Return Of The Stranger

Author: – Reay Tannahill (1929-2007)

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Synopsis: – ‘Return Of The Stranger’ – Taken From The Book

‘Return Of The Stranger’, is a glorious saga of family passions and skulduggery set in London and the Highlands in the era of ‘Upstairs, Downstairs’.

It is the story of Max – charming, powerful and unscrupulous, the money man and fixer.

Of Tassie, an innocent pawn in Max’s game until she takes both life and love into her own hands.

Of Francis, the cool, enigmatic heir to a family tragedy.

And of gentle, fatalistic Grace, whose secret, long-ago sin is to have the most diverse and dramatic consequences.

It begins with a stranger on the doorstep…..

Brief Author Biography:

Reay Tannahill, was a Scottish historian and novelist, as well reknowned for her non-fiction bestsellers, as for her historical fiction novels.

She was born and educated in Glasgow, having a strict Calvinist background. She read history at the University of Glasgow and later earned a postgraduate certificate in social sciences.

She held a variety of diverse positions in her early working life, only starting out on her literary career in 1952, when she became a reporter for the Times Literary Supplement.

Her early published work, was almost exclusively non-fiction and it was not until 1983, at about the same time as the breakdown of her marriage, that she turned her attention to writing historical novels, centring on her native Scotland.

Much of the focus of her novels, was in portraying strong female characters, as she had always felt that women had experienced a raw deal in history, but that they were equal, if not more than equal, to men.

She never remarried and there were no children.

My Personal Review Of: – ‘Return Of The Stranger’

“During Joss Smith’s lifetime, Grace had been the perfect wife, conscientious and submissive, sincerely believing that he, as a man, was by definition superior to her, as a female….”

A false personna, carried off to perfection by Grace, on marrying her second husband. However, after his death, she gradually becomes much more decisive and in control of her own emotions and thoughts; you can almost see her grow in confidence and stature. This is no more apparent, than when she returns for visits to her native Highland home, far away from the polite constraints of Lowland propriety and society.

The descriptive writing of the Highlands is superb and totally draws you into the scene, as does the metamorphosis of Grace’s character, as her true strengths begin to emerge, starting with the terrible secret that she has carried with her, for many years.

Max, is always a ‘larger than life’ character, who is able to bluff his way through every situation, without ever seeming to arouse suspicion, that he is any other, than who he claims to be. He forces his way into the life of Grace and her daughter Tassie, convincing them that he is the long lost son that Grace gave away, as he was conceived before Joss and Grace were married, whilst her first husband still lived, and propriety and society deemed this to be unacceptable.

“One couldn’t grow up in the 1890s without knowing about the doctrine of ‘separate spheres’, which held it as a law of Nature that it was a gentleman’s duty to look after the material needs of his womenfolk, and his womenfolk’s duty to look after him.”

Tassie is a young and impressionable teenager, when we first meet her, who hangs on her new found brother’s every word, defending him against all his critics, particularly Francis, a journalist, who seems hell bent on bringing Max to his knees. Her character and confidence grows enormously as she decides to make her own way in the changing world of the early 1900s, when the suffragette movement is gaining momentum and women are beginning to demand careers of their own, in a previously male dominated workplace.

The family remain ignorant of Francis’s motives in pursuing Max and investigating his somewhat sketchy past credentials, believing him to be a wily and dangerous man. To this end, he does however, find himself getting close to the family and Tassie in particular, with whom he falls in love. When his true motives for the deception are revealed, Tassie is still in the thralls of Max’s success and although becoming suspicious of some of his dubious business practices, will not openly denigrate him.

Max’s, character, meanwhile, is more and more complex, as he becomes excessively demanding and manipulative, confident that the women in his life, will never question his judgement:

“The basic problem is that he controls all our lives. Not just here at the factory-that’s to be expected-but at home and in every way. I feel sometimes that everything my mother and I do is in response to him or his actions …..it’s emotional dependence.”

Francis is finally able to obtain the evidence he needs to unmask Max for the soundrel and rogue that he is, although the final twist in the tale was kept well hidden, until just the right moment. Max is revealed for the Psychopath, that he is and Grace and Tassie, together, must face the toughest challenge yet to their new found freedom of thought, as they become: “Victims, like so many others, of the man who hadn’t been Max.”

Needless to say, Tassie and Francis, find true love at the end of the saga, but one feels that their relationship will be built on much more equality in both their professional and private lives, as the 1900s move on. Tassie has the final words….

“Improperly, half properly, or properly. I don’t care, as long as it’s now.”

A rattling good saga, with a credible plot and powerfully crafted characters.

A good 4 star read.