Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Gillespie and I
    Unavailable
    Gillespie and I
    Unavailable
    Gillespie and I
    Audiobook19 hours

    Gillespie and I

    Written by Jane Harris

    Narrated by Anna Bentinck

    4/5

    ()

    Unavailable in your country

    Unavailable in your country

    About this audiobook

    Sitting in her Bloomsbury home, with her two birds for company, elderly Harriet Baxter sets out to relate the story of her acquaintance with Ned Gillespie, a talented artist who never achieved the fame he deserved. Back in 1888, after a chance encounter, young Harriet befriends the Gillespie family and soon becomes a fixture in all of their lives. But when tragedy strikes, the certainties of this world all too rapidly disorientate into mystery and deception.

    Featuring a memorable cast of characters, infused with atmosphere and period detail, and shot through with wicked humour, Gillespie and I is a tour de force from one of the emerging names of British fiction.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherW. F. Howes Ltd
    Release dateOct 1, 2011
    ISBN9781407489889
    Unavailable
    Gillespie and I

    Related to Gillespie and I

    Related audiobooks

    General Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Beth O’leary

      May 6, 2021

      Beth O’Leary came up with the idea for her new novel while holidaying in France. “I’m rarely led by locations – my characters tend to come first – but in this case, beautiful, sunny Provence proved a huge inspiration,” she tells WHO. In The Road Tr

      1 min read

    • Article

      Sistersong

      Mar 24, 2021

      416 pages | Hardback/ebook/audiobook ▶ Author Lucy Holland ▶ Publisher Macmillan Despite being based on various established sources – Arthurian myth, the writings of the monk Gildas, and the folk ballad “The Twa Sisters” among them – Sistersong feels

      1 min read

    • Article

      Two Sides To A Story: Why Feminist Retellings Are Filling Our Bookshelves

      Mar 24, 2023

      From Circe to Medusa via Persephone, Electra and the women of Troy, it seems there are few characters from Greek mythology left who haven’t been the subject of a feminist retelling in recent years. This year, the world of such reimaginings is expandi

      4 min read

    • Article

      Tuesday New Release Day: Starring Sedaris, Adelmann, Cross-Smith, and More

      May 31, 2022

      Here’s a quick look at some notable books—new titles from David Sedaris, Maria Adelmann, Leesa Cross-Smith, and more—that are publishing this week. Want to learn more about upcoming titles? Then go read our most recent book preview. Want to help The

      5 min read

    • Article

      Book The Good Sister

      Oct 29, 2020

      Laced with her usual quirky humour, sass and darkly charming tone, Australian author Sally Hepworth brings her latest tome – tipped to be her breakout – to shelves. Delivering a knockout novel about the lies that bind two sisters, Hepworth tells the

      1 min read

    • Article

      A Tale Of Two Dickens

      Nov 24, 2022

      A Tale Of Two Dickens
      8 min read

    • Article

      Only a Fragrance

      Sep 1, 2022

      Only a Fragrance
      3 min read

    • Article

      10 Literary Diss Tracks

      Apr 9, 2018

      10 Literary Diss Tracks
      11 min read

    • Article

      “The Old Ones Are The Best…”

      Dec 1, 2022

      When the festive season rolls round and Slade vocalist Noddy Holder for the umpteenth time barks “Does your granny always tell ya, that the old songs are the best” from his band’s 1973 hit Merry Xmas Everybody, I like to paraphrase such lyrics and ap

      6 min read

    • Article

      When I Find Hidden Gems, I Destroy Them

      Jul 28, 2021

      Three people may keep a secret if two of them are dead, said Benjamin Franklin. The sickening truth about travel writers is that they reveal secret locations in exchange for a free trip. It’s a Faustian pact and I must admit I bear some guilt in this

      3 min read

    • Article

      Spellcheck

      Jan 1, 2019

      Whose history I do not know. I do know I’ve been e-upbraided for my fast and loose spelling of Woden, the god whose last worshipper must have slipped under the sod during the medieval period, somewhere in the 10th century—imagine those bog-soaked des

      5 min read

    • Article

      The Story Behind…

      Dec 16, 2022

      The Story Behind…
      2 min read

    • Article

      Worlds Of Ink And Paper

      Nov 22, 2022

      As a young girl, I still remember my dear mother, smile on her face, curled up with Family Circle magazine in her lap. She was engrossed in an article titled “Butternut Wisdom,” written by Gladys Taber. At my age, it didn’t mean a thing to me. But as

