Winner of the Whitbread Book of the Year Award in 1989, this novel combines aspects of romance fiction, historical fiction, and fantasy to freshen the telling of a double set of complex relationships. Reminiscent of The French Lieutenant’s Woman by John Fowles, the novel moves between sets of characters in the present and the past but uses extensive metaphors drawn from magic and alchemy to describe those characters and suggest the relationships that develop among them.
The story begins in contemporary England with the blocked poet Michael Darken, the first-person narrator of the contemporary part of the plot, and the couple he meets, the former poet Edward Nesbit and his assistant Laura. An additional, historical layer of narrative arises from the research of Edward and Laura into the life of Louisa Agnew, the mid-19th-century ancestor of the current owner of Easterness Hall, Ralph Agnew.
Edward and Ralph had had a homosexual affair when they were younger, and Edward had acquired fame from his poetry then, but now, like Michael, he finds himself blocked. Michael’s marriage has fallen apart as his poetic inspiration has evaporated, and now he is seeking a respite in the summer cottage of his publisher, in the village dominated by the Gothic presence of Easterness. Gradually, Michael becomes involved with the research Edward and Laura are conducting there, and also with the two of them as people to whom he is simultaneously attracted and repelled.
The historical layer of the story begins as a separate narrative thread recounting the work of Louisa Agnew on a treatise called An Open Invitation to the Chymical Wedding. Her father Henry is writing a poetic explanation of the practice of alchemy—a practice in which the Agnew family has long been involved. Their quiet world expands when a new vicar comes to the village, Edwin Frere. Marital discord soon dissolves the frail bonds of his marriage, and his wife leaves him for her family’s home in Oxford, the seat of reason.
By the time Edwin seeks out the companionship and then the passionate love of Louisa, the historical and contemporary narratives have become fused. Their pairing leads to a parallel union of Michael and Laura, with the hint of possession or psychic transfer from past to present. The resulting tensions between Michael and Edward nearly lead to violence, just as the inner tensions of Edwin Frere, due to sexual guilt and self-recriminations, lead to a violent act in his world.
In both worlds, however, there is an unblocking of creative potential: writers tap new wellsprings of inspiration and words flow forth again. In Louisa’s repressive world, her frank portrayals of the sexual imagery of alchemy lead to the destruction of her work, while in the modern world, Laura finds herself set free to shape her own destiny. Enriching both of these stories is the imaginative use of the language of alchemy to elucidate characters and motivate plot actions.
Lindsay Clarke mixes several strong reagents in this absorbing and passionate story, precipitating a double climax and resolution to satisfy both levels of his narrative structure.
Bibliography
Lund, Mark F. “Lindsay Clarke and A. S. Byatt: The Novel on the Threshold of Romance.” Deus Loci: The Lawrence Durrell Journal 2 (1993): 151–159.
Sikorska, Liliana. “Mapping the Green Man’s Territory in Lindsay Clarke’s The Chymical Wedding.” Year’s Work in Medievalism 17 (2002): 97–106.
Categories: British Literature, Children's Literature, Literature, Novel Analysis
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