The Peacock Emporium by Jojo Moyes

 Comprehensive, Emotional, Gripping

Genre: Contemporary Fiction/Romance/Tragedy

The Peack Emporium by Jojo Moyes

Vivi had thought the absolute world of Douglas for as long as she could recall. He had accompanied her as her chaperone to her first and only debutant ball, during which they'd both experienced a rather extraordinary and certainly unexpected introduction to Atheen Forster. She had ridden in on horseback throught the French windows astride the majestic steed which belonged to their hosts, proceeding to knock into tables that had been laid out as part of a makeshift casino. After a handful of obtuse exchanges with the evenings hostess, during which she maintained an air that demonstrated a lack of respect nor care for neither tradition or decorum, she turned the animal around and left the way she had entered, leaving only the snow that had melted from the horses hooves. So taken was Douglas, with 'The last deb' as she had been labelled, that in a short time Atheena Forster became Mrs Douglas Fairley-Hulme. Vivi vowed to stick by her long time friend, hoping secretly that many.people's thoughts on the union would be realised, and it would not last long. She would be there to pick up the pieces of Douglas's broken heart. However, she had not imagined that in doing so, it would determine her whole future and that she would become the glue, holding together a family, fractured by the decisions of the past.

It is rare for me to give a Jojo Moyes novel less than five stars, however, judging by the synopsis, this novel promised to be an intriguing and exciting read, as its focus is about people, its main players, a family struggling with events that had take place 40 years previously and the consequences of actions to protect one member. I enjoy psychological family narratives, so this couldn't really have been better for me. It was told in two different timelines, mainly the present and as well as the central plot, there were threads involving stand alone characters. I was keen to immerse my senses in the part that had originally piqued my curiosity, but if I'm honest, I felt a little short changed.

Although this is a very full and thorough novel, I felt that the journey's of the more secondary protagonists somewhat dominated, and the main point of the book as laid out in the synopsis, got a little forgotten about, only really providing answers that were required, in the last four chapters. The foreigner that Suzanne finds herself attracted to, was quite clearly written in purely to demonstrate her flighty nature, an echo of her mother's personality. I felt that that particular thread of the storyline ended up taking up much of the novel, along with that of Jessie, Suzanne's assistant. Jessie's story prompted events that were very hard hitting, but not entirely unexpected.

Once the Author arrives at actually imparting to the reader, the actions of Suzanne's family all those years ago and why certain decisions were taken, what drove Atheena to do what she did, I felt that it was very predictable and that the ending could have been far more powerful. I wanted a reason to feel that Atheen's actions had despite other's perceptions, been selfless.

The positive in this novel is the good humour, largely provided by Vivi's elderly mother-in-law, Rosemary. Her fight to remain independent and her complete denial concerning the elements of the aging process that were all too hastily making their presence felt, were impossible not to find funny. Not to mention her cat that got one last bite in before it died. Even Douglas's old fashioned, unimpressed demeanour raised a smile more than once. Suzanne however, I found exasperating. Her behaviour towards her family could have been explained by her lack of feeling she belonged, but her treatment of Neil was unforgiveable.

All in all, a good read, but I do now feel I need a sequel to explore how Suzanna felt about the explanations that she was given, and whether she once again harboured those feelings of being second best.