Charles Judd pees on the grave of John Betjeman but this is not a literary critism. For Charles the grave represents the death of middle class stability and values, things that he feels have now slipped from his grasp forever. At least that is my interpretation of the opening of this well crafted novel.
The novel starts on the day of Juliet Judds release from an American jail after a 2 year sentance for art theft. A crime of which she is probably innocent. The story explores the reactions to each of her family members to her release and return home. It seems that her family have been somehow paralysed during her imprisionment, unable to move forward . Her release from jail is also a release for her emotionally crippled family.
THE JUDD FAMILY
The most interesting and complex character in this book is Charles Judd. He holds an almost obsessional grudge against his ex employers who edged him out of his partnership in a London accountancy firm. He is also unable to come to terms with the arrest and imprisionment of his beloved daughter Juliet and his feelings for her border on the unnatural at times. He is weighed down by the guilt he feels at not visiting her in jail because he could not bear to see her as anything less than perfect. He struggles with how he will cope with her homecoming and is, from early on in the book ,clearly on the edge of some sort of breakdown
His wife Daphne has her head firmly buried in the sand. She is convinced that with the return of Juliet evrything will return to 'normal' and that she will even be able to redisover her lost Christian faith. The cracks appear early on in the novel as Charles and Daphne snipe at each other
over the most trivial things - Daphne resolutely continues her attempt to create a domestic idyll by cooking complicated Rick Stein fish recipies well beyond her capabilities and creating elaborate flower arrangements in the nearby church. She is expecting much from her daughters return.
Juliet has clearly been traumatised by her experiences in a particularly rough US jail, it seems she got an unsympathetic and sadistic judge who sent her somewhere far worse than her crime deserved. She feels victimised but also stupid at being duped by her American boyfriend. The fraud was his idea but he got off scott free by playing the system. She feels unbearably guilty about the shame she has bought to her family and isn't sure how to face them again, especially her father. She is unaware of how her individual family members are relying on her return for their own return to happiness.
Charlie is the least damaged of the Judd children. He is sucessful, level headed and capable. It is Charlie who supports his sister through the trial and goes to America to bring her home. Charlie has got his girlfriend pregnant and now feels guilty about how little he loves her and his negative feelings about parenthood. He somehow seems to thinks everything will fall into place as soon as Juliet arrives home.
Sophie is the youngest member of the family, always in her talented sisters shadow. She has a seemingly pointless job in London working for a production company making TV adverts. She panders to the clients every need and keeps them out of the producers hair. This mainly seems to involve supplying, and taking, drugs and if it invloves the occasional grope, well that's ok too. Sophie is terrified that her father will find out about her hedonistic lifestyle, she is determined to make a change for the better when Juliet comes home. But what will her relationship with her sister be like now?
THEMES OF THIS BOOK
I'm not going to ruin this book by telling you what happens but I feel that the author has four, strong themes that run through this book that unify it and give it shape.
Loss of Innocence - After Juliets 'fall' each family member was shaken out of their perfect world. Juliet loses her belief in justice and fairness as well as her golden future, Charles loses his self belief, Daphne loses her faith, Sophie loses her self respect and Charlie loses his ability to love. The book is about their individual search for lost happiness.
Guilt - They each have the kind of deep seated guilt that only families can create. Juliet has the most to feel guilty about yet no one seems to blame her, and her family seem less bothered about the morality of her crime and more about the injustice of her sentence. Charles has the least to feel guilty about yet he copes with it worse of all and gets the most critism and blame. There is a balance between father and daughter that can only be restored when they are reunited.
Forgiveness- They all crave and need forgiveness. It is only by forgiving each other that they will be reconcilled as a family.
Reconcilliation/Redemption - The homecoming of Juliet is central to this being possible. You get the sense all the way through that everything will be ok if she will just come back. She takes a painfully long time to come home after her release and this adds to that feeling of longing.
You don't need to be a biblical scholar to work out the significance of these themes. I back up my reading of the authors intention by the repeated use of each of these words throughout the book, also the biblical references and symbols from start to finish.
SYMBOLISM
The book is loaded with symbols starting with John Betjemans grave at the begining. It becomes fun looking for and decoding them, like reading an Iris Murdock novel. Here are some of the most significant.
The half buried church - On the books cover is an image of a church half buried in the sand. The Judds house in Cornwall overlooks this and it is referred to many times. I suggest it refers to their half buried lives, they all seem to be held down by something. It certainly represents Daphne's half buried faith. It also gives them comfort as a symbol of permanance and as a sort of talisman against a bad and confusing world.
Sophie's nose ring - This is used as a symbol of her lifestyle and rebellion that upsets her parents. As soon as Juliet comes home she removes it as a sign that she forgives her parents for always preferring Juliet.
The Church Wedding - I won't spoil it by saying whose but this becomes a focus for Daphne and the familys symbol of respectibility and redemption.
Daphne's cooking - she never quite gets it right, all the ingredients for happiness should be there but when they are mixed together something altogether different comes out.
The stolen Tiffany window - This was the source of Juliets 'fall' from grace and is a scene of the resurrection. Juliet describes it as a symbol of the saved and the damned. This theme of salvation keeps popping up throughout the book.
The swimming accident - Charlie saves his fathers life and this marks a change in their relationship, Charlie becomes the strong, capable one and his father, Charles becomes weaker and somehow resentful rather than grateful.
There are more, so many more.
SO WILL YOU ENJOY IT?
This novel can be read on many levels, if the symbolism goes over your head thats fine because its a good story, you really want to know how things will work out for each character. If you enjoy a bloody well written multi-layered novel then there is plenty here to keep you happy, this is no AGA saga. The standard of writing is high and I will definitely be looking for other books by this author.
BOOK INFO
Title - The Promise of Happiness Author - Justin Cartwright Publisher - Bloomsbury Press
For a free reading guide especially suitable for book groups email readersgroups@bloomsbury.com.
I don't want to put you off in any way but this book was selected for Richard and Judy's Book Club awards in 2005.
A BIT ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Justin Cartwright was born in South Africa and educated in the US and Oxford. He wrote the Booker shortlisted novel In Every Face I meet and The Whitbread prize winning Leading the Cheers. I must assume that he is a very private man as I couldn't find anything else about him on the book itself or the Bloomsbury website.
I would love to have any comments or recommendations for any of his other books you may have read.
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