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Gaveston
Gaveston is a journey into the dark heart of obsession and sexual politics by one of the rising stars of contemporary British fiction.When Gaby Harvey, daughter of media magnate Sir Edward Hamilton Harvey and research student at the prestigious St Dunstan's College, first sets eyes on Piers Gaveston, she immediately senses danger. Aloof, narcissistic and devastatingly attractive, Gaveston's charms still prove irresistible to Gaby and as he works his way through the London media world, so he works a way into her affections, with devastating consequences.'Stephanie Merritt's deliciously dark dbut novel has an unusually erudite cast of characters . . . The glamorous life that these characters enjoys suggests, in the most enjoyable way, an episode of 'Dallas' co-written by Iris Murdoch and David Lodge, and directed by Ingmar Bergman.' New Statesman
400 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2002
37 people want to read
About the author
Stephanie Merritt
9 books124 followers(Also writes under the pseudonym S.J. Parris)
Stephanie Merritt (born 1974 in Surrey) to Jim and Rita Merritt is a critic and feature writer for various publications including The Times, the Daily Telegraph, the New Statesman, Zembla and Die Welt. She has also been Deputy Literary Editor and a staff writer at The Observer.
Merritt graduated in English from Queens' College, Cambridge in 1996. Prior to this, she attended Godalming College in Surrey.
She is the author of two novels, Gaveston (Faber & Faber) which won a Betty Trask Award of £4,000 from the Society of Authors in 2002 [2:], and Real (2005), for which she is currently writing a screenplay. She has also written a memoir, The Devil Within, published by Vermilion is 2008, which discusses her experiences living with depression.
Meritt has appeared regularly as a critic and panellist on BBC Radio 4 and BBC7, has been a judge for the BBC and Channel 4 new comedy awards as well as the Perrier Award, and appeared as interviewer and author at various literary festivals, as well as the National Theatre and the English National Opera.
Stephanie Merritt (born 1974 in Surrey) to Jim and Rita Merritt is a critic and feature writer for various publications including The Times, the Daily Telegraph, the New Statesman, Zembla and Die Welt. She has also been Deputy Literary Editor and a staff writer at The Observer.
Merritt graduated in English from Queens' College, Cambridge in 1996. Prior to this, she attended Godalming College in Surrey.
She is the author of two novels, Gaveston (Faber & Faber) which won a Betty Trask Award of £4,000 from the Society of Authors in 2002 [2:], and Real (2005), for which she is currently writing a screenplay. She has also written a memoir, The Devil Within, published by Vermilion is 2008, which discusses her experiences living with depression.
Meritt has appeared regularly as a critic and panellist on BBC Radio 4 and BBC7, has been a judge for the BBC and Channel 4 new comedy awards as well as the Perrier Award, and appeared as interviewer and author at various literary festivals, as well as the National Theatre and the English National Opera.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 31, 2021
Gaby Harvey holds herself aloof from life – she has immersed herself in her research on Arthurian myths, she refuses to interact with her family, including her uncle, Edward Hamilton Harvey, an extremely wealthy and powerful media magnate. But that all changes when she meets Piers Gaveston, aloof and devastatingly handsome with dark secrets in his past.
Stephanie Merritt’s Gaveston is, like Susan Howatch’s Cashelmara, a loose retelling of Edward II’s life and fall. While Howatch transposed the lives of Edward II, his father, wife, rival and son, onto 19th century Ireland to write an epic family saga, Merritt transposes the life of Margaret de Clare, the niece of Edward II and wife of Edward’s favourite and possible lover, Piers Gaveston into the modern day.
I have to say, I did really enjoy this. I was really dubious about picking this up because the cover makes it look sleazy and, to be honest, broody troubled heartthrob Gaveston in a thrilling affair with a woman isn’t exactly something I’d seek out in a hurry. Yet I’m glad I did because even if it is trashy (and I’m not sure I know how to judge what is trash and what isn’t), I found myself enjoying the world of the novel. It’s a compelling story with complex characters – although Gaby resents Edward and Gaveston is dark and narcissistic, we’re allowed to see into their worlds enough to begin to understand how they might act that way.
However, I’m not sure that I enjoyed Gaveston as a version of Edward II’s life – and this is where it becomes complicated because where I might disagree with how Merritt depicted the personages and events from Edward II’s life and reign, it’s so far removed from the original setting that such disagreements and inaccuracies may seem trivial. I will say that I struggled at first to work out if Edward Hamilton Harvey was, in fact, Edward I (renowned human turd) or Edward II (a dick but one who could be fun), which is further complicated when Edward Hamilton Harvey’s son is a described as “useless” – not one of the things you can say about Edward III….
