A Good Voyage

by Katharine Davies

When her twin brother breaks a promise and returns to their childhood home in Sri Lanka on his own, Valentina decides that it's time to make some changes in her life. She cuts off her hair and takes a job as a gardener (although she'd prefer to be a writer) in a small town near the sea in Wales. And so the story takes us to Illerwick, an alluring, timeless place, and to the people who live there. Leo Spring, an eccentric musician, lives alone in Beech House with a once beautiful garden that has now become overgrown and wild. Valentina has come to help Leo restore the neglected garden to its former glory, and she soon falls in love with him. But Leo is consumed by his unrequited infatuation with Melody, the beautiful headmistress in mourning for her brother who leapt to his death from the cliffs. Mr Boase, the alcoholic and bullying deputy head, also holds a flame for Melody; and one of her pupils, Fitch, is another who daydreams about her. As summer draws near, and the garden is gradually transformed, Leo organises a garden party in an attempt to impress Melody. But on the night of the party, events come to a head, secret passions are revealed, and the characters are jolted into understanding that facing their feelings can be a matter of life or death. A Good Voyage is a magical story that charts the voyages of its characters as they move from the pain and comedy of loss and longing to self-realisation and love. Katharine Davies writes with an astounding poise and lightness of touch, making this first novel, with its air of disquiet and enchantment, an unforgettable pleasure.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Shakespeare, Retellings, Novels

274 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Katharine Davies was born on 1968, and she grew up in a village in Warwickshire, England. She read English and Drama at the University of London and taught English Language and Literature in secondary schools in the UK and also Sri Lanka. After doing an MA in Creative Writing, she moved to Wales to write, for her debut novel, A Good Voyage, she won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by Romantic Novelists' Association sponsored by FosterGrant Reading Glasses. She currently lives in North London.

Reviews

[Selah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m in the middle of studying Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night with my children, so I thought this re-telling might be a fun read!

Davies’ prose is lovely and quite poetic (although not exactly Shakespearean).

The plot is lifted directly from Shakespeare’s play, and it translates rather badly to a modern setting. Instead of being fanciful and funny, it turns into a soap opera.

The biggest difference is that Valentina doesn’t disguise herself as a man. Let’s be honest, women going in male disguise works well enough in literature and theatre (especially in Shakespeare’s time, when the women were played by men anyway), but it isn’t particularly effective in real life, so I was pleased with this change overall. However, it did lead to a confused lesbian plot, which I’m not entirely convinced was an improvement.

Davies provided many references to the original, apart from the obvious plot points. The story begins on January 6th, a traditional date for the holiday of Twelfth Night. The teens of Illerwick perform the play. Leo, in reference to Duke Orsino’s famous speech, is a musician.

I had a problem with the sexual content of the story. I do not enjoy reading about other people’s sex life, and most of the sexual thoughts and actions in this book were decidedly unsexy. This was particularly true of the Malvolio plot. Davies’ treatment turned one of Shakespeare’s funniest plots into a cringe-worthy tragedy.

Overall, I found this to be an interesting read for a Shakespeare fan, but not a great book on it’s own merits.

[Mark Valentine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe if I had read Shakespeare's Twelfth Night after reading Davies' novel I would have better regard for it. But I didn't.

What saved the novel for me was the lead character, Valentina (and not just because of her name). She had the most depth of all the cast because she still had mysteries, visions, and longings. The other characters (Leo Spring, Melody Vye, Fitch) did not grow in my mind beyond their two-dimensional constructs.

[Jude Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Found it hard work. Nothing really seemed to happen!

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel started slowly ... very slowly. It was almost the middle of the book before the action picked up, the characters started interacting, and the plot began to resemble Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night." Up until then, even though the blurbs on the back told me that it is a retelling of that play, I could barely see any similarities. Eventually, however, I began to see the parallels. Davies chooses not to deal with the implausible woman-masquerading-as-man trope; instead there is confusion about the lovers' sexual preference that causes problems. The hopelessness of each person's love obsession is emphasized; even the secondary plot characters, played here by teenagers, suffer from the "madness of love." I appreciated how the author dealt with the most problematic aspect of the play: the Malvolio character and his tragic downfall. "Twelfth Night" is a very melancholy "comedy" - not one of my favorites - but I did finally enjoy the way it was retold ... with one important caveat: I would have recommended a lot of editing to tighten up the story. (Did I mention how slowly it began?)

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh this was such a lovely, lovely book. Dreamy and sad and slow. A lovely reinterpretation of Twelfth Night, including an ever so charming description of a bunch of kids putting on Twelfth Night with their beloved teacher. All the characters are so real, so lonely, so pained by not getting the life they wanted or expected or yearn for. And it's got such a lovely ending.

LOVELY, OK? That's all I can come up with. Heh.

(Also weirdly, at least according to goodreads, it looks like this same book (pub 2004) was published again in 2010 under a different name: A Good Voyage. WEIRD.)

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely Twelfth Night retelling. I felt very sorry for the Malvolio character - Mr Boase and his part was not played for laughs as it is in original play.

The writing style was lovely. I enjoyed it more on a second read.

[Neil Cochrane · Rating 3 out of 5]

CW for queer suicide

[Jeannine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably better to read it in the original version, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled through to the end. The characters were very one-dimensional, the writing was stilted (a lot of short sentences and no flow) and in general it made me feel rather uncomfortable.

[Rosa · Rating 1 out of 5]

How do you take one of the queerest of Shakespeare's plays and turn it into this?

[Yvonne O'Connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Melody is a headmistress whose brother Gabriel committed suicide. He loved Leo, who is in love with Melody. Melody falls for Johnathan, twin brother to Valentina, who has come to be Leo's gardener and escape her shadowy life. She is in love with Leo. Meanwhile, Melody's student, Fitch, takes piano lessons from Leo and helps Valentina restore the gardens while he falls for Suzy who appears to like Peter. In this Shakespearian-type story, everything culminates in an end-of-summer party where Fitch becomes the "Puck" character and the truth is revealed to all, with happy ending for everyone but Mr. Boase, a tortured math teacher.

This book had a very unique style. Each chapter was titled by a character's name and never went for more than a few pages. You went back and forth between each of the unique perspectives, but never felt like the story was being truncated. The unrequited love theme was familiar, but somehow worked and kept me turning pages. I loved the Fitch sub-plot as is kept things fresh and light.

[Cameron Toney · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh dear. Take Twelfth Night, one of the most delightful of Shakespeares comedies, and bleach almost all of the joy out of it.
This felt bleak, depressing, and subdued, which is such a contrast to the colorful and energetic original.
And this hit one of my pet peeves- the play within the book. I feel that the characters were very well set up, that you know who there Shakespearian counterparts were, but then we had to do a play within the book to make absolutely sure that the reader got the parallels.
Alas, too bad.

[Laurel Deloria · Rating 3 out of 5]

With a sophistication and mischievousness remarkable for a first-time novelist, Katharine Davies takes inspiration from Shakespeare 19s Twelfth Night and raises the curtain on the interconnecting lives and loves of an unforgettable cast of characters. By turns comic and moving, Not predictibble but not too exciting

[Medalee Molloy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is written as a modern version of a Midsummer Night's Dream. Some very sad people, some inquisitive people, some confused people and lots of confusion caused by others. I like it and I don't usually read this type book.

[Sandee · Rating 4 out of 5]

While it took a bit to become interested in the characters, I did like this a lot. The author skips around with telling the story from various points of view but brings it together nicely in the end.

[Rachel Nowakowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a lovely read. I liked the people and the story.It was a nicely interwoven play on relationships and the phrase" the webs we weave" would perfectly sum thisbook up. The tiny snippet of information at the end really draws everything together in a neat way.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was very interesting! love, gardens and sexuality

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set in Wales. A modern take on 12th Night.

[Jenika Ioffreda · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delicious read. :)

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a wonderful read to start the year off. The writing is very lyrical. It is much more than a love triangle, it is a love whirlwind. I loved it!

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful! Helps if you know a little about 'Twelfth Night'.

[Chelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

"A book with a love triangle"