Review: The Meaning of Night
A Victorian Tale of Mystery, Romance and Revenge by Michael Cox
Edward Glyver, a man wronged, betrayed and cheated of his rightful inheritance ,vows revenge against his sworn enemy, Phoebus Daunt.
The Meaning of Night: A Confession by Michael Cox
Published: 9-18-2006
This mystery is not unique in that it starts out with a murder. However, the victim is not the intended target, but an innocent stranger. It appears the narrator, an inexperienced killer, is taking a practice run to see if he has what it takes to face down his real opponent. Hardly a way to induce sympathy in the reader. And yet, curiosity makes one read on as this novel, in a confessional style, continues. For the narrator says he has been wronged and that a grievous betrayal has put him in this tragic position where his only option is revenge.
Set in mid-Victorian London, the hero, Edward Glyver (though the reader will soon find out this is not his birth name) is expelled from school after being betrayed by a friend, Phoebus Daunt. He struggles, while Daunt goes on to greatness and acclaim as a renowned poet.
Soon, Glyver finds his promising future at Cambridge is not all Daunt has stolen from him. He discovers that he was heir to a fortune, one that Daunt, through no fault of his own, has happened to usurp. Glyver begins to devote all of his time and effort to Daunt’s downfall. But psychologically speaking, they are two sides of the same coin, and in destroying his enemy he is also slowly bringing about his own destruction.
The book plunges the reader into Glyver's mind and his perceived (and sometimes) justified resentment of his situation. True, Daunt is to blame for certain failures, but not Glyver’s own lack of success.
Glyver himself is a multidimentional character, as much a mixture of good and evil as as the nefarious Daunt. His relentless obsession for Emily Carteret causes him to be quick to betray his relationship with beautiful Isabella Gallini. While pursuing the life he believes he should have had, he eludes his own chances for success and happiness at every turn. He is driven by his obsession to forgo his own future for a single shot at revenge.
The book, with its stylized, confessional style, is replete with footnotes and even an appendix of Daunt’s nonexistant works ,which add a sense of authenticity. It is clear the author is an expert on the Victorian era. However, some may find the numerous footnotes tiresome as they add to bulk to what is already a lengthy book of a little over 700 pages.
This is Michael Cox's first fiction novel. He was born and still lives in Northamptonshire. He attended Cambridge University and spent many years in the music busr M.R.iness. He then began work in the publishing industry and eventually joined the Oxford University Press. Michael Cox is also the editor of many anthologies and a biography of ghost story autho James.
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