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Dark Inheritance
Rachel O'Malley is a writer, divorced and bored with her life. A chance meeting takes her to Rome, where the exploration of a bestseller and its author leads to a series of revelatory meetings. Also in the city are Joshua, a lover from another era, and Franco Cellini, a politician with connections.
274 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
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About the author
Elaine Feinstein
68 books52 followersElaine Feinstein was educated at Newnham College, Cambridge and has been awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Leicester. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked as an editor for Cambridge University Press (1960-62), as Lecturer in English at Bishop's Stortford Training College (1963-6), as Assistant Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Essex (1967-70), and as a journalist.
She has contributed to many periodicals, including the Times Literary Supplement, and was formerly Writer in Residence for the British Council in Singapore and Tromsø, Norway.
Of Russian-Jewish ancestry, she has been influenced by Russian writers, especially Marina Tsvetayeva and Anna Akhmatova.
She is the author of a number of plays for television and radio and several biographies, including singer Bessie Smith, writer D. H. Lawrence, Poet Laureate Ted Hughes and Anna Akhmatova.
She has contributed to many periodicals, including the Times Literary Supplement, and was formerly Writer in Residence for the British Council in Singapore and Tromsø, Norway.
Of Russian-Jewish ancestry, she has been influenced by Russian writers, especially Marina Tsvetayeva and Anna Akhmatova.
She is the author of a number of plays for television and radio and several biographies, including singer Bessie Smith, writer D. H. Lawrence, Poet Laureate Ted Hughes and Anna Akhmatova.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 15, 2012
Review published in the New Zealand Herald, 23 March 2002
Dark Inheritance
Elaine Feinstein
(Women's Press, 2000)
Reviewed by Philippa Jamieson
I had heard of Elaine Feinstein but never read anything by this accomplished novelist, poet and biographer. Now I'll be looking out for more.
Dark Inheritance is a stylish and intelligent literary mystery. It starts out in London, introducing Rachel O'Malley, a writer and reviewer whose ebbing bitterness about her failed marriage is giving way to the need for excitement and a new challenge in her life. This comes in the form of an assignment to write an article about Emanuel Cellini, an Italian whose first novel has created a stir – the story appears to be strongly autobiographical and includes incest between a teenage boy and his stepmother.
Rachel's curiosity is piqued. How much of the book is based on fact? Was Cellini the teenage boy? Did his reclusive, depressed mother fall from the balcony, or was she pushed? Was Cellini's father, a well-known politician, really a violent man with Mafia links?
When Rachel arrives in Rome she meets the father, Giorgio Cellini, by chance at a party, and is flattered but slightly disturbed by his attentions. She becomes wrapped up in trying to uncover the family's secrets, aided by an old friend and former object of her affections, Joshua Silk. He's the one who realises that Rachel is being followed.
Despite various hints of danger which might have warned others off, Rachel persists with her investigations. She tracks down the elusive, withdrawn Emanuel, who takes her into his trust, but it's not what she expects. And she accepts a dinner invitation from Giorgio. Finally an unforeseen climax sends Rachel into a spin and forces her to focus on her own family relationships, and she learns more about herself than the Cellini family.
Feinstein is a competent writer. Her style is elegant, precise, pared down, if occasionally self-conscious. She explores the range of love and human relationships by providing a collage of examples. The coincidences and connections between the characters are too prevalent to be entirely believable, but the skeins of story are finely crafted, interlacing sexual intrigue and family skeletons.
By the end, I wanted to know more. There are many questions left unanswered, but good writing should be thought-provoking. Dark Inheritance leaves the reader pondering for days afterwards. And ultimately, do the details of past mysteries and traumas really matter, or is it how people deal with them in the present that really counts?
Dark Inheritance
Elaine Feinstein
(Women's Press, 2000)
Reviewed by Philippa Jamieson
I had heard of Elaine Feinstein but never read anything by this accomplished novelist, poet and biographer. Now I'll be looking out for more.
Dark Inheritance is a stylish and intelligent literary mystery. It starts out in London, introducing Rachel O'Malley, a writer and reviewer whose ebbing bitterness about her failed marriage is giving way to the need for excitement and a new challenge in her life. This comes in the form of an assignment to write an article about Emanuel Cellini, an Italian whose first novel has created a stir – the story appears to be strongly autobiographical and includes incest between a teenage boy and his stepmother.
Rachel's curiosity is piqued. How much of the book is based on fact? Was Cellini the teenage boy? Did his reclusive, depressed mother fall from the balcony, or was she pushed? Was Cellini's father, a well-known politician, really a violent man with Mafia links?
When Rachel arrives in Rome she meets the father, Giorgio Cellini, by chance at a party, and is flattered but slightly disturbed by his attentions. She becomes wrapped up in trying to uncover the family's secrets, aided by an old friend and former object of her affections, Joshua Silk. He's the one who realises that Rachel is being followed.
Despite various hints of danger which might have warned others off, Rachel persists with her investigations. She tracks down the elusive, withdrawn Emanuel, who takes her into his trust, but it's not what she expects. And she accepts a dinner invitation from Giorgio. Finally an unforeseen climax sends Rachel into a spin and forces her to focus on her own family relationships, and she learns more about herself than the Cellini family.
Feinstein is a competent writer. Her style is elegant, precise, pared down, if occasionally self-conscious. She explores the range of love and human relationships by providing a collage of examples. The coincidences and connections between the characters are too prevalent to be entirely believable, but the skeins of story are finely crafted, interlacing sexual intrigue and family skeletons.
By the end, I wanted to know more. There are many questions left unanswered, but good writing should be thought-provoking. Dark Inheritance leaves the reader pondering for days afterwards. And ultimately, do the details of past mysteries and traumas really matter, or is it how people deal with them in the present that really counts?
Displaying 1 of 1 review