Wild Grapes by Gally Marchmont

 

Wild Grapes / Gally Marchmont
London: Orion, c1997.
288 p.

This is another novel by Elizabeth Aston (aka Elizabeth Pewsey), first published under the pseudonym Gally Marchmont, which is how I read it. It's slightly more satiric and contemporary than the Mountjoy series I've just been sharing, but highly entertaining as well. 

Gina Heartwell is an American student at Oxford; she loves England with all her heart. But she's just discovered that her visa has expired, unknown to her, and now she's being chased down by the dreary Mr. Popplewell from the Home Office. 

To get away from him for a while, she agrees to a wild scheme proposed by the obnoxious upper class acquaintance Georgie Hartwell. Georgie wants to get to New York, but isn't welcome in the US. So she wants to switch identities, and send Gina to Heartsease House in the West Country, where she's supposed to be staying with distant cousins with an eye to marrying one of them. Gina, in desperation, agrees. 

There are plenty of hijinks and shenanigans here, with crossed identities, secret agreements, unrequited loves, and more. It's a delight, even with the slightly outdated sexual mores that are on full display. There are sibling rivalries among the adult children of the Cordovans (many half siblings) as well as business propositions that need help. Gina, a dreamy academic, finds herself thrown into the dramatic milieu and isn't sure she can keep up the pretense, and soon isn't sure she wants to -- not because she doesn't like it, but because she loves it and doesn't want to lie to the family. 

Into the mix come Gina's college flatmates (accidentally), her estranged father (also accidentally), village residents determined to stir up the complacent Cordovans, and of course Mr. Popplewell. 

The many subplots and romantic threads all come together on Midsummer, as Heartsease House hosts a large solstice party. Everyone mentioned in the story shows up there, with identities unveiled, and true love sorted out. It's a real Shakespearean revel, with a touch of Deus ex Machina making the plot work out. I couldn't help but think of the Shakespeare plays in which these themes are explored; this felt like a rollicking modern day interpretation of some of them. 

It was unrealistic, a bit over the top, and thoroughly enjoyable. I'd reread this one - a perfect holiday entertainment.