 First edition, reprinted 1956 | |
| Author | Dornford Yates |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Ward Lock & Co [1] |
Publication date | 1956 [1] |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 315 [1] |
Wife Apparent is a 1956 book by the English author Dornford Yates (Cecil William Mercer), his last novel. The book was originally to be called Lady-in-Waiting, but this had to be changed at the last moment as another book with the same title was scheduled to appear at about the same time. [2]
As described by the author in an introductory note, the novel comprises two parts. Part One is told in the first person and Part Two in the third, with the action taking place over a total period of two years. [3] The novel is set in the present [4] (that is, in 1956).
Major Coridon Gore, aged 42, a well-known novelist, lives quietly in Elm Cottage near the fictional village of Halliard in Hampshire, looked after by his devoted housekeeper Florence Davey. As a consequence of a head injury he received during the war, Gore suffers from occasional lapses of memory. His sole confidant and 'Privy Counsellor', to whom he speaks every day, is the cottage's ancient and majestic elm.
Unknown to Gore, his godfather has left him the sum of £10,000 in his will provided that he is found to be 'up and dressed' when his executors call at exactly half past nine. When the executors arrive unannounced, they find Gore in his shirtsleeves and they fraudulently intend to withhold the inheritance. They are thwarted by Gore's good friend and family solicitor Pompey Colbourne.
One morning, while Gore is communing with the elm, a young woman who is holidaying nearby walks past the gate. They fall into conversation, although without exchanging names. A few days later, Gore receives in the post an unsigned card with an exquisite drawing of him and the elm. Meeting again at Ascot, Gore learns that she is Niobe Coke, aged 26. The pair rapidly fall in love. Two days before their intended wedding, while Gore is staying in London, the elm is brought down by an overnight storm, a disaster that the family fear will affect his fragile mind. But even before the news can be broken to him, Gore suffers an attack of amnesia while walking down Bond Street and completely forgets who he is. Gore is identified by the tailor's label in his suit, and his sister Cleopatra is informed.
Niobe and Cleopatra seek advice from the eminent physician Dr Berserk. He tells them that Gore should recover provided that he continues to live very quietly for the next six months, but that he will need a close companion of his own class. Niobe decides to live with him under the pretence that their marriage did in fact take place as planned. Although unable to remember any of his friends and family, Gore readily accepts Niobe as his wife, and grows to love her anew. He does not realise that the elm is gone, and to avoid distressing him the family do not mention it.
After some months, the family decide that Gore really must be told that he is as yet unmarried. He is horrified but, deeply in love, readily agrees to marry straight away. Niobe arranges to have some of her drawings commercially published, Pompey taking on the role of her agent.
One sultry day, exactly a year after they first met, the couple visit Ascot again. Gore gets a headache, and as they are driving home his lost memories suddenly return – though he does not know it. Niobe is beside herself with worry about the shock he must experience when he realises that the elm is gone. Fortunately, her worries are not borne out, and he faces the loss by noting that she herself has now replaced the tree as his Privy Counsellor.
On the book's publication, John Metcalf of The Sunday Times opined that “Mr Dornford Yates’s fantasy life is rich enough to make millionaires superfluous”. He called his middle-aged author-hero "a very parfait gentil survivor from the world of Berry & Co." and wished "[g]ood luck to him and all wandering coelacanths". [5]
Yates's 1982 biographer, AJ Smithers, however, felt that the author's imagination was beginning to flag and that this book was not amongst his best. He noted that several plot devices had been used before, including the wood-magic of a favourite elm, the immobilised officer with a head wound that renders him amnesiac, and jactitation of marriage by a respectable young woman for excellent reasons. [6]
Writing in 2015, Kate Macdonald called the novel "a triumphant return to [Yates'] playful and witty style of the 1920s, an emotionally taut comedy of recovery from wartime brain damage, set in an English Arcadia". [7]
Cecil William Mercer, known by his pen name Dornford Yates, was an English writer and novelist whose novels and short stories, some humorous, some thrillers, were best-sellers during the Interwar Period.
