The Last Days of Leda Grey by Essie Fox
A bewitching novel about an enigmatic silent film actress, and the volatile love affair that left her a recluse for over half a century – for fans of Sarah Waters and Tracy Chevalier.
During the oppressive heat wave of 1976, a young journalist, Ed Peters, finds an Edwardian photograph in a junk shop in the Brighton Lanes. It shows an alluring dark-haired girl, an actress whose name was Leda Grey.
Leda Grey is living still, in a decaying clifftop house once shared with a man called Charles Beauvois, a director of early silent film. As Beauvois’ lover and his muse, Leda often starred in scenes where stage magic and trick photography were used to astonishing effect. But while playing a cursed Egyptian queen, the fantasies captured on celluloid were echoed in reality when Beauvois suspected a love affair between Leda and her leading man.
A horrific accident left Leda abandoned and alone for more than half a century – until Ed Peters finds her and hears the secrets of her past, resulting in a climax more haunting than any to be found in the silent films of Charles Beauvois.
My Review
The Fascination was one of my favourite books of 2023, and I’ve just been on the blog tour for Dangerous, so I had to read Essie Fox’s earlier novel The Last Days of Leda Grey. It’s very strange yet compelling and I was soon hooked.
It’s set during the summer heatwave of 1976, when journalist Ed Peters visits a shop in ‘Brightland’ where he encounters the elderly owner, Theo, and for some bizarre reason agrees to call on his sister Leda to check she’s OK. He’s no longer able to see her for health reasons. All Ed has seen is a photo of her when she was a young silent screen starlet.
But all is not well when he arrives at the house, which has no heating. electricity or running water. Leda is now very old and a total recluse. But she seems to trust Ed and is prepared to tell him about her life, her relationship with the controlling film director Charles Beauvois, and his obsessive jealousy of handsome leading man Ivor.
It’s all very Gothic and the lines between fact and fiction are often blurred. I found it very haunting and somewhat unnerving at times. I listened to it as an audiobook, which was a great way to absorb this spellbinding story.
About the Author
Essie Fox was born and raised in rural Herefordshire, which inspires much of her writing. After studying English Literature at Sheffield University, she moved to London where she worked for the Telegraph Sunday Magazine, and then book publishers George Allen & Unwin, before becoming self-employed in the world of art and design. Essie now spends her time writing historical Gothic novels. Her debut, The Somnambulist, was shortlisted for the National Book Awards, and featured on Channel 4’s TV Book Club. The Last Days of Leda Grey, set in the early years of silent film, was selected as The Times Historical Book of the Month. Essie is also the creator of the popular blog: The Virtual Victorian. She has lectured on this era at the V&A, and the National Gallery in London.