      6 min read

    • Article

      The real ALICE

      Apr 3, 2020

      Were it not for Alice Pleasance Liddell, we might never have known of the madcap world of Wonderland, where White Rabbits wear waistcoats, Mad Hatters host tea parties and playing-card-Queens play croquet. Lewis Carroll’s dreamland has fired the imag

      4 min read

    • Article

      Four Of A Kind

      May 3, 2023

      Four Of A Kind
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Stories Of Us

      Nov 24, 2023

      The Stories Of Us
      7 min read

    • Article

      Readersʼ Letters

      Jul 27, 2022

      Readersʼ Letters
      6 min read

    • Article

      Readers’ Letters

      Feb 9, 2022

      The Oldie, 23-31 Great Titchfield Street, London, W1W 7PA letters@theoldie.co.uk To sign up for our e-newsletter, go to www.theoldie.co.uk SIR: Like Gyles Brandreth, my husband and I are great fans of Bargain Hunt. As well as enjoying the banter betw

      6 min read

    • Article

      Very Hampstead, very Kingsley Amis

      Oct 29, 2020

      I HEARD THESE WORDS in the Flask Bookshop in Flask Walk, Hampstead — which I owned and ran from 1975 until 1988 — while slumped in the back room on my leather swivel chair, quite as usual, smoking a pipe and reading: I was always reading. It was a un

      10 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Gillespie and I

    4/5

    317 ratings53 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      This book was chosen as our Book Group read, partly because Glasgow Library Service lent us 8 copies on long loan & partly because two of us had it on our wishlist having read the author's first novel: The Observations.

      The more I think about this book, the more difficult I'm finding it to describe/review etc. I guess I should start with the basics:

      Harriet Baxter is an English woman who heads north to Glasgow, following her aunt's death, to visit the International Exhibition of 1888. There she meets the Gillespie family and quickly becomes part of their 'circle' and life. Ned Gillespie is an artist just on the fringes of 'The Glasgow Boys' and is married to Annie with two children Sybil and Rose. There are other family members and friends, but it's Harriet's involvement with Ned that the story is really centred around. From here, it's difficult to describe without giving too much away.

      The book is written as a memoir, so you meet Harriet in 1933 as she writes about her time in Glasgow with the Gillespies and as you read it, your perceptions shift and you begin to wonder about what you've already read and what it all really means. (I read one review that suggested it was only good in 'retrospect' which I found a little harsh, but not entirely wrong) I did 'cotton on' fairly early that things were not all they seemed, but that was partly due to attending a reading by the author at the Edinburgh Book Festival - more because of some of the audience questions than the author giving the game away! I don't think I'm spoiling anything by mentioning that here.

      Someone has also said that it has similarities with 'The Suspicions of Mr Whicher' but really that's only because a crime is committed and a court case ensues and the Victorian setting is reminiscent. I think it's a better book than that, even though I did enjoy reading 'Mr Whicher'.

