JILL DAWSON - THE GREAT LOVER

REVIEW BY MAGGIE PERKOVIC 29TH OCT
THOSE OF US WHO KNOW THE LEGEND OF RUPERT BROOKE, JOINED THE GREAT WAR, WROTE THE IMMORTAL POEM "IF I SHOULD DIE, THINK ONLY THIS OF ME ETC" WILL BE ENTERTAINED BY THIS PART FICTION PART TRUTH LEGEND WHERE WE LEARN OF THIS INTENSE ATTRACTIVE, DEMANDING, BRILLIANT YOUNG MAN FROM A TROUBLED BACKGROUND, WHO WAS NEVER HAPPY WITH HIS POETRY, HIS STOIES, HIS STUDIES.
HE HAD EQUAL FASCINATION FOR MEN AS FOR WOMEN, THE STORY STARTS WITH A LETTER FROM AN ELDERLY LADY IN TAHITI WHO BELIEVES THAT HER FATHER WAS RUPERT BROOKE. SHE WAS BORN 1914 SOME MONTHS AFTER HIS STAY AT PAPEETE AND MATAIEA IN TAHITI. THE BOOK IS WRITTEN AS A REPLY BY NELLIE GOLIGHTLY WHO WAS A SERVANT IN THE SMALL GUEST HOUSE IN WHICH HE STAYED IN GRANTCHESTER (IS THERE HONEY STILL FOR TEA?) WHERE HE WROTE SOME OF HIS MOST FAMOUS POEMS.
SHE LOVE DHIM ALTHOUGH SHE REALISED HE WAS A COMPLEX AND STRANGE YOUNG MAN, WHAT WE WOULD CALL A CRAZY MIXED UP KID!
HE HAD A GOOD HEART BUT MIXED WITH SOME OF THE BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS WHO HAD MORE MONEY THAN SENSE. HE WAS NOT VERY WELL OFF TRYING TO FINISH HIS STUDIES AT UNIVERSITY, HE HAD TO RETURN HOME WHEN HIS FATHER DIED AND RUPERT TOOK OVER THE SCHOOL WHICH WAS THEIR MAIN SOURCE OF INCOME AND HE HATED IT WITH ALL HIS HEART. HE AND A FRIEND DID A TOUR TO TRY AND HELP THE POOR AND SUFFERING OF THE LAND ONLY TO FIND THEY WERE ATTACKED BY THE VERY PEOPLE WHO HE WANTED TO HELP, THE JOKE BEING RUPERT AND HIS FRIEND WERE QUITE IMPOVERISHED THEMSELVES.
HE HAD VARIOUS AFFAIRS WITH MEN AND WOMEN NELL INCLUDED, BUT NEVER REALLY FOUND PEACE.
HIS DEATH FROM AN INFECTED MOSQUITO BITE BROUGHT TO AN END THE LIFE OF A FASCINATING INTENSE AND SUFFERING YOUNG MAN WHO HAD IMPACT ON MANY PEOPLES LIVES, PERHAPS A TRUE ROMANTIC. I LOVED THE BOOK, VERY INTERESTING AND THOUGHT PROVOKING.
BY MAGGIE PERKOVIC