The Legacy of Beauregarde by Rosa Fedele

Title: The Legacy of Beauregarde

Author: Rosa Fedele

Genre: Australian Noir/Suspense

Publisher: MoshPit Publishing

Published: 10th July 2018

Format: Paperback

Pages: 424

Price: $39.95

Synopsis:‘You could lose someone down there, couldn’t you? Anyone could get buried under the concrete slab, and no one would even know!’

The Beauregarde women have lived in the shadow of The Seminary for four generations. And there is nothing conventional about Marcela, or her family.

When the decadent and obsessive Gordana acquires the iconic Sydney property and invites a television crew to film the building’s transformation into a magnificent showpiece, strangers suddenly penetrate Marcela’s world, each with a dark secret of their own.

But Marcela conceals a sinister bond which inextricably ties her to the derelict estate, holding the power to not only unravel Gordana’s grand designs, but expose bloodstained treachery, long-buried betrayals and lies.

A decadent and eccentric tableau of theatre and treachery, old secrets and betrayals; exploring friendship, guilt and obsession … slipping between characters to gradually reveal a century-old mystery.

#australiannoir

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The Legacy of Beauregarde takes place over several months during 1990 in Sydney, surrounding a family legacy, and the renovation of what was once a home and Seminary linked to them, and the mysteries of the people who have lived there and been involved with the family. Marcela’s family have lived in the shadow of the seminary for generations – but when Gordana acquires it to renovate on a television show reminiscent of Grand Designs, these strangers that enter Marcela’s world and shatter the sense of calm she has built around her for many, many years.

As well these characters, friends of Gordana  Claudia, Madeleine and her husband, and Ilijana and her brother, Dan, are present, and their stories and links to the Seminary and Marcela are woven throughout – and there are mysterious incidents and deaths happening, and each character, whilst trapped within their own lives and dilemmas, is somehow linked to all the other ones – and each chapter is told from a different characters perspective, which at first , feel like individual stories linked simply by time and place, by the setting of the novel.

The premise of this book, and the basic plot is intriguing, with gothic, mystery and suspense elements that are engaging for the reader, yet at the same time, confusing for the first several parts, until the links and connections between characters hinted at early in the novel become clearer and more concrete, culminating in a series of unforeseen and tragic events that will rattle each and every character to their core.

With so many characters, it did get a little confusing at times, especially when a new one popped up quite suddenly and unexpectedly – adding to the feeling that each chapter at first felt like an individual story that somehow had a link to the overall plot of Marcela and her family, and what they experienced throughout the years and what their history was – which was hinted at throughout as well and came full circle towards the end. In time I got used to it though, even though there were a couple who only made a couple of appearances, and I wasn’t sure what their purpose was – it still worked for the novel.

The personalities and relationships that make up The Legacy of Beauregarde speak to feelings of abandonment in some, and reliance in others, a feeling of who can be trusted and who can’t, and why – perhaps illustrating the complexities of relationships, human nature and society, and how different environments, circumstances and people can have both positive and negative influences on us as children and adults.

As the characters tell their stories and the century old mystery is gradually revealed, the fluctuating pacing ensures that it is unclear who has what motives and indeed what those motives are until the end – which makes the mystery compelling.

This is a book with many threads to make sense of, and threads that weave together slowly, which I found I needed perseverance and patience for, and even though it may not be one of my top reads for the year – it was still enjoyable and for readers who enjoy a meandering mystery with lots of twists and turns like this, I highly recommend it. The meandering ensures the suspense is kept up throughout the novel and potentially, never really leaves.