      Overall, I enjoyed the book and didn't feel that it was too long despite it being 500 pages. It did take me longer than usual to read, but that's because it wasn't handbag/train/bus friendly being such a sizeable tome! When I did get chance to sit and read, I flew through it.
    • 5/5
      Loved, loved, loved this book. Can't wait to read her first book The Observations". This book kept me reading in order to find out what would happen. The ending did not disappoint. Lots of twists and turns!"
    • 3/5
      This was quite a strange book in that I quite liked the first half and could barely abide the second half of the book. The story is about a spinster London lady who decides to visit Scotland, the fatherland of one of her parents. She befriends and is befriended by a family living near her and spends a great deal of time with them. They have two young daughters, both very different from the other. Strange things begin to occur withing the household of her friends and finally the horrific kidnapping of one of the daughters comes about. Here is where the story got dicey for me and I shan't tell you any more as I wouldn't wish to ruin it for anyone wanting to read the book.The best thing about this book for me is that it is on the 2012 Orange Prize long list. I found it not to be very well written and the second half I found to be exceptionally boring. Another good to fair story poorly written, I guess would sum it up for me. I gave it 2 1/2 stars and guardedly recommend it. I am sure those of you who follow the Orange will wish to read it and I hope the majority of you enjoy it more than I did. It took me five days to read the thing and that is an anomaly.
    • 5/5
      Where do I start? This is a very hard book to review; it was fantastic, don't get me wrong. In fact one of the best books I've read - but to explain why is to give away too much. Ms. Harris is brilliant. She has created a heroine that is so multifaceted you run the gamut of emotions from like to out and out hate and back again before you are done with the book. Just who IS Harriet Baxter?Harriet, at the start of the book is a young woman who has lost her mother and has just buried her aunt. She is of independent means and so she decides to go to Glasgow for the great International Exhibition that is being held. While there she saves the life of Elsbeth Gillespie and ingratiates herself into the family. To what end?The book is Harriet's memoir as she writes in her dotage. She is "to set the record straight" about her time with "the artist Gillespie." But one wonders about her ability to discern the absolute truth from the Harriet truth. The story is told in a well constructed flashback/flashforward style that forces you to piece snippets of information together like a jigsaw puzzle. Never have I enjoyed a book more. Never have I puzzled over a book more. Never have I wondered at the sanity of a heroine more. And I am still thinking about her and I finished the book over a week ago. This book has serious pull. Oh, I will read it again and I suspect that I will find all manner of things I missed as I flew through it the first time.Do not miss the chance to acquaint yourself with Ms. Harriet Baxter. You won't be disappointed. Her times are fascinating, her story is thrilling and her life a conundrum. All manner of praise to Jane Harris for creating a character so complex and a story so rich in detail and human drama.
    • 5/5
      Gillespie and I is a stunning work of fiction. It seems I'm one of the few people not to have read the first novel by Jane Harris, The Observations, and I'm not sure how I managed to miss that one as it sounds like something I would love. I'll certainly go back and read it now that Jane Harris has been brought to my attention.But this is a review of Gillespie and I. Or, I should say, Gillespie and Harriet Baxter. We first meet Harriet in 1933 as an elderly woman looking back on her life and promising to share with us her recollections of Ned Gillespie, a talented artist who was never able to fulfil his true potential. Harriet then proceeds to tell us the story of her acquaintance with the Gillespie family, whom she met in the 1880s during a trip to Scotland to visit the International Exhibition in Glasgow. She quickly becomes a friend of Ned, his wife Annie, and the other members of the family - but then disaster strikes and the lives of Harriet and the Gillespies are thrown into turmoil.After a leisurely start, the story soon picked up pace and became very gripping. But as well as the compelling plot there were many other things that made this book such an enjoyable read. I connected immediately with Harriet's sharp, witty and observant narrative voice. The other characters were vibrantly drawn, though the only one who never really came to life for me was Ned himself, which was the only disappointment in an otherwise excellent book. I also loved the setting. I've read many, many books set in Victorian London and it made a refreshing change to read one set in Victorian Glasgow instead.Halfway through the story something happened that made me start to question everything I'd read up to that point - and even after I'd finished the book I still had questions. I was very impressed by how cleverly Jane Harris managed to control what I believed and didn't believe at various points in the novel. I can't really explain what I mean without spoiling the story but suffice to say there are some stunning plot twists that leave you wondering whether things are really as they seem - and this doesn't happen just once, but several times throughout the second half of the book. At times it even felt like a Victorian sensation novel to me, which probably explains why I enjoyed it so much! Gillespie and I has been one of my favourite reads so far this year.
    • 4/5
      I was lucky enough to win this copy of Gillespie and I in a competition (together with The Oberservations, also by Jane Harris), so it wasn't a novel I myself chose to read. Written by Jane Harris, Gillespie and I is an historical fiction novel, which is my favourite genre so naturally I was pretty pleased with my win.Ned Gillespie - of the title - is an artist, painting in Scotland in the late 1880s. Miss Harriet Baxter meets Ned Gillespie briefly at an art exhibition in London, and then several months later, meets his mother and wife in Scotland, and becomes a friend of the family.The book is narrated by Harriet - now in her late 70s being looked after by a carer - reflecting on her friendship with the Gillespie family.The novel was moving along at a steady pace and with a fine amount of momentum, when the plot took a most unexpected course. In fact I don't think I could have been more surprised had Jane Harris reached from the pages and slapped me in the face herself! I had been suspecting the plot was gently building towards a climax centred around one of the family members, however I was completely caught by surprise, and I love it when a book catches you with your guard down.I won't reveal anything further though, because I don't want to give anything away, however it was a satisfying read; moving between the past and the present and unfurling Harriet's memories of events.I also enjoyed Harriet's chapters set in the present, where an air of mystery regarding her carer was unfolding, and her thoughts and behaviour at this age were very enjoyable to read!
    • 5/5
      This expansive novel follows Harriet Baxter, as an aging woman in 1933 and her younger self in Glasgow in 1888. It tracks her relationship with an artist named Ned Gillespie, and his family. She becomes very attached to all of them. After a tragedy occurs, Harriet finds herself in the center of a notorious criminal trial. I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. The writing is very good and the characters are well drawn.
    • 5/5
      I have just this minute finished this book.

