In 1952, English hardcover publisher Jarrolds published Margaret Archer’s Jonathan Guest. It is an historical romance, a vast break from her crime / detective novels. And depending upon one’s interpretation of the novel’s conclusion, one may even consider this to be a gothic romantic mystery, as Archer has infused numerous genres into this work.
The dust jacket art features a handsome Englishman with a happy, smiling young redhead gazing up at the man she loves. The illustration is signed lower-right “Harman.” This would be Jack Harman, who illustrated many of the juvenile western novels in Reg Dixon’s Pocomoto series. I suspect Harman contributed more cover art than he’s credited with providing, but I couldn’t readily locate other adult efforts.
Gertrude Margaret Temple was born on 5 December 1913 in Ongar, Essex, England. She authored a book at age 12; The Admiral and Others was published both in the UK and abroad in America in 1926 under the name of Peggy Temple. She was educated at Fosse Bank School in Tonbridge, then received some form of learning at Bayford House in Hampstead. Miss Temple was shipped off to attend a boarding school in Lausanne, Switzerland called Pensionnat Florissant. Little is known about this particular boarding school, but I found that Orson Welles sent his daughter there in 1959 at age 15 (per the memoir, In My Father’s Shadow: A Daughter Remembers Orson Welles) and there is a Facebook group set up for past members. Miss Temple obtained her journalism degree at University College, London, attending from October 1930 to July 1932. I located one article as by Peggy Temple in the 22 December 1933 issue of the Daily Mirror titled Inexpensive Holidays.
Miss Temple married in 1935, becoming Mrs. Archer. She would embark upon a career in journalism and spend 5 years with the BBC during World War Two, severely burning her back and spent nearly a year in a hospital to recover.
As author “Margaret Archer” she is credited with a handful of novels over the span of a decade, but then she vanished. Her novels all appear in jacketed hardcover editions published by Jarrolds. Let’s look at her Jarrold’s contributions:
1945: Canter’s Choice
1947: Gull Yard
1948: Flowers for Teacher
1950: The Silent Sisters
1952: Jonathan Guest
1952: The Gentle Rain
1955: See a Fine Lady
1956: Pardoned in Heaven
The setting begins in 1835 at the fictional Convent of the Little Sisters of Our Lady in Île des Sœurs (Nun’s Island) in the Bay of St. Marc, France. The novel is narrated by Louise Bernard, a 17-year-old girl who lives within the walls of the convent. She has flaming red hair and rather plain features. Having grown up reading faerie tales, she’s hopeful that her lackluster appearance with net her a prince and a happily-ever-after ending in life.
Rumor is that her mother was an English actress who fled to her country and married a Frenchman. Her parents