Limbo Lodge

Another relatively late insertion into Aiken's Wolves series, Limbo Lodge wasn't written until the late 90s even though it exists in the gap between The Stolen Lake and The Cuckoo Tree. The story is set on Aratu, a hidden island in the Pacific, where magic abounds and there are colonial tensions between the original inhabitants and a later group of plantation owners.

The story opens with Dido Twite and Second Lieutenant Frank Multiple on board a local ship bound for Aratu with orders to locate Lord Herodsfoot, one of Britain's roving ambassadors. Just as they are about dock, Mr Multiple is knocked out by a dropped good-luck charm. Fortunately their fellow passenger Talisman van Linde is a skilled doctor, capable of carrying out the necessary brain surgery at the local hospital. With Mr Multiple out of it for the duration Dido and Doc Tally come up with a plan to travel into the interior forest in search of Herodsfoot. Their scheme is stymied by Manoel Roy, King John's brother, who has designs on the throne and who holds a grudge against the doctor, who he manages to get imprisoned for performing illegal surgery.

Escaping into the forest with her guide Tylo, Dido finds Herodsfoot learning the local history from one of the Forest People's elders. Travelling across the island, eventually reconnecting with the recently escaped Doc Tally, they have a number of strange encounters in unhappy plantation houses, all the while trying to stay ahead of Manoel Roy, who seems to stepped up his campaign to replace the sickly king. Realising that only the king can help them, the party set off for Limbo Lodge, the house to which the king has retreated following the death of his wife and the disappearance of his child many years before.

Of all the novels in series, Limbo Lodge is the most difficult to sum up. The story contains a number of threads, taking in colonialism, the myth of the noble savage, and even pulling in elements of the Fisher King to explain the trajectory of John's return to health. There is a romance that works all the better for being bittersweet & unfulfilled and the overt magic makes more sense in context of Is and Cold Shoulder Road.

I can't quite decide what to make of the book: I suspect it may be one of the best in the series, but the density of detail makes it difficult to get into and some of the noble savage stuff feels a bit uncomfortable even though it's obviously intended to point up the materialism of Dido's memories of London.

A walk in the rain

After taking the folks to BTP for breakfast — both better and cheaper than the place they were staying — we came up with a cunning plan to drive to the Warren and walk to Dawlish and back. Sadly we picked the worst possible time and walked both there and back in the driving rain. While it wasn't the greatest hardship it in the world — it still wasn't quite as cold as miserable as some of our summer holidays camping in Salcombe! — I was pretty soggy by the time we got back to the car.

We weren't entirely sure where to go for lunch — unlike pater, whose cycling group seems to spend most of its time checking out Warwickshire pubs, my knowledge of rural eateries is extremely limited. Luckily, driving back through Kenton, mater spotted the farm shop at Powderham and we stopped to go to the restaurant. The food was good, the place was nice and airy — the weather had finally decided to clear — and the parents noted how similar the clientele was with that of Hilltop Farm (i.e. I was the youngest patron by a good thirty years) Following a quick potter round the shops we returned to Exeter, where the parents dropped me and set off on their journey north.

I think we all had a good time — I don't think we argued at all! — and it was a nice chance for the parents to have a mini-break away from the hassles of hearth and home...