      It is beautiful. It is deft. It is as well-constructed as anything I have read. It is thrilling. It has no easy answers. It is funny. It is, at times, cruel. It makes me despair that I have never visited Glasgow, and it makes me want to write more carefully, because it was obviously done with such great attention to its craft.

      It's a really, really, really good book.
    • 4/5
      Loved this book. The characters, especially the character of Harriet. This becomes a creepy story and one wonders if it is a tale of evil or self delusion. very enjoyable
    • 4/5
      The book opens with an elderly Harriet Baxter in her Bloomsbury apartment in 1933 deciding to relate the story of her acquaintance with Ned Gillespie, a Glasgow artist who never quite fulfilled his potential.Harriet moves to Glasgow in 1888 after the death of her aunt to visit the International Exhibition. She meets the Gillespie family and becomes very close to them. One of the Gillespie daughters is kidnapped and murdered, and at the subsequent trial much of what we have understood from Harriet’s memoir is turned on its head.Jane Harris has done lots of research and evokes late Victorian Glasgow and its people extremely well. The early part of the book is a vivid description of ordinary life in a lower middle class family of the time. Just as this begins to pall we have the tragedy of the kidnap of the Gillespie daughter. The criminal trial is well handled and the outcome is never obvious.The final part of the book, set in 1933 as Harriet completes her memoir, takes us into the full Grand Guignol as we begin to realise what has been going on and we get hints of the truth.A bit of a slow burn of a book but very rewarding in the end.
    • 3/5
      Historical ? Yes. I loved the pictures of life in Glasgow in the 1880'sFiction? Most definitely! A very far fetched story about a woman's infatuation with an artist and his family, a child's disappearance, another child who appears to be very disturbed and quite capable of doing the things attributed to her, all contrived to get attention it seemed.A charge of murder and subsequent trial !And then we have the co-incidence when fifty years later this child now in her fifties turns up posing as the maid and apparently intent on vengeance.Never-the less, I kept on reading, thinking What Next !!!!
    • 3/5
      I highly recommend reading the review on Goodreads by Will Byrnes. He has managed to put all of my mixed thoughts about this novel into a well written critique!
    • 3/5
      Having thoroughly enjoyed Jane Harris’s “The Observations”, I expected a similar treat with this book, though sadly it didn’t live up to my expectations. That’s not to say it’s bad. I still liked it, just didn’t love it.Maybe the flitting back and forth from 1888 to 1933 didn’t appeal to me. I certainly didn’t warm to the characters too much, though all were believable and vivid.The element I admire most is the author’s ability to show and not tell. On several occasions I thought she was clever with how she implies this or that without telling the reader to make sure the meaning is clear. This especially applies to the main character, who is the narrator of the piece. Nothing is explained in a neat way, but hints are dropped subtly to give the reader an insight into the character’s mind.
    • 4/5
      After a bit of a slow start I settled in to the pace of this novel, and found it totally engrossing. In 1888, Harriet Baxter, having lost the aunt whose caretaker she was, and having inherited a comfortable living from her grandfather, decides to take the train from London to Glasgow for an indefinite visit, primarily to attend the International Exhibition recently opened along the banks of the River Kelvin. While she is there, she meets and befriends an up and coming artist, Ned Gillespie, and his young family. In fact, you might say she insinuates herself into their lives with determination. We learn about the events of that Exhibition year from Harriet herself, in a self-serving "memoir" that begins by telling us how intimately she became acquainted with Gillespie...no, not that way...just as dear friend and "soul mate". Well, it's easy to discern fairly quickly that Harriet is a bit unreliable as a narrator, but how is the reader to know what to believe, when no objective observer is available to balance her account of things? Ah...well, see, that's the fun part. This is historical fiction, psychological thriller, Victorian mystery and pull-the-covers-over-your-head scary story all rolled into one. Oh, and there's courtroom drama of the 19th century Scottish variety as well. I lapped it up.Review written July 2015
    • 5/5
      A deliciously creepy novel. She carries off the voice of Harriet Baxter very well, and the plotting is interesting without being contrived or overly complicated. Reminded me a bit of The Little Stranger, but I think this book is better. One of my favorite books so far this year; I'm rooting for it to be on the Orange shortlist.
    • 4/5
