Review of 'Goodnight Lady' by Martina Cole.

This novel is about a family with five daughters, the Cavanaghs, who were born in the deepest of poverty at the beginning of the 20th century. Their way out of this poverty was a rather reprehensible member of the middle classes. Briony was the second eldest of the five. She had a burning ambition to leave life in the slums behind, and she will stop at nothing to get what she wants. The novel winds its way from her childhood, aged 10 or 11, all the way up to her late old age. She starts a chain of whore-houses, is a notorious east-end 'madam.' Her and her consort, Tommy Lane, become undisputed rulers of the East End. She passes on the torch to younger members of the family, but she keeps her hand in. Throughout her life, she's the one that everyone goes to when they need a hand out of a fix. She's the archetypal strong female lead.

The story is quite well written, and most of the characters have a depth that makes them believable, at least most of the time. Briony and her sisters have surprisingly modern attitudes, considering that they were born at the beginning of the last century, but you can tell that they are very conscious that the rest of the world at that time does not think the same way. And despite the fact that the main character runs a string of brothels, you can't help but have a grudging respect for the way she treats people, the way she does what she feels she must, and the way that, to her, family always comes first.

Martina Cole's writing style sometimes detracts from the important character traits by over-emphasizing them. She will state things explicitly that should, perhaps, be left unsaid so that the reader can make up their own mind about the characters. Also, readers expecting, or wanting, a twisting-turning plot will be somewhat disappointed. This is definitely the story of a life. It details events that happen along the way, and how they shape the people. This in itself can be a good thing, but there is no coherent plot line, no thread to string you along through the story.

With Goodnight Lady, Martina Cole has produced an entertaining novel that deals with some evocative themes. However, consistent readers of Martina Cole may find there is a recurrence of certain themes and some repetitiveness in style and characterisation. If this had been the first Martina Cole novel I had ever read, I would probably have enjoyed it a lot more. I would recommend it to people who were looking for a good crime novel, but only if they had not read any work by the same author.