydia's day to day life, as she slowly becomes aware of things not quite right in the house and surrounding area; and a narrative of another life - eventually revealed as Miss Penhow's own words.

There's a sense of slowness about parts of the book that the reader needs to accept for what they are. Taylor is an expert at taking the reader just to the brink of a discovery, a change, an event; then rapidly moving the focus somewhere else. As the day to day events of Lydia's life seem to distract from Miss Penhow's own narrative; as the story of Miss Penhow slowly reveals itself, the action moves around and changes direction and weaves itself slowly into a full picture. The overall atmosphere of the book sets it well in 1930's London - the seedy nature of the location, the underlying political torment in a society feeling the threat of war, the clash of the aristocracy and the less well off. Even the forays into the countryside illustrate the difference between lives then and now.

Not a book for fans of crimes up front, heaps of action, investigations and rapidfire pace, BLEEDING HEART SQUARE is psychological suspense at its strongest. It's a manner of storyweaving that Taylor seems to excel in. All the while that the story builds to it's final conclusion there's a knowledge that something has happened, there's an assumption that something dreadful has happened to Miss Penhow but there's no proof and there's no certainty. At the same time, the reader can't help but wonder if Number 7 Bleeding Heart Square will somehow weave Lydia's fate for her as well. show less

Bleeding Heart Square is a mostly-captivating dive into the foggy, damp, uncomfortable depths of life in low-rent London circa 1934. Andrew Taylor displays Barbara-Vinish skills in painting dirty but compelling pictures that ring unpleasantly true. He’s perfect for telling the tale of Lydia Langstone, a young society matron who’s left her brutal wife-beating husband to slum it with her ne’er-do-well biological father in a nasty old block of flats at the eponymous address.

Along the way she meets a sociologist’s dream slate of inner-city types, including a penniless but hunky young journalist and his Bolshie-symp girlfriend, a shell-shocked veteran of the Great War who’s sweet on her, a beaten-down policeman on a vendetta, an show more eagle-eyed old bird who takes in sewing, and many more.

But at the heart of the square – in more ways than one – is Mr Joseph Serridge, an enigmatic but deeply compelling blackguard who runs the boarding house in which Lydia lodges. Serridge has inherited this property from his former common-law wife who’s, ummm, gone conspicuously missing, and whose diary provides ongoing background to each of the book’s chapters.

The book starts slowly but builds nicely, and ends exceptionally well. It's also well-written with strong description and dialogue.

My one dissatisfaction with Taylor’s work here has to do with politics. He weaves in excellent historical detail, and since the period in question was a political hothouse, socialists and fascists and other extremists are rampant. Taylor decides to make Lydia’s upper-class husband a budding fascist, which is fine, but he overdoes it. Marcus Langstone is an over-the-top caricature who sticks out like a Warhol in a gallery of Rembrandts. Perhaps Taylor felt it impossible to ascribe even a measure of humanity to someone with such unsavory and incorrect political leanings, but he ends up creating a cartoonish grotesque that mars the otherwise excellent quality of his characterization.

Still, this is a very good read, and is recommended. show less

Part psychological suspense and part Gothic novel, Bleeding Heart Square focuses on the residents of Number 7 and their mysterious landlord, Joseph Serridge. When Lydia Langstone decides to leave her abusive husband, she turns to the only person in her life with no connection to her husband -- her estranged father, who lives in rooms at Number 7, Bleeding Heart Square. Journalist Rory Wentwood has recently returned from several years in India to find his fiancee, Fenella Kensley, harboring reservations about their engagement. While Rory was away, both of Fenella's parents died, and her only remaining relation, her aunt Philippa Penhow, has disappeared. Miss Penhow formerly owned the house at Bleeding Heart Square that is now owned by show more Joseph Serridge. Rory hasn't been able to find work since his return from India, so he fills his time by investigating Miss Penhow's disappearance in hope of winning back Fenella's favor. Suspense develops as Rory uncovers details about Miss Penhow's life and Lydia learns more than she wants to know about her family's dark secrets.

The author weaves into the plot social commentary on topics ranging from feminism/women's rights (Lydia frequently sits down to read Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own ), abuse, social class and poverty, and the fascist movement in 1930s Britain. Lydia's family is about as dysfunctional as they come. I found it easy to root for both Lydia and Rory as they each found strength of character to face unwelcome truths and endure life's disappointments. Although I guessed some of the secrets before they were disclosed, I was surprised by the revelations at the end of the book. I felt the sinister atmosphere of Bleeding Heart Square and of the house at Number 7. My only complaint is the occasional repetitiveness, such as one of the characters getting into multiple fights and finding a chipped tooth after each one. In spite of a few minor shortcomings, this is a very solid suspense novel that I would recommend to readers who like historical mysteries set in the era between the World Wars.

