Dark Demons: William Trevor's Death in Summer

Death in Summer confirmed the suspicion I entertained after reading Felicia's Journey. William Trevor must be, at the very least, Ruth Rendell’s cousin. Each author probes the dark interior of disturbed or lonely minds with a gentleness that effects sympathy while simultaneously evoking unease that slowly but steadily intensifies.

Unlike many of Rendell’s novels, Trevor’s are not straight forward mysteries, although they are mysterious. Secrets unfold slowly as they define characters’ perspectives. Often, these secrets are merely suggested without full disclosure. The murky secrets invite the reader to fill in the ominous gaps, while paradoxically they provide clarity, exposing an imagined history or circumstance that gives shape and form to a character’s psychology.

The characters who collide in Death in Summer include Albert and Pettie, who we meet as young adults long after they have escaped from a foster home. Albert is docile and well-meaning and is also not “quite right.” He befriends those in whom he detects vulnerability. He is an outcast and a savior. Albert is obsessed with doing right. Pettie, as her name ironically infers, is a petty thief. Stealing fills a void previously filled by the “uncles” who visited and took advantage of her at the foster home. Her obsessions are more personal and more dangerous. Her ultimate theft will provide the novel’s climax.

Looking to improve her circumstances, Pettie applies for a job with Thaddeus Davenport, a recent widower in search of a nanny. Thaddeus’s wife has died unexpectedly, yet his loneliness stems less from the loss of his wife and more from his inability to love in the first place. Whereas Pettie searches for love and acceptance, Thaddeus merely wishes for the ability to love. The only love he has surprisingly discovered he can feel is toward his baby daughter. Emotionally detached, Thaddeus is aware, nonetheless, that a wall surrounds him, yet he is incapable of discovering how to break through it. This distance results in denial, and the subtle hints and signs that he ignores in others induce discomfort in the reader. During her interview, Pettie becomes mesmerized by Thaddeus’s comfortable lifestyle, which includes a beautiful country home, complete with live-in help, the eavesdropping but well-meaning Maidment and his staunch and honest wife Zenobia. (Traditionally, domestic help provide an inside perspective, both entertaining and cogent, and Maidment and Zenobia are no exception.) Everything about Thaddeus, including his name, seems exotic and desirable to Pettie. Thaddeus’s mother-in-law, Mrs. Iveson, offers to help interview women (including Pettie) who apply for the nanny position. Dissatisfied with the applicants, however, Mrs. Iveson offers to move in and care for the baby herself.

Go To Page: 1 2