      In Gillespie and I by Jane Harris, Harriet Baxter is writing her memoir. It focuses on her life beginning in 1888 and chapters rotate between then and the time in which she is writing. In 1888 Harriet was in her thirties and a single woman of independent means. That year she decided to leave her home in London and live temporarily in Glasgow. She was drawn to Glasgow by the 1888 International Exhibition of Science, Art and Industry being held there. While attending the Exhibition Harriet sees a painting by a young artist, Ned Gillespie, and remembers a brief conversation with him in London a few years previously. Oddly, she had an encounter with Gillespie's mother and wife soon after she came to Glasgow and his mother, Elspeth, credits Harriet with saving her life. When invited to Elspeth's home, Harriet is surprised to learn she has rented an apartment just around the corner from both Gillespie families. Soon she begins a somewhat obsessive friendship with Ned, his wife Annie, and their two young daughters. One of girls tends toward unsettling behavior and there is a strain on Ned's work as well as the marriage. Harriet's friendship and help in the household becomes invaluable. Two years after their first meeting, and long after Harriet originally planned to leave Glasgow, the Gillespies became victims of an unspeakable crime. The perpetrator isn't easily found and eventually Harriet and the coincidences that caused the beginning of her friendship with the Gillespies come under police suspicion. Is all truth in Harriet's relationship with the Gillespie family? Is her account reliable? A novel that hangs on after the last page is read, Gillespie and I is literary, atmospheric, and chilling. I found the first 50 or so pages slow going but sticking with it was well worth it. Without a doubt, this will be one of my favorites of this year.
    • 1/5
      Bought on the strength of the publisher's name, I was sorely disappointed by this novel. This is not literary fiction. It is very poorly written pulp fiction. Extremely wordy and full of clichés.
    • 5/5
      Several of you had very positive things to say about this book when it came out a few years ago. So I bought a copy, but (like many other books) it got put on the shelf. With my renewed effort to read off my shelves this year, I decided to pull it down. This book started a little slow for me. We spend a lot of time getting to know Harriet Baxter, an unmarried woman who visits Glasgow for an extended period of time during the International Exhibition in 1888. Harriet becomes friends with the Gillespie family after saving matriarch Elspeth from choking. She becomes a frequent visitor to the home of Annie and Ned Gillespie, Elspeth's daughter-in-law and son. Ned is an artist whose reputation is on the rise, and although he declines the commission to paint Harriet's portrait, he comes to trust her advice. But when tragedy strikes the Gillespie family, we come to realize that perception is not always reality. The pace of the book picks up as we are pulled forward in pursuit of "the truth." Occasionally, the story flashes forward to Harriet's life in 1933 as she reflects back on her time in Glasgow, adding another layer to our perception. In the end, I was enthralled by the way that Harris brings the reader into the story by making our perceptions a part of the narrative. This is a book that made me want to go back and re-read it so that I could pay attention to how Harris works her magic.
    • 1/5
      It just didn't seem like it was going anywhere. I disliked Harriet and found her oblivious. I have too many books to read to waste time enduring one I'm not enjoying.
    • 3/5
      I think on the back of gone girl and the luminaries, I've been stuck in bit of 'unreliable narrator' groove. Time to get out and explore other genres! I didn't enjoy this as much as anticipated, probably because of the above.
    • 5/5
      I missed my stop on the U-Bahn because of Gillespie and ] and almost missed it a second time a few hours later. It's that kind of book; a meaty Victorian novel - Victorian in both setting and style - with an involving plot that runs the gamut from gently bred English spinsters and comfortable domestic life to kidnapping and sensational court cases. Set against the background of Glasgow in 1888, Jane Harris's second novel is about Harriet Baxter and how she became involved with the family of an up-and-coming Glaswegian artist Ned Gillespie. Decades later, she sits down to write about her friendship with the Gillespies and the scandal that shocked all of Scotland. Harris is good with the historical detail, and really good at creating characters who breathe. But where she really excels is in telling a story from the point of view of a seemingly secondary character, someone who might not see the same things that the other characters do, or it might be that she is altering the tale to suit herself. If you dislike ambiguity in a novel, this one is not for you, but if you like the twist that looks like it's from out of nowhere, but that also fits the story in an organic way if you set the story upside down, then you'll enjoy this one.
    • 3/5
      Sadly, this book is merely ok. It starts out great and about halfway through it slows down. The end is just an end no real climax which is disappointing. Then there is the story which is essentially if 8
      I had done it by oj set place in Scotland featuring a spinster mastermind. Really not worth the time it took to read.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. Jane Harris takes us on a journey back to the Glasgow Exhibition in the late 19th century, where we meet Miss Harriet Baxter and the Gillespie family. The pages kept on flying by and I found myself fascinated by the story. Harriet cleaves herself to the Gillespies and has an especially soft spot for the husband, Ned Gillespie, who is also a painter. Through a horrible event, which destroys the friendship and probably the Gillespie family, I began to wonder if things were as they first seemed. I kept on backtracking and re-reading passages to see if my memory was correct. It was one of those books that I could have read all day long, if life hadn't intervened.
    • 4/5
      As she sits in her Bloomsbury home, with her two birds for company, elderly Harriet Baxter sets out to relate the story of her acquaintance, nearly four decades previously, with Ned Gillespie, a talented artist who never achieved the fame she maintains he deserved.

      Back in 1888, the young, art-loving Harriet arrives in Glasgow at the time of the International Exhibition. After a chance encounter she befriends the Gillespie family and soon becomes a fixture in all of their lives. But when tragedy strikes - leading to a notorious criminal trial - the promise and certainties of this world all too rapidly disintegrate into mystery and deception...

      'A story that holds you in its grip and makes you skip ahead but circle back again for more of the same - literary crack cocaine.' -- Scotland on Sunday

      I would have to give away too much of the twisty-turny plot of this amazing book for a satisfactory review hence the reason the below probably makes no sense at all.

      This is a novel that really makes you think; you ponder every nuance and collect snippets of information along the way; decide ‘yes I know exactly what is going on here’ and before you get to the bottom of page you are re evaluating …again. The ability of the author to switch from chilling forbodence to laugh out load (albeit dark) humour is brilliantly executed.

      Is Harriet Baxter the mother of all unreliable narrators?

      On reading the final page (sentence actually) I immediately flipped back to the first chapter; reread it and I swear I had palpitations....Enjoy
    • 3/5
      I picked this novel up in an airport bookshop hoping it would keep me so engrossed I wouldn’t notice the length of the flight. It seemed it would tick all the boxes – historical setting, a sense of mystery and it came from the pen of an author whose name I kept hearing though I had never read nothing by Jane Harris myself.The story reminded me of Willkie Collins’ sensation and mystery stories and is told at a similar fast pace. It’s narrated by Harriet Baxter, an elderly spinster who recalls a chance encounter 45 years previously with Ned Gillespie – a talented artist who we are soon informed, died before his fame was fully recognised. Harriet meets him again during a visit to the International Exhibition in Glasgow in 1888 – and quickly becomes close friends with the Gillespie family. Dark shadows hover over their somewhat Bohemian home as one of the daughters begins to behave in an alarmingly malicious way towards her sibling and other members of the household. And then Harriet finds herself propelled into a family tragedy and a notorious court case.The period atmosphere was convincing. Harriet’s recollections of the past come with lots of detail about houses, dresses, domestic routines as well as the atmosphere of the exhibition ground. Unlike many other novels with historical settings, Harris’ manages to avoid dialogue that feels flat and clunky with anachronisms.The key to this novel however lies not in what we are told but more in what we are not told. First person narrators in novels are frequently unreliable witnesses or interpreters. Harriet Baxter is a master of deception. She portrays herself as a generous-hearted person yet is prone to make waspish comments about the other women in the Gillespie household. She believes herself to be uniquely positioned to tell the truth about the unrecognised genius of Ned Gillespie and set the record straight about the events in which she was enmeshed as a young woman. But her approach is somewhat elliptical. She makes frequent dark allusions to tragedies yet to be revealed. ”If only we had known then what the future held in store,” she says early on. Harriet Baxter is such a master of hints and suggestions however that the only way the reader does in fact get to know what really occurred is by following the breadcrumb trail of those clues and by reading between the lines. By the end, you almost feel that you have to read it again for everything to fall into place.If I had a gripe with the novel it lay in the ending. It didn’t so much end as just seem to peter out as if it had run out of steam. I didn’t feel cheated because the novel had done exactly what I needed it to do – keep be engaged so I didn’t notice the cramped and confined conditions of my journey. But I did expect it to come to some form of a resolution.Now, with the benefit of a few months gap, I can see that instead of this being a weakness of the novel, it was in fact one of its strengths. Harris, like her narrator, is an arch manipulator, leading me through the labyrinth of her novel and making me believe that all would be revealed. But like Harriet Baxter, she leaves me to work out the truth.
    • 5/5
      Hugely entertaining! The character of the first-person narrator remains entirely consistent throughout, which is a real tribute to the skills of the author. As other reviewers have noted, Harris's storytelling style is somewhat similar to that of Sarah Waters, another novelist whose works I've enjoyed.
    • 5/5
      "Gillespie and I" is the best novel I've read this year and quite possibly, in a few years. I don't want to say much as the unfolding of events is the reading joy that lies within. I will, however, say that this is one nightmare-producting little number. Harriet Baxter will get under your skin in a way few literary protagonists will. I got the creepy crawlies a time or two and suddenly had the urge to not divulge anything personal to anyone I did not know well. The marketing is a little misleading in that the happy cover and blurb made me think it was a Jane Austen-esque romp through Glasgow and London, with reflections on a painter's life. Holy cow, was I wrong. This is a very intense psychological thriller that kept me both flinching and guessing until the end. Harris is a masterful writer, especially how she would take one set of facts and write in various viewpoints, all of which seemed logical and possible. I did not give this book 4-stars because the trial was a bit fake (but I'm an attorney and a harsh critic, so take that with a grain of salt). I've heard masterpiece floating around and I agree, this is one of the best reading experiences I've had in memory. Keep the lights on when you hunker down with it, but definitely give it a try. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      This has had so many good reviews on LT. I should say to start that I didn't find it so mind-blowingly good as some reviewers but a very good read nevertheless. I read it quite quickly on the beach and I do feel that it would have been better read more slowly over a longer period. Certainly it warrants re-reading and I am quite tempted to do this in the not too distant future, to see what (if any) clues I missed to the development of the story.In 1933 Miss Harriet Baxter, a spinster aged eighty, looks back on her relationship with the Glaswegian painter Ned Gillespie. Told in a series of flashbacks to the 1880's, the main narrative is interspersed with the story of Harriet's issues with her companion in the 1930's (which may or may not be connected with the events of 50 years previously). Travelling to Scotland to see the Glasgow International Exhibition, Harriet becomes acquainted with Ned Gillespie's mother (who she saves from choking to death) and his wife. Invited to tea, she becomes intimate with his family and makes herself indispensable in any number of ways. But things are clearly not destined to run smoothly, as Harriet recollects in the first few pages what with all that silly white-slavery business and the trial, and what starts out as a seemingly light-hearted book gets progressively darker and darker in tone. Without giving away the ending, I can say that at first the events described did seem a little far-fetched, but the more I think about them, the more plausible they seem. I think that this is likely to be a book that stays in my memory for a long time,
    • 5/5
      An excellent book - it kept me guessing all the way through and even now that I have finished it I am still not sure who the guilty part was! A very clever set of characters who are brought to life in all their splendour.
    • 5/5
      Rating: √2 The Book Report: There isn't anything I can say that won't be a spoiler here. The book description from Amazon says:“As she sits in her Bloomsbury home with her two pet birds for company, elderly Harriet Baxter recounts the story of her friendship with Ned Gillespie—a talented artist whose life came to a tragic end before he ever achieved the fame and recognition that Harriet maintains he deserved.In 1888, young Harriet arrives in Glasgow during the International Exhibition. After a chance encounter with Ned, she befriends the Gillespie family and soon becomes a fixture in their lives. But when tragedy strikes, culminating in a notorious criminal trial, the certainty of Harriet’s new world rapidly spirals into suspicion and despair.”I think even that is a bit more than enough.My Review: If my rating this book with an irrational, unknowable, eternally expanding number doesn't tell you everything you need to know about how I feel about the book, here it is in one sentence:Massive amounts of fun on more levels than amusing, fun-to-read books ordinarily have.