This review is based on a complimentary copy provided by the publisher through the Early Reviewers program. show less

Though this started out a bit slow, it hooked me somewhere near the middle & then I picked up the reading pace quite a bit so that I could finish & find out "whodunnit". I do enjoy mysteries, although I don't necessarily read a lot of them. Not only was this a good story, but it was well-written also. The format was somewhat original, with each chapter beginning with a portion of a diary written by Philippa Penhow, who mysteriously disappeared several years previous. Each entry is preceded &/or followed by a comment from a mysterious narrator. Who is this mysterious narrator? And what happened to Ms. Penhow? Did she leave the country, was she murdered, or is there another explanation? The reader is introduced to several characters who show more may or may not be involved or have knowledge of this disappearance. It's really a well-crafted mystery with several different themes going on at the same time. The reader may or may not be satisfied with the ending, but it did come as a surprise to me. My only complaint, as I alluded to above, was that the first portion of the book moved more slowly than the second. If you can get through that, you're in for a fulfilling read. show less

In 1934, Lydia Langstone leaves her husband and moves in with her father at 7 Bleeding Heart Square. Four years earlier, the woman who owned the house, Philippa Penhow, disappeared, and now someone is sending Lydia’s creepy landlord Mr. Serridge animal hearts in the post. At about the same time that Lydia moves in, a young man named Rory Wentworth moves in as well. He’s looking for work as a journalist, yes, but he has an ulterior motive for moving into the house. Compounded on all of this is the fact that the Fascists are coming into power, a party to which Lydia’s husband belongs.

Punctuated by snippets from Miss Penhow’s diary, Bleeding Heart Square is primarily a story of revenge. The story is darkly bizarre and a bit gory, show more to be sure, but it’s well-put-together and left me wanting more. Taylor does a wonderful job with description, too: you really feel as though you’re witnessing a Fascist rally or smelling the hearts in the front hall. Rather stomach-turning, yes, but apart from a bit at the end which didn’t sit right with me, this is ultimately a satisfying, gripping novel. The subject matter reminds me a little of the novels of Patrick Hamilton, but Andrew Taylor has a unique voice. show less

Andrew Taylor’s literary mystery is set in London in the early 1930's, in that uneasy period between the Great Wars.

Aristocrat Lydia Langstone leaves her violent husband and having no one else to turn to moves in with her ne'er-do-well drunken Father, Captain Ingleby-Lewis.

Their scruffy, lodging house at 7 Bleeding Heart Square used to be owned by a rich spinster Miss Phillipa Penhow but she has, apparently, gone to America after signing over the house to Joseph Serridge, a mysterious, menacing man. Miss Penhow has not been heard of in four years

Rory Wentworth, a struggling journalist wants to find out what happened to Ms Penhow, his soon to be ex fiancée is her niece. Rory turns out not to be alone in his suspicions about Joseph show more Serridge. A plain clothes policeman, Narton, is watching the house obsessively and strange parcels addressed to Major Serridge and containing rotting animal hearts begin arriving at the house.

The mysterious disappearance of Miss Penhow is the foundation of the novel but it is the strong writing, the almost Dickensian characters and the layer upon layer of subplots, all twisting and turning, till they become interlinked that keeps you turning the pages. The book has a menacing atmosphere throughout, with shady, shifty characters and a threat of violence, either real or perceived.

Intertwined with this is Miss Penhow's diary which is narrated to the reader by a persons unknown and you feel in turns sorry and then angry at this foolish, naive woman desperate for love.

The sense of period is superb and the author has important things to say about the privileged rich and their attitude towards the working class, rural Britain, the legacy of World War One, women’s place in society and the rise of the British Fascist party. The setting of a grim, cold London in the 30s and the gloomy oppressive nature of Bleeding heart Square itself gives the story a sinister,menacing tone.

I loved ‘plucky’ Lydia Langstone as the lady who is now ‘slumming’ it trying to make a new life for herself, her growing friendship with Rory Wentworth as he also moves into 7 Bleeding Heart Square, and her own part in unravelling the threads surrounding Miss Penhow's story. show less

Set in London in the 1930's, "Bleeding Heart Square" tells the story of Lydia Langstone, a wealthy woman who leaves her abusive husband and goes to live with her father in a less-than-ideal part of London. While settling into her new life and trying to establish a new identity, Lydia finds herself mixed up in an investigation of a missing woman who has ties to a number of people around her in her new home, Bleeding Heart Square. She and a fellow tenant, Rory Wentworth, work together to determine what has happened to this missing woman, but in the process they realize that they may be putting themselves in danger too.

Melodrama and clichés abound in this piece of "historical" fiction, which I struggle to call historical at all, show more considering the unbelievable behavior of nearly every character in the book. The dialogue was particularly painful, with sentences like the following that seemed to be ripped from a current-day soap opera: “Now you’re just in love with a sort of idea of me, something you dreamed up while we were apart. As far as you’re concerned I’m like a bad habit. You need to give me up and then you’ll be fine” (page 190). show less