The Turnglass by Gareth Rubin [BOOK REVIEW]

About The Book:

Pages: 512

Genre: Historical Fiction, Mystery, tête-bêche novel

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Format I read it in: Paperback

Rating: ★★★★

1880s England On the bleak island of Ray, off the Essex coast, an idealistic young doctor, Simeon Lee, is called from London to treat his cousin, Parson Oliver Hawes, who is dying. Parson Hawes, who lives in the only house on the island—Turnglass House—believes he is being poisoned.

And he points the finger at his sister-in-law, Florence. Florence was declared insane after killing Oliver’s brother in a jealous rage and is now kept in a glass-walled apartment in Oliver’s library. And the secret to how she came to be there is found in Oliver’s tête-bêche journal, where one side tells a very different story from the other.

1930s California. Celebrated author Oliver Tooke, the son of the state governor, is found dead in his writing hut off the coast of the family residence, Turnglass House. His friend Ken Kourian doesn’t believe that Oliver would take his own life. His investigations lead him to the mysterious kidnapping of Oliver’s brother when they were children, and the subsequent secret incarceration of his mother, Florence, in an asylum.

But to discover the truth, Ken must decipher clues hidden in Oliver’s final book, a tête-bêche novel—which is about a young doctor called Simeon Lee…

My Thoughts:

Tête-bêche (n)

A book split into two parts printed back-to-back and head-to-foot.

“The Turnglass” is the first Tête-bêche book I remember reading and I quite enjoyed it. It was an adventure on its own and added excitement to the story.

Even picking what story to read was an adventure in itself. You pick the book up, and one side of the book is covered in green. This side takes you to 1880s England. Then you flip the book and you get the red side, a story set in California in the 1930s. It is up to you to choose which side to read first, the stories can be read in any order.

I chose to go with 1880s England first.

Only because it is set earlier in the past. The two stories are connected to each other, and, of course, they have The Turnglass house in common. Whilst I was reading, I had a feeling that every detail mentioned could be important at a later date. I couldn’t fully enjoy and immerse myself in the story, because I couldn’t help pretend to be Sherlock Holmes and always look out for clues.

That being said, the chapters are fast-paced and intriguing. They often featured letters or book quotes that brought diversity to the format. Both stories were interesting and kept me guessing until the very end. I liked how it all tied up in the end. There is no special ending – both stories have their own endings. There is nothing to wrap them both up or a big reveal to unite them. Although, with this format, that’s very much expected.

In all honesty, I don’t know if the reading order would have changed anything. But I will never know. “The Turnglass” is one of those books I wish I was able to read again for the first time. Only to try the other order of the stories and see if my reading experience would change. I would definitely recommend this book. It’s a gorgeous, adventurous and mysterious read for sure.

“I guess you learn a lot more about someone from the books they read than where they spend their vacations or which box they tick on a voting paper.”

About The Author:

Gareth Rubin writes about social affairs, travel and the arts for British newspapers. In 2013 he directed a documentary about therapeutic art at the Bethlem Royal Hospital in London (‘Bedlam’). His books include Liberation Square, set in Soviet-occupied London; The Winter Agent, about British agents in Paris on the eve of D-Day and The Turnglass, two entwined mysteries that take place in Essex in 1881 and Los Angeles in 1939. He read English literature at the University of St Andrews and trained at East 15 Acting School.

Author Website

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