MESSENGER OF TRUTH by Jacqueline Winspear is a truly wonderful novel. Ms. Winspear is known for her detailed descriptions of dress and setting which draw the reader into the world of 1931, and this novel doesn’t disappoint. But what is even more wonderful are the way her characters speak. I am not sure how old Ms. Winspear is, and of course, it would be impertinent to ask. But as someone born in Britain in 1960, I am very familiar with the generation of the Great War. The characters of Maisie Dobbs, Georgina Bassington-Hope and Billy Beale reminded me of my grandparents, my music teachers and many of my mother’s friends. It is such a treat to hear their speech patterns resurrected in Ms. Winspear’s books!
But what is so remarkable about MESSENGER OF TRUTH is the clever plot, which is derived from the setting of this novel in the art world of the 1930s.. Not only do we have detailed descriptions of paintings that were fashionable before, during and after the Great War, but it was marvelous to see the way in which Ms. Winspear teased the reader about the “triptych” that was to have been unveiled at an art gallery in London.
I won’t tell you anything more about it here, so as not to spoil it for those of you who have not yet read this novel. But when you finally “see” it the at the end of the novel, you realize right away why the artist, Nick Bassington-Hope, was murdered. Five Stars.