In fact, I have a suspicion that the figure of Gaveston is inspired not just by the historical Gaveston but also Hugh Despenser the Younger, who is a much more villainous figure than Gaveston. I haven’t read/seen Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II but I’ve heard enough of it that I wonder if it was more of an influence than the historical figures of Edward II’s court on Merritt.
Onto other criticisms. I found the start of the novel confusing due to the sheer amount of characters introduced in rapid succession – it was hard to remember who was who and their relationship with Gaby, though in all honesty, I might have made it harder for myself because I was also trying to work out who they represented from Edward II’s reign (most characters are renamed). I also found Gaby a bit naïve and tepid and found myself more intrigued by the relationship between Gaveston and Edward (I also wanted to shake Gaby a bit for being utterly clueless about what was meant by “the Other” – she’s a graduate student working on her thesis! I learnt that in my first year of undergrad! And I wasn’t at Oxford! Even if I was studying five years after this novel was published, the Other, as a concept, has been around for at least a century!).
Having said all of that: I did really enjoy Gaveston. I liked the complexity of the characters – even I might have wished for a little more for Gaby – and found the story greatly compelling, The world Merritt constructed is, in a word, awesome. The writing is beautiful and strong and probably the thing that kept me hooked.
Stephanie Merritt’s Gaveston is, like Susan Howatch’s Cashelmara, a loose retelling of Edward II’s life and fall. While Howatch transposed the lives of Edward II, his father, wife, rival and son, onto 19th century Ireland to write an epic family saga, Merritt transposes the life of Margaret de Clare, the niece of Edward II and wife of Edward’s favourite and possible lover, Piers Gaveston into the modern day.
I have to say, I did really enjoy this. I was really dubious about picking this up because the cover makes it look sleazy and, to be honest, broody troubled heartthrob Gaveston in a thrilling affair with a woman isn’t exactly something I’d seek out in a hurry. Yet I’m glad I did because even if it is trashy (and I’m not sure I know how to judge what is trash and what isn’t), I found myself enjoying the world of the novel. It’s a compelling story with complex characters – although Gaby resents Edward and Gaveston is dark and narcissistic, we’re allowed to see into their worlds enough to begin to understand how they might act that way.
However, I’m not sure that I enjoyed Gaveston as a version of Edward II’s life – and this is where it becomes complicated because where I might disagree with how Merritt depicted the personages and events from Edward II’s life and reign, it’s so far removed from the original setting that such disagreements and inaccuracies may seem trivial. I will say that I struggled at first to work out if Edward Hamilton Harvey was, in fact, Edward I (renowned human turd) or Edward II (a dick but one who could be fun), which is further complicated when Edward Hamilton Harvey’s son is a described as “useless” – not one of the things you can say about Edward III….
In fact, I have a suspicion that the figure of Gaveston is inspired not just by the historical Gaveston but also Hugh Despenser the Younger, who is a much more villainous figure than Gaveston. I haven’t read/seen Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II but I’ve heard enough of it that I wonder if it was more of an influence than the historical figures of Edward II’s court on Merritt.
Onto other criticisms. I found the start of the novel confusing due to the sheer amount of characters introduced in rapid succession – it was hard to remember who was who and their relationship with Gaby, though in all honesty, I might have made it harder for myself because I was also trying to work out who they represented from Edward II’s reign (most characters are renamed). I also found Gaby a bit naïve and tepid and found myself more intrigued by the relationship between Gaveston and Edward (I also wanted to shake Gaby a bit for being utterly clueless about what was meant by “the Other” – she’s a graduate student working on her thesis! I learnt that in my first year of undergrad! And I wasn’t at Oxford! Even if I was studying five years after this novel was published, the Other, as a concept, has been around for at least a century!).
Having said all of that: I did really enjoy Gaveston. I liked the complexity of the characters – even I might have wished for a little more for Gaby – and found the story greatly compelling, The world Merritt constructed is, in a word, awesome. The writing is beautiful and strong and probably the thing that kept me hooked.
April 7, 2012
I would have given this book three and a half stars if I could. The story was interesting and covered some interesting topics, sadly it lacked something. It was a book I found easy to put down and pick back up again and would be perfect for reading on holiday but the pace of the novel was somewhat slow and failed to keep me hooked. I will say I managed to get most of the way through before I peeped ahead to the end and by the point I did so it really didn't spoil much. The characters were well written and had the tempo of the novel been faster paced I am sure it would have got more stars. If you want something different from the usual slushy holiday read then pick up this book.
August 3, 2011
Very well written. With that said, the plot on a whole was completely predictable. I plowed through it in a few days and was somewhat disappointed by the ending. Over all a decent beach read novel but definitely not worth buying.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews