The Death of Noble Godavary by Vita Sackville-West (25 Books in 25 Days: #20)

Vita Sackville-West is certainly a name that’s known in the blogosphere. Sometimes that’s for her relationship to Virginia Woolf; sometimes for Sissinghurst and her garden design; sometimes for The Edwardians, All Passion Spent, and The Heir. I love all three of those books, but it is amazing how many of her novels and novellas are almost unmentioned online. One such is The Death of Noble Godavary (1932). The only review I can find is at Smithereens.

I started this ages ago, and set it aside for some reason. I went back to the beginning this time, and had much more success – it’s 100 pages of atmospheric writing, and shows that nobody is better than Sackville-West at showing the power of houses. The Heir is a wonderful example of somebody falling in love with a house and home – The Death of Noble Godavary is sort of the opposite.

Gervase Godavary is reluctantly taking a long journey back to the house he used to live in. He is going for his uncle’s funeral, and you get the feeling that nothing else would persuade him to return. He certainly hasn’t stayed in touch with the people there – his brother, cousin, uncle, and various other family members whose relationships to each other did rather confuse me. Among them (his cousin’s half-sister?) is the mysterious Paola, who feels like she’s plucked from a novel by Daphne du Maurier. Gervase is fascinated by her – not enamoured, but struck by her power over the household.

The house and the area are wet, dark, gloomy. Gervase is not excited about being back in his childhood bedroom, but he does feel the power and influence of these familiar surroundings. And when his uncle’s will is read out, things get particularly interesting…

I thought this was a good novella, but it becomes truly great in the final 20 pages. I shan’t say what happens, but it is an extended powerful, destructive image – combining the power of nature with the influence of houses. And hopefully that intrigues you enough for you to seek it out. It’s worth reading for the ending alone. One I won’t forget for a long time, not least because it leaves you with far more questions than answers.