The Deception of Harriet Fleet
All the ingredients for a classic gothic novel are present – 21-year-old Harriet Cauldwell arrives at a large, isolated English north country property, Teesbank House, in 1871 to take up a post as governess. Her charge is Eleanor Wainwright, a highly challenging and intelligent young female, with a wealthy and deeply unpleasant family. Teesbank House has a local reputation for evil, and there are references to matters disturbing that happened some time ago as well as indications of a contemporary haunting. Harriet has her own secrets and past she is escaping from (hence taking the family name of a former governess) – these are gradually revealed throughout the narrative as she tells her account in the first person. Eleanor refuses to be taught by Harriet, and her hostility continues, while they come to a form of unspoken collusion that Eleanor will be allowed to pursue her own studies unhindered. She does tell Harriet details of the grisly murder of her brother, Samuel Wainwright, a two-year-old back in 1849 before Eleanor was born, and Arielle Marchal, a French governess’s conviction for the murder and her execution; Harriet becomes intrigued by the crime and tries to find out as much as she can of the killing, especially as there are parallels between her and Arielle.
The tale bundles along in excellent fashion, with a good dabbling of gothic horror and sensation to keep matters bubbling along nicely. Like all such tales, it does seem a little far-fetched and unbelievable at times. There is a decidedly feminist thread to the story, with the mistreatment of vulnerable females by despicable men who control wealth and affairs in 19th-century society as the unavoidable and unpleasant message. An enjoyable, well-plotted read.
