The link: a Victorian mystery

by Robin Maugham

This is a pre-publication advance copy. In this intriguing novel inspired by the notorious Tichborne Casea man Maugham suggests a solution to that mystery, and his brilliant and absorbing narrative dredges deep below the surface of Victorian life.; Experience the pleasure of reading and appreciating this actual printed item. It has its own physical history that imbues it with a character lacking in ephemeral electronic renderings.;

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Gay, Fiction

239 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2025

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maugham's father wrote the definitive non-fiction book on the Tichborne Case, of which this is a fictionalized version (though rather loosely based upon it, it appears). That was a mid-19th century notorious legal wrangle in which a titled individual, who had disappeared and been presumed dead, appeared after a dozen years to claim a substantial inheritance - and although the Claimant is widely regarded as having been an imposter, no definitive conclusion was ever drawn.

Maugham adds a delicious wrinkle to the basic facts, in making his protagonist a homosexual bounder, and telling the story from multiple narrative points of view. If it weren't for the fact that each of these narrators sounds exactly the same, and that the author doesn't go out of his way to convey the Victorian milieu with any degree of felicity, this would probably rate a 5 star from me - as it's compulsively readable, and against all odds, comes to a very satisfying conclusion.

[ALEARDO ZANGHELLINI · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably the most enjoyable of the R Maugham novels I have read. Unlike other reviewers I enjoyed the first part (Jamie's narrative) more than the rest (to each his own): I can't agree with the implication that the gay sex is superfluous or overly detailed -- how else would you come away feeling that you have actually known Jamie and appreciate the reasons for his future choices and addictions? If anything, it's the integrity of Ben's hetero exploits to the narrative that is dubious -- his actions and personality don't seem especially to depend on them. Be that as it may, the book is a fast read, not because of its length, but because it marches on to the final climax without ever slackening its pacing. The characters are all flawed and even quite ruthless in their own way -- don't expect to like them, particularly -- but the writing is good enough to make them complex human beings you come to care for.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Told sequentially by a number of different narrators, this novel is based loosely on the Tichborne Case (as was the very different novel Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey). It's the mid-19th century. Sex addict James Steede, set to inherit a title and a modest fortune, flees his domineering mother and his possibly pregnant girlfriend -- he's primarily homosexual but isn't averse to heterosexual liaisons -- for a life on the ocean wave, finally landing, after much gay revelry in the Americas, in Australia, safely anonymous because (in an insurance scam) a ship in which he traveled is supposed to have been lost at sea with the death of all aboard. Years later, his mother advertises for the return of her son, whom she's convinced is still alive.

Someone arrives back at the ol' family pile in England who's the spitting image of the missing James and can answer all sorts of questions about intimate personal and family details . . . but is this in fact James? Further, is the genuineness or otherwise of his claim as important to the likely outcome of the law case as the turmoil of conflicting special interests surrounding the investigation?

I found the opening one-third of this book a trifle daunting, to be honest, because James, who narrates this section (and is thus in the role of identification character), delights in telling us all about his various gay escapades and his enjoyment of them; my reaction was as if stuck next to that obsessive soccer fan on the train who insists on telling you all the details of Really Good soccer matches he's attended on the grounds that, sooner or later, through his doing so he'll make you see sense and start loving soccer as much as he does. (If he were talking about cricket, on the other hand, he wouldn't be a bore at all . . .) But Maugham's a surprisingly good tale-teller, so I weathered those hundred pages and thereafter was absolutely absorbed. I'm not sure he delivered the "terror and surprise . . . unforgettable climax" the blurb-writer promises, and nor is this really a mystery, whatever its subtitle indicates; but overall I enjoyed it a surprising amount.

[Surreysmum · Rating 3 out of 5]

[These notes were made in 1991:]. His preliminary apologia notwithstanding, I could have wished Mr. Maugham to exert himself a little more to capture the Victorian tone for his multiple Victorian narrators. That, however, is the only major complaint I have of this rather gracefully structured, rather well-composed meditation on the narcissistic underpinnings of homosexuality, as exemplified in the identical twins theme (Maugham would doubtless be horrified to see his work so brutally reduced -- but it's not an unfair assessment, I think). In this case, it's not twins proper, but similar half-brothers, one of whom (the real heir) runs off to Australia when he finds himself in conflict with English society and in order to give greater rein to his fully-acknowledged homosexuality. Caught in a destructive relationship with a man with the rather modern name of Clint, he has a brief period of contentment on his own horse-breaking ranch; eventually and consequent to Clint's reappearance, he sinks into alcoholism, of which he dies. Before he does, however, he is sought out and found by his illegitimate half-brother - the two get to know one another, and though the brother is heterosexual, there is a definite intimation that the brotherly relationship becomes very intimate indeed - a sort of self-acceptance for both? The last part of the novel is what justifies the "mystery" in the title, for it details the steps that Ben, the half-brother, takes to reclaim the estate which rightfully belongs (or belonged) to Jamie, the exile. Ben eventually renounces his claim in favour of blackmailing the rather heartless mother who drove Jamie from England in the first place. I thought this was a really good read, and tho' the gay protagonist dies the stereotypical self-destructive death, still it's quite a courageous one for 1969.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really thrilling, compelling novel, hard to put down. I can't think why it doesn't have better ratings on here.

[Steven Hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A LITTLE DOWTON ABBEY, A LITTLE AGATHA CHRISTIE

The nephew of his more famous uncle, author Somerset Maugham, and also gay as was his uncle, Robin Maugham was a prodigious and very popular British author in the second half of the twentieth century. He was a hero of World War II, an educated barrister who never practiced, and a member of the House of Lords. Born in 1916, he died of diabetes related to his alcoholism in 1981.

This is the second novel of his that I have read. The first being the disturbing, The Wrong People, which his uncle encouraged him to not publish and failed. Both books receive a 5-star rating from me. The Link is loosely based on a true story that made big news in Great Britain at the middle of the nineteenth century. Titled and heir to a sizable fortune, a young man of twenty disappears in 1850. It's rumored he was sailing from Acapulco, Mexico, to Lima, Peru, when his ship sank in a great storm. A couple of years later, rumors surface that there were a few survivors of the wreck who had somehow made it to Australia. The man's mother refused to accept his death and put ads in Australian newspapers searching for her prodigal son. Then more than a decade later, a man closely resembling the missing baronet shows up in Great Britain claiming to be the long-lost heir and making claim to his inheritance. Meanwhile, the estate has passed to the widow of his deceased younger brother. The case goes to a civil trial to uncover the truth. Is he, or isn't he? The question dominates Britsh newspapers in the early 1860s. Ultimately, the man fails to convince the authorities of his identity. That's pretty much all that has been passed down through history.

Published in 1969, The Link, is Maugham's fictional account of what really happened in this true- life mystery of a century prior. He fills in all the blanks. It's well-crafted and told in the first person from the perspectives of several of the real participants involved, as well as Maugham's imagined characters. Maugham's writing is truly narrative, easy to read, and engaging. The reader is quickly drawn into the mystery.

Based on my thorough enjoyment of this novel, as well as, Maugham's The Wrong People, I will surely come back for yet another one of his great stories.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather old-fashioned melodrama built on a historical incident, The Link does reflect the tempora et mores of the late Victorian era and the rawness of the Australia of that time. The "gimmick" by which Maugham explains the central mystery is a good one and very Dickensian in its own right. As others have noted, the "voice" of all the POV characters is essentially the same and it is easy to forget which one is speaking at any given point. Yet, the story of the cost of societal and internalized homophobia is laid out in a way that feels true to the time and place.

[Orlando Fato · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my third Robin Maugham novel, and I am speechless. He knew how to write a page turner of a novel where you get so involved into the twists and turns of the plot and the psyche of the main characters that it is impossible to put it down. Alas, besides this novel, "The Wrong People" and "Behind the Mirror" all his other work is out of print. Hopefully, Valancourt Books is planning to reissue some of his other books.

[ingrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating page turner. Not so much a who-dunnit, but a "what the hell transpired and why". Like his uncle, W. Somerset Maugham, Robin Maugham does not wrap up a story with an obvious ending. Interesting, well developed characters. Jamie Steede is the main character/protagonist, a child of the British elite in the 1850's or so. His path and the whys and wherefores are extremely well written. Further explication would create spoilers.

[pareidolia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first part is a bit of a drag, but necessary to understand the circumstances that let to the whole sorry affair in the first place (why we need to know all about Ben's exploits too is a bit beyond me, though). The rest reads briskly enough.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable adventure/mystery. Not terribly profound, but a well-plotted escapist story.

[Bhan13 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Inspired by the Tichborne case this novel tries to explain how, even when there seems to be conflicting evidence, a family would accept someone who says they are the son who has been missing for over a decade but then returns to claim a title and estate. It's told from the point-of-view of various people involved and in general the solution is satisfactory. Although homosexuality plays a part in the narrative the writing about that is unconvincing, and in general the writing was fairly uninteresting. Although the author said he didn't want to include 'period' phrases or dialogue he did choose to keep the story in the mid 1800s but there there was very little that gave the feeling of that era in the either the thoughts or attitudes of the characters themselves or in details or descriptions of the various settings.
Not recommended unless you have an interest in the author, homosexuality in literature, or possibly the Tichborne case.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I regard Robin Maugham's earlier 'The Wrong People' as a very fine, if not great, novel and written in 1958 it was without doubt entirely Maugham's. The same cannot be said for 'The Link' (or much of the work published in the last dozen years of his life. It is known that during that time his secretary Peter Burton (a writer and gay activists who I have nothing but admiration for) helped him extensively prepare his works for publication. How much and on which books (Burton himself has written that he helped Robin make up most the third of his volumes about his uncle Somerset, 'Conversations with Willie' but Burton's autobiography Parallel Lives' is also unreliable) and may only be revealed through a thorough study of Maugham's archive at the Ransom centre in Texas but maybe not even then.

What can say as reader is that while more open and specific about the homosexuality of the main character James Steede (though nowhere near as frank and explicit as novels were to be about sexual matters a decade later) it is not as well crafted or developed an examination of human motivation as his much earlier works and is a long way from the subtlety and humanity 'The Wrong People'. Also in dealing with areas that would have been familiar to him, homosexual relationships in public school, specifically Eton and Cambridge and in the way the English upper classes acted behaved and thought, the characters are developed and portrayed in a clearly inept and cliched way where the presentation is simply inaccurate.

I thought the handling in this novel of upper class characters and their milieu in general was very laboured and unconvincing. It was a total contrast to the way Robin Maugham handled and portrayed such people in another earlier novel 'The Rough and the Smooth'.

All of this leads me to think that a great deal of this novel was not written by Robin Maugham. If it is 100% all his own work then it is a very sad reflection on the decay and decline of a fine and promising talent. I rather prefer, having admired his early novels, to think that due to drink he depended on others to complete his ideas or rough drafts. The alternative of a talent squandered and destroyed is to sad to contemplate.

As for the novel itself it is a reasonably ok re-imagining of the Tichborne claimant case (Google it) but in such a way as to remove all the really bizarre and fascinating aspects. It makes it all very simple, you can hear the creaking of the plot machinery and though the story is told through the voices of three different characters one can't even pretend that attempt has been made to distinguish them from each other. I certainly don't think it deserves resurrection as a 'gay classic'though in his final years all his novels played up the 'gay' angle - something he had not done previously. It is certainly not a very good or interesting novel.

[Cynthia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an almost good book but it doesn't quite make it. An interesting aspect is that for a book written in the 1960's, it is open about bisexual and homosexual behavior. The hero (not a particularly likable one) is primarily homosexual. The first part of the book holds your interest and the writing is decent but that last part is pretty thin in terms of plot development. I was looking for a book by Somerset Maugham and noticed this one; it is sub-titled "A Victorian Mystery" and that sounded good.

[Karla Huebner]

This proved to be a pretty compelling read. The underlying plot is quite similar to one of Josephine Tey's mysteries--I gather both books are based on a historical event--but worked out very differently as regards personalities and time period, as well as outcome.