A Fugue in Time by Rummer Godden

What a strange and delightful book! It tells the story of a house that has sheltered three generations of the Dane family. The book opens during WWII as Sir Roland looks back over his life and over the century that his family has lived in the house at 99 Wiltshire Place. People are randomly introduced, but are fleshed out as the novel progresses. There are Griselda and John, Roland’s parents. Of their nine children, only three play a major part in the narrative. Another member of this second generation is Lark, an adopted orphan. Finally come Grizel and Pax (the third generation).

Another major character in the book is the house itself. It seems to hold the memories and conversations of all who have lived there. These voices sometimes talk to Roland, which may be disconcerting to some readers, but I found it intriguing. Take this paragraph which describes a young woman (granddaughter to John and grandniece to Roland) who comes for a visit:  

It seemed to her all at once that the house was immensely bigger than she had first thought; it had, she glimpsed, a common life far greater than the individual little lives that were her grandfather and herself. It held them both. He was dead, she was alive, but there was no difference between them in the house. Grizel did not like that. She was insistent. ‘No. No,’ she cried. ‘He is dead, It is I, Grizel, who am alive.’ Then her cheeks warmed. It was as if someone had coldly remarked, ‘What a clamor you make, Grizel.’ 

It can be confusing because the narrative is not told in a linear fashion, but jumps back and forth between time frames; you only know when a particular episode takes place by paying attention to the names given to the servants or to Sir Roland. (He is young “Roly” in the beginning and grows into “Rollo” as a young man. At the end of his life, he is referred to as “Rolls.”)

Being musically challenged, I did not know the significance of the word fugue in the title, but other reviewers helped me see Godden’s genius in using it. Sara (at Goodreads) explains, “A fugue is a musical movement in which melodic lines run independently but also merge to create a harmony…. Godden has created a fugue in her novel, telling individual stories, with individual voices, but layering them atop one another to show both the passage of time and the continuity of time, simultaneously.”

It's complicated, but patient reading brings rich dividends. The writing is lovely. For example, the empty nursery is described not as “vacant” but as a place with a sense of an inner cheerful life of its own like the sound of the sea, once known to the shell, that always remains.

One reviewer calls it a feminist book, but I beg to differ. Yes, one of the women in the family chafed at the marital yoke and wished she had never had any children. But the two unhappiest characters are those who have shut themselves out of relationships to stay “safe.” Grizel and Pax must decide if they will choose safety and order over the potential discomforts of joining their lives together.

This is a unique book that must be read slowly. Its beauty brought tears to my eyes more than once. 

Blessings,