The Haunted Vintage by Marjorie Bowen

Book Review

Pauline Morgan

Unless a book or author is randomly selected to be part of a school or exam curriculum, once they die, knowledge of their work tends to fade into obscurity. They may live again if makers of historical films or TV series discover it and find merit in the plot. It is fortunate that the British Library is producing a series of books that are designed to remind us of the great genre writing from authors who have, undeservedly, slipped below the radar for the majority of the reading public. Marjorie Bowen was a pioneering writer of weird stories and novels.

            The Haunted Vintage was originally published in 1921 and inevitably contains some of the attitudes of the time, even though some of the settings are enlightened for the time. It is set in the Duchy of Nassau, Germany, in the early 19^th century, when it had an autonomous ruler. The Duke, suspicious that his betrothed, Pauline, has been seduced by Captain Lally Duchene, sends his rival to take charge of Eberbach. Sited deep in an isolated forest valley, this used to be a monastery but is now a prison and lunatic asylum. It is surrounded by fertile fields and vineyards as well as trackless ancient forest. The role of commandant is not irksome as the establishment is competently and humanely run and needs very little input from him. The corridors and cells are clean, the prisoners well fed as they do all the work, including working in the fields. He discovers that many of the prisoners are there for very minor crimes, such as collecting twigs from the forest, or allowing their animals to eat leaves and grass from the Duke’s domain.

            A few of the prisoners are in solitary confinement. One of these is Gertruda, who has been sentenced to five years as a wanton. There is something about her that attracts Lally, and on the advice of the doctor who serves the prison, he is persuaded to allow her out of her cell during the day to help the pastor with setting up a perfumery. The pastor, Herr Sandman, is very knowledgeable, particularly about the folklore of the area, and is very happy to relate them to Lally.

            Lally might have been content to settle into his new role except for the sudden arrival of the Duke. His excuse is to see what improvements can be made to the prison, but his real reason is to discover if any impropriety took place between Lally and Pauline. Both parties deny it, especially as she does want to marry the Duke – for his position in society rather than passion. She suspects that he has been bewitched by a woman at the prison – Gertruda – and follows the Duke there.

            The time span is from spring to harvest and although there have been some strange occurrences in the meantime it is only when the travelling team arrives to help with the harvesting of the grapes and the first pressings, that Lally begins to wonder how much reality there is in the stories he has been told, especially when excavations to build a swimming pool for the prisoners unearths a temple that predates the monastery.

            The story unfolds at a leisurely pace with descriptive passages (not too long) that enhance the atmosphere. Initially, it might seem that the included folk tales are only there to bulk out the narrative, but they influence Lally’s perceptions regarding seemingly trivial events at Eberbach and contribute to the readers’ understanding of the novel’s denouement. What at face value seems to be a tale of romantic rivalry has a lot more complex issues woven into it, something that modern retellers of folk tales could well learn from. It would be a shame to neglect the voices of the past, who built the foundations of a genre so many of us read and enjoy.