Synopses & Reviews
With a sophistication and mischievousness remarkable for a first-time novelist, Katharine Davies takes inspiration from Shakespeare's
Twelfth Night and raises the curtain on the interconnecting lives and loves of an unforgettable cast of characters. By turns comic and moving,
The Madness of Love is a deftly woven tale of mistaken identity, bold moves, and unrequited desires.
Valentina, a clerk in a London bookstore, is still reeling after her twin brother broke a childhood promise and ran off without her to exotic lands. When she cuts her hair, masquerades as a gardener to the melancholic Leo, and moves to the remote seaside town of Illerwick, she perplexes even herself.
Leo dreams of restoring his estate's gardens to their former glory as a romantically naïve gesture toward the woman he's loved all his life: Melody, an English teacher whose beauty bewitches many others. Melody rejects any attempt at capture; she is locked in a state of mourning over the suicide of her dear brother.
As Valentina struggles with the decades-old neglect of flowers, plants, and weeds, her affection for her eccentric employer grows, even as she helps him plot his overture to Melody. The gardens must be made ready for a grand late-summer party. But between now and then, Illerwick will stir with old longings and new desires. As people fall dangerously for those incapable of reciprocating, we see, enchantingly, how our misguided pursuit of passion often distracts us from finding real love.
Review
"The plot is grounded in true tragedy but, like Shakespeare's, is full of the light and dark comedies of infatuations....Both plot and style are deft and light but never saccharine. Highly recommended." Library Journal
Review
"The latest contribution to the long tradition of adapting Shakespeare's plays recasts Twelfth Night as a charming romantic comedy of contemporary manners." Booklist
Review
"Davies' plot moves swiftly....It is gentle and engaging, and it may make you smile, but it won't make you laugh. Never mind that. Davies writes lyrically and creatively while showing appropriate respect for the Immortal Bard." Hartford Courant
Review
"[This] ambitious debut...is certainly faithful and clever, but more than these virtues may be required for this work to hold its own as a novel....This is a tale that hums with metaphor but not with life, with the idea of enchantment rather than enchantment itself." Baltimore Sun
Review
"As pretentious as its title suggests: an update that lacks energy despite all the 'madcap' confusion." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Davies has written a wonderful first novel about the lives of star-crossed lovers whose foibles and failings and mad, mad hearts stir up equal doses of trouble and passion. The Madness of Love is a lush tragicomic tale that is satisfying, smart, and oh-so-spicy." Connie May Fowler, author of The Problem with Murmur Lee and Before Women Had Wings
Review
"Quirky characters, real passion, and a jaw-dropping masquerade what more could a reader ask for? Davies's first novel is funny and heartbreaking by turns, a clever, modern take on Shakespeare, and the perfect introduction to a talented new writer." Darin Strauss, author of Chang and Eng and The Real McCoy
Review
"The artifice of the whole conceit, this dextrous shifting between the plausible and implausible, is what gives [The Madness of Love] its hallucinatory quality; its texture of changeable taffeta." The Independent (U.K.)
Review
"Davies is a very promising writer with an eye for a good image, and with the ability to cast a disturbing air of enchantment over proceedings." The Guardian (U.K.)
Review
"[The Madness of Love] turns upon a genuine tragedy, but tinged with enchantment....[Davies has] a light, confident touch, and exquisite pacing." The Observer (U.K.)
Review
"Davies admirably conjures up the wild beauty of Illerwick's coastal landscape...[and] what does come across rather well is a wistful sense of the end of youth." Literary Review
Synopsis
With a sophistication and mischievousness remarkable for a first-time novelist, Katharine Davies takes inspiration from Shakespeares
Twelfth Night and raises the curtain on the interconnecting lives and loves of an unforgettable cast of characters. By turns comic and moving,
The Madness of Love is a deftly woven tale of mistaken identity, bold moves, and unrequited desires.
Valentina, a clerk in a London bookstore, is still reeling after her twin brother broke a childhood promise and ran off without her to exotic lands. When she cuts her hair, masquerades as a gardener to the melancholic Leo, and moves to the remote seaside town of Illerwick, she perplexes even herself.
Leo dreams of restoring his estates gardens to their former glory as a romantically naïve gesture toward the woman hes loved all his life: Melody, an English teacher whose beauty bewitches many others. Melody rejects any attempt at capture; she is locked in a state of mourning over the suicide of her dear brother.
As Valentina struggles with the decades-old neglect of flowers, plants, and weeds, her affection for her eccentric employer grows, even as she helps him plot his overture to Melody. The gardens must be made ready for a grand late-summer party. But between now and then, Illerwick will stir with old longings and new desires. As people fall dangerously for those incapable of reciprocating, we see, enchantingly, how our misguided pursuit of passion often distracts us from finding real love.
About the Author
Katharine Davies grew up in Warwickshire and studied English and drama at the University of London. She taught English for several years, including a period in Sri Lanka, before receiving an M.A. in creative writing. The Madness of Love is her first novel, and she is currently at work on her second.
Reading Group Guide
1. The story of
The Madness of Love is told from the point of view of six characters. With which character do you identify the most and why? Is Boase a sympathetic or unsympathetic character? How do you respond to the self-indulgence of Leo Spring?
2. The Madness of Love was inspired by Shakespeares Twelfth Night. In what ways do you think turning a play, written to be performed on the stage, into a novel has influenced the narrative? If you are familiar with Twelfth Night, how did you respond to the various ways in which it has been used in The Madness of Love? Do you need to be familiar with Twelfth Night to enjoy and understand this novel?
3. The Madness of Love is set in an imaginary, almost timeless place called Illerwick. How important is the sense of place in the novel and how does it affect the atmosphere and what happens?
4. The Madness of Love makes deliberate, though sometimes subtle, use of echoes, parallels, and repetitions, rather like Twelfth Night. Did you feel this was an effective device?
5. Among the themes of The Madness of Love are love, obsession, and deceit. Which characters draw out each of these themes the most and how does the author successfully weave the themes together? Name other themes of the book.
6. How plausible is it that Valentina would give up everything to move to Illerwick posing as a gardener? What exactly is it about her brothers broken promise that compels her to do this? Or does it have more to do with her ambitions as a writer, or her attraction to Leo? What else might justify her actions?
7. By the end of the novel, the true desires of each of the characters have been revealed and either satisfied or denied. Is what happens to Boase and to each couple just?
8. How might both Valentinas and Leos artistic aspirations clash and how might these aspirations draw them closer together?
9. If you could counsel one character and change his/her actions, who would it be, what would you tell him/her, and how would that change the course of the plot?