From Publishers Weekly
Written in clear, resonant prose, Goddard's first novel, nominated for the Booker prize, is a poised telling of a complex tale. A fascinating "could this be true?" story within a story is reminiscent of Josephine Tey's Daughter of Time, while Thomas Hardy's tragic characters are deliberately echoed in the Edwardian British politician Edwin Strafford and the troubled historian Martin Radford, who has been chosen to research Strafford's tormented life. Radford finds a memoir that contains hints of a political and moral crime, past but not forgotten, so devastating that even in 1977 it reverberates through the corridors of power. As he reads the memoir, Radford eventually comes to regard the dead Home Secretary as a friend, even as his search uncovers corruption and murder. The novel's subtlety is reflected in the different meanings of its title, and the satisfying climax weaves together the strands of past and present. In one sense a historical thriller, and in another a romantic novel of a love affair gone disastrously wrong, this is, in any case, a wonderful read. Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Paul Shelley's reading is sensitive and sets the tone for this tale of a life gone hideously wrong. Twenty-six years after Edwin Strafford's death, historian Martin Radford is challenged by a whimsical, wealthy, and elderly South African now living in Strafford's home in Madeira to find out why his life did not fulfill its promise. Radford learns that nothing is academic about the life and death of Strafford, Member of Parliament, British Consul in Madeira, and one-time colleague of Winston Churchill and Lloyd George. People are still protecting the secrets that Radford is seeking, and at least one of them is willing to murder to keep them. Shelley adjusts the pitch and inflection of his voice and the pacing of his words to portray a variety of characters: the eager, honest, self-confident young Strafford and the weary, cynical World War I veteran whom he becomes; the cold, evil villain; the charming seductress; and the bluff, good-natured Churchill. Recommended for most mystery collections. Juleigh Muirhead Clark, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Lib., Colonial Williamsburg Fdn., VACopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Edwin Strafford is an Englishman to be admired in the infancy of the twentieth century. At a young age, he is a star member of the Edwardian Cabinet, and he is betrothed to a beautiful, if headstrong, suffragette. Suddenly, though, both his political career and his romance come to an end in a scandal whose details are shrouded from him. Seventy years will pass before a young historian, Martin Radford, begins to unravel what lay behind Strafford's fall from grace, a story that includes political intrigue, betrayal, and murder and, before it's over, threatens to engulf Radford himself. The cast is large, yet Paul Shelley's interpretations and inflections make them each distinctive. The mystery never flags and often surprises, exactly the same as Shelley's narration. M.O. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Why should distinguished Edwardian Cabinet minister Edwin Strafford resign at the height of his parliamentary career? Why does the woman he loves so suddenly and coldly reject him? Why, seventy years later, should people go to such lengths—even as far as murder—to prevent the truth from being revealed?

Martin Radford, history graduate, disaffected and unemployed, leaps at the chance to get to the island of Madeira and begin the hunt for a solution to the intriguing secret of Edwin Stafford's fall from grace. However, his seeming good fortune turns to nightmare as his investigation triggers a bizarre and violent train of events which remorselessly entangles him and those who believed they had escaped the spectre of crimes long past but never paid for...

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

Paul Shelley's reading is sensitive and sets the tone for this tale of a life gone hideously wrong. Twenty-six years after Edwin Strafford's death, historian Martin Radford is challenged by a whimsical, wealthy, and elderly South African now living in Strafford's home in Madeira to find out why his life did not fulfill its promise. Radford learns that nothing is academic about the life and death of Strafford, Member of Parliament, British Consul in Madeira, and one-time colleague of Winston Churchill and Lloyd George. People are still protecting the secrets that Radford is seeking, and at least one of them is willing to murder to keep them. Shelley adjusts the pitch and inflection of his voice and the pacing of his words to portray a variety of characters: the eager, honest, self-confident young Strafford and the weary, cynical World War I veteran whom he becomes; the cold, evil villain; the charming seductress; and the bluff, good-natured Churchill. Recommended for most mystery collections. Juleigh Muirhead Clark, John D. Rockefeller Jr. Lib., Colonial Williamsburg Fdn., VA Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

AudioFile