Ward, Lock & Co. was a publishing house in the United Kingdom that started as a partnership and developed until it was eventually absorbed into the publishing combine of Orion Publishing Group.
The House That Berry Built is a 1945 humorous semi-autobiographical novel by the English author Dornford Yates, featuring his recurring 'Berry' characters. It is a lightly fictionalised recounting of the construction of the author's house Cockade in the commune of Eaux-Bonnes, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France.
The Courts of Idleness is a 1920 collection of comic short stories by the English author Dornford Yates, his second book. Half of the tales feature his 'Berry' characters.
And Berry Came Too is a 1936 collection of comic short stories by the English author Dornford Yates, featuring his recurring 'Berry' characters.
The Berry Scene is a 1947 collection of comic short stories by the English author Dornford Yates, featuring his recurring 'Berry' characters.
As Berry and I Were Saying is the first volume of fictionalised memoirs of the English author Dornford Yates, published in 1952 and featuring his recurring 'Berry' characters - Berry, Daphne, Boy and Jill. A second volume, B-Berry and I Look Back, was published in 1958.
B-Berry and I Look Back is the second volume of fictionalised memoirs of the English author Dornford Yates, published in 1958 and featuring his recurring 'Berry' characters - Berry, Daphne, Boy, Jill and Jonah. The first volume, As Berry and I Were Saying, had been published in 1952. B-Berry and I Look Back was Yates's last book.
Blind Corner is a 1927 novel by the English author Dornford Yates. The book was the first in his Chandos thriller series and is narrated in the first person by Richard Chandos. In addition to Chandos and his servant Bell, the novel features a cast of characters who recur in many of the later books: George Hanbury and Jonathan Mansel; their respective servants Rowley and Carson; and Tester the Sealyham terrier. Mansel's character also appears as Jonah Mansel in the author's 'Berry' series of comic books and short stories, though he is not written for comic effect in this nor the later 'Chandos' books.
Perishable Goods is a 1928 novel by the English author Dornford Yates, the second in his Chandos thriller series and a sequel to Blind Corner. The story features the recurrent characters Richard Chandos (narrator), Jonathan Mansel and George Hanbury, with their respective servants Bell, Carson and Rowley.
Blood Royal is a 1929 novel by the English author Dornford Yates, the third in his Chandos thriller series. The story features the recurrent characters Richard Chandos (narrator) and George Hanbury, with their servants Bell and Rowley. Jonathan Mansel does not appear in this book.
Fire Below is a 1930 adventure novel by the English author Dornford Yates, the fourth in his Chandos thriller series and a sequel to Blood Royal. The book was published in the US under the title By Royal Command.
Red in the Morning is a 1946 adventure novel by the English author Dornford Yates, the seventh in his 'Chandos' thriller series. The events of the story immediately follow those of his 1939 novel Gale Warning in which Richard Chandos and Jonathan Mansel appear as characters. The book was published in the US under the title Were Death Denied.
Cost Price is a 1949 adventure novel by the English author Dornford Yates, the eighth and last in his 'Chandos' thriller series. It serves as a sequel to his 1932 novel Safe Custody. The book was published in the US under the title The Laughing Bacchante.
Anthony Lyveden is a 1921 adventure novel by the English author Dornford Yates. It was first published in monthly instalments in The Windsor Magazine. The book was Mercer's first attempt at a full-length novel, and was succeeded by Valerie French which continued the story of the main characters.
Maiden Stakes is a 1928 collection of short stories by the English author Dornford Yates originally written for The Windsor Magazine.
The Stolen March is a 1926 fantasy novel by the English author Dornford Yates, first serialised in The Windsor Magazine.
Summer Fruit is a 1929 omnibus volume by the English author Dornford Yates containing the two novels Anthony Lyveden (1921) and Valerie French (1923).
It was published by Minton, Balch & Company of New York. No similar omnibus volume was published in the UK.
This Publican is a 1938 novel by the English author Dornford Yates. It was first serialised as She Knew Not Mercy in Woman's Journal for November 1937 to March 1938, with illustrations by Forster.