It is uttered by the book's narrator Nellie Titterington, a maid in Max Gate, the Dorset house of the great author Thomas Hardy.
From that sentence I was hooked on this book, a historical, fact-based novel set in 1928, the year of Hardy's death.
Nellie's emotional narrative, often an inner monologue, is interspersed with words written by Hardy. With just the right amount of detail, she struggles on with daily life while her employer fades away and eventually dies.
As the house grieves, those who claim to be close to Hardy plot.
His friends arranged for him to be interred at Westminster but Hardy's widow Florence wants him to be buried according to his wishes, in the family plot with his first wife, Emma.
A somewhat gruesome compromise is reached.
Through Nellie's eyes and words, a picture of Thomas Hardy, the man and the writer, is painted.
The only detraction from this otherwise brilliant novel is the stream-of-consciousness passages in which Nellie wanders in and out of memories. At times they serve to explain a setting or describe a character, but other times I found myself reading quickly in order to get back into the story.
- Sarah Marquet is an ODT reporter in Alexandra.
