Madam, Will You Talk? by Mary Stewart
Madam, Will You Talk?
MARY STEWART
Widowed Charity Selborne had been greatly looking forward to her driving holiday through France with her old friend Louise – long, leisurely days under the hot sun, enjoying the beauty of the parched Provencal landscape. But when Charity arrived at their hotel in the picturesque French town of Avignon, she had no way of knowing that she was to become the principal player in the last act of a strange and brutal tragedy. Most of it had already been played. There had been love–and lust–and revenge and fear and murder.
Very soon her dreams turn into a nightmare, when by befriending a terrified boy and catching the attention of his enigmatic, possibly murderous father, Charity has inadvertently placed herself center stage. She becomes enmeshed in the schemes of a gang of murderers. And now the killer, with blood enough on his hands, is waiting in the wings.
review
Madam, Will You Talk? was first published in 1955 and it follows the adventures of Charity Selborne who goes on holiday to Provence with her friend, Louise. Charity’s husband was killed in World War II and she is at a crossroads in her life where she is ready to take the next step if only she knew what that entailed.
Charity has barely settled into the hotel when she meets twelve-year-old David Shelley and begins to form a bond with him. However, Charity is astounded when she learns David’s father was recently acquitted of the murder of his best friend and for hitting David over the head. David and his French stepmother, Loraine, have fled to France for their own safety and David seems terrified of his father catching up with them. When Charity takes David on a sightseeing trip, she is appalled when David recognises his father and he decides to hide out in a secluded church while Charity continues sightseeing.
Charity finds herself deep in conversation with a man named Richard Coleridge and her amusement at having recently met two people with the surnames as poets inadvertently leads to her revealing she knows David. Richard turns out to be David’s father and he is determined to find out his son’s whereabouts. Charity manages to send Richard off on a wild goose chase while she heads back to the hotel with David, however it seems her efforts are in vain. Heading off on another sightseeing trip alone, Charity discovers Richard is on her trail and is determined to make her talk.
Madam, Will You Talk? is set ten years after the end of World War II and seems rather old-fashioned as a consequence with our characters smoking during a time when it was considered cool. Despite that, the setting in Provence is utterly charming and Stewart makes the most of the glorious scenery during her multiple car chases. Charity is a likeable heroine who shows a great deal of ingenuity but is also a bit too gullible at times, particularly when it comes to trusting others.
There are a lot of twists and turns within this story but most of them are easy to predict and the names of the characters rather give the game away if you are familiar with poets. I’m sure this was probably a deliberate choice by Stewart as we guess the true identity of Richard Coleridge before Charity does and fear the worst. Richard’s pursuit of Charity does seems a bit incredible as he seems to be aware of every move she makes before she has even decided and it reminds you of one of those horror movies where the bad guy is always in your rear mirror no matter what you do, Speaking of movies, the action in this book does actually remind you of one of those old black and white thrillers of the 1930s or 1940s.
