Days of Light, Megan Hunter
After having loved Megan Hunter’s novel The Harpy, I was very intrigued to read Days of Light. I found it a very different type of novel, although just as ambitious in scope and utterly compelling.
The novel takes place over six crucial days in the life of Ivy, who we meet as a nineteen-year-old living with her bohemian artistic family at Cressingdon, her home in Sussex on Easter Sunday. As her family and friends congregate, the party includes her brother Joseph, his girlfriend Frances and Bear, an old family friend who Ivy is attracted to. What starts as an idyllic afternoon becomes a tragic one, and Ivy faces a future she cannot contemplate.
From that point on, we revisit Ivy and her family in April 1938, 1944, 1956, 1965 and on Easter Sunday in 1999. Each day shows us how Ivy’s life has changed and is a clever plot device for us to see how Britain itself is changing in the twentieth century. Ivy’s choices will surprise you, and that was what made this novel so absorbing for me, as Ivy spends her life searching for the sense of fulfilment that eludes so many of us. Motherhood, love, sexuality, nature, religion, faith and family are integral themes to this novel, wrapped into Ivy’s world as she attempts to find a way to find peace and a place in a society that is ever changing.
The prose is filled with evocative imagery that added another layer to the story. I felt there were constant contrasts between things and places that were light and dark, mirroring Ivy’s mental state as she strives to find contentment. It was also interesting to read about Ivy’s perception of herself and where she fits into her family and her own history.
Days of Light is a thoughtful, contemplative and evocative novel that I am still thinking about. As the novel draws to its conclusion, you can’t but help but hope that Ivy finally finds what her heart desires and understands the fact that she has brought the light she desperately seeks to others in her life.
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