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Partial Eclipse
Jennifer is in solitary confinement. Through the world of memory and imagination she lives in, two stories emerge; her romantic relationship with a jazz musician and the link this has with her imprisonment, and the experiences she imagines her ancestor has whilst bound for Botany Bay.
- GenresFictionMysteryLiterature
216 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
1 person is currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
Lesley Glaister
47 books401 followersNovelist Lesley Glaister was born in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, England. She grew up in Suffolk, moving to Sheffield with her first husband, where she took a degree with the Open University. She was 'discovered' by the novelist Hilary Mantel when she attended a course given by the Arvon Foundation in 1989. Mantel was so impressed by her writing that she recommended her to her own literary agent.
Lesley Glaister's first novel, Honour Thy Father (1990), won both a Somerset Maugham Award and a Betty Trask Award. Her other novels include Trick or Treat (1991), Limestone and Clay (1993), for which she was awarded the Yorkshire Post Book Award (Yorkshire Author of the Year), Partial Eclipse (1994) and The Private Parts of Women (1996), Now You See Me (2001), the story of the unlikely relationship between Lamb, a former patient in a psychiatric ward, and Doggo, a fugitive on the run from the police, As Far as You Can Go (2004), a psychological drama, in which a young couple, Graham and Cassie, travel to a remote part of Australia to take up a caretaking job, only to be drawn into the dark secrets of their mysterious employers. Nina Todd Has Gone (2007) was another complex psychological thriller. Chosen, a dark and suspenseful book about a woman trying to rescue her brother from a cult, was followed by Little Egypt in 2014. This novel - set in the 20's in Northern England and Egypt, won a Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Award. Her next novel, The Squeeze, published 2017, centres on a relationship between a teenage Romanian sex-worker - a victim of trafficking - and a law-abiding, family man from Oslo. It's an unusual and (of course, twisted!) love story. Because not all love is romantic. In 2020 Blasted Things was published. This one is set just after World War 1 and is about the warping after-effects of a global war on society and on individuals. The two main characters, Clementine and Vincent, both damaged in different ways, must find their way in the post-war period. For them this results in a most peculiar kind of relationship and one that can only end in distaster.
Lesley Glaister lives with her husband in Edinburgh with frequent sojourns in Orkney. She has three sons and teaches Creative Writing at the University or St Andrews. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Lesley Glaister's first novel, Honour Thy Father (1990), won both a Somerset Maugham Award and a Betty Trask Award. Her other novels include Trick or Treat (1991), Limestone and Clay (1993), for which she was awarded the Yorkshire Post Book Award (Yorkshire Author of the Year), Partial Eclipse (1994) and The Private Parts of Women (1996), Now You See Me (2001), the story of the unlikely relationship between Lamb, a former patient in a psychiatric ward, and Doggo, a fugitive on the run from the police, As Far as You Can Go (2004), a psychological drama, in which a young couple, Graham and Cassie, travel to a remote part of Australia to take up a caretaking job, only to be drawn into the dark secrets of their mysterious employers. Nina Todd Has Gone (2007) was another complex psychological thriller. Chosen, a dark and suspenseful book about a woman trying to rescue her brother from a cult, was followed by Little Egypt in 2014. This novel - set in the 20's in Northern England and Egypt, won a Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Award. Her next novel, The Squeeze, published 2017, centres on a relationship between a teenage Romanian sex-worker - a victim of trafficking - and a law-abiding, family man from Oslo. It's an unusual and (of course, twisted!) love story. Because not all love is romantic. In 2020 Blasted Things was published. This one is set just after World War 1 and is about the warping after-effects of a global war on society and on individuals. The two main characters, Clementine and Vincent, both damaged in different ways, must find their way in the post-war period. For them this results in a most peculiar kind of relationship and one that can only end in distaster.
Lesley Glaister lives with her husband in Edinburgh with frequent sojourns in Orkney. She has three sons and teaches Creative Writing at the University or St Andrews. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 11, 2016
This book presents two twinned, parallel storylines of women suffering imprisonment.
In the main story, Jenny, a young girl in solitary confinement, reminisces about her lost love affair with Tom, an older man. There are hints that this love affair is the cause for her imprisonment (but I won’t get into that!). Solitary is dismal, as expected, but also lets Jenny’s mind wander, and we get the entire story of her affair with Tom, of her relationship with her grandmother, and her descent into passion and madness.
Jenny often speaks of color, or the lack of it, in her prison cell, fantasizing about a palette of paints. Her mental life is rich, which offers the reader a glimpse into her psyche. At first you wonder if Jenny was somehow wronged. Is she a victim of exploitation? Or is she psychotic?
In her mind, Jenny tells herself the story of Peggy Maybee, a distant ancestor who was imprisoned for trying to steal peacock feathers to give her infant son. Peggy is put on a prisoner transport ship and sent to Botany Bay, and desperate conditions, mutiny, and horrible punishment await her on the ship. I enjoyed her story as much as Jenny’s, despite the cruelty and depravity that Peggy had to endure. Her story is brutal and devastating.
I would describe Glaister’s writing style as modern gothic. There’s the subtle psychological disintegration, the haunting sense of place, the character-driven plot. She describes one item, like grey scrambled eggs, or the thin nubbiness of the bedspread, and you get a sense of the entire room, of the mood and atmosphere, of the dinginess, or newness, or oppressiveness. There’s a dark, introverted quality to the perspectives of both Jenny and Peggy.
This book was a riveting tale of blind passion. Jenny is, at first, very sympathetic, but as her story progresses she becomes less reliable, which only makes the book that more interesting. Anyone who’s had their heart broken will be able to relate to Jenny’s story, but her innocent infatuation turns dramatically into violent obsession. And yet, Glaister’s writing is so multifaceted that even in the end, as twisted as Jenny is, you still rally for her.
5 stars all way ‘round.
This review is also posted on my blog at flyleafunfurled.com.
In the main story, Jenny, a young girl in solitary confinement, reminisces about her lost love affair with Tom, an older man. There are hints that this love affair is the cause for her imprisonment (but I won’t get into that!). Solitary is dismal, as expected, but also lets Jenny’s mind wander, and we get the entire story of her affair with Tom, of her relationship with her grandmother, and her descent into passion and madness.
Jenny often speaks of color, or the lack of it, in her prison cell, fantasizing about a palette of paints. Her mental life is rich, which offers the reader a glimpse into her psyche. At first you wonder if Jenny was somehow wronged. Is she a victim of exploitation? Or is she psychotic?
In her mind, Jenny tells herself the story of Peggy Maybee, a distant ancestor who was imprisoned for trying to steal peacock feathers to give her infant son. Peggy is put on a prisoner transport ship and sent to Botany Bay, and desperate conditions, mutiny, and horrible punishment await her on the ship. I enjoyed her story as much as Jenny’s, despite the cruelty and depravity that Peggy had to endure. Her story is brutal and devastating.
I would describe Glaister’s writing style as modern gothic. There’s the subtle psychological disintegration, the haunting sense of place, the character-driven plot. She describes one item, like grey scrambled eggs, or the thin nubbiness of the bedspread, and you get a sense of the entire room, of the mood and atmosphere, of the dinginess, or newness, or oppressiveness. There’s a dark, introverted quality to the perspectives of both Jenny and Peggy.
This book was a riveting tale of blind passion. Jenny is, at first, very sympathetic, but as her story progresses she becomes less reliable, which only makes the book that more interesting. Anyone who’s had their heart broken will be able to relate to Jenny’s story, but her innocent infatuation turns dramatically into violent obsession. And yet, Glaister’s writing is so multifaceted that even in the end, as twisted as Jenny is, you still rally for her.
5 stars all way ‘round.
This review is also posted on my blog at flyleafunfurled.com.
July 30, 2022
4,5 ster. Beste boek dit jaar.
February 6, 2017
Actual rating 2.5 stars
The story of Jennifer and the reason for her imprisonment is slow moving and near the end, became predictable. The reader has to be prepared for a lot of interior thoughts and not much plot. I found the flashbacks to Jennifer's ancestor to be distracting and felt they didn't add to the story.
The story of Jennifer and the reason for her imprisonment is slow moving and near the end, became predictable. The reader has to be prepared for a lot of interior thoughts and not much plot. I found the flashbacks to Jennifer's ancestor to be distracting and felt they didn't add to the story.
July 13, 2024
‘I don’t care for B’Ed. I don’t care to speak it, I don’t care to hear it!’
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February 3, 2009This was a strange book! I definitely enjoyed it, but it took me AGES to read, and the plot was weird. Not really sure how else to describe it!
"A prisoner in solitary confinement with nothing to do but think, recounts the story of her life and imagines the life of her ancestor, sentenced to transportation for theft. Disturbing, but utterly gripping." (From FutureCat)
"A prisoner in solitary confinement with nothing to do but think, recounts the story of her life and imagines the life of her ancestor, sentenced to transportation for theft. Disturbing, but utterly gripping." (From FutureCat)
August 27, 2014
Another deeply-experienced, well-immersed character in Jenny and the interweaving of her current solitary self, the often-grotesqueness of her past self and the imagined story of Peggy, one of her ancestors, perfectly, entertainingly done.
November 23, 2016
3 1/2 stars. I did enjoy reading, I liked the story of Peggy within. The story is well written, I think I don't give it higher rating because I do not agree with the main characters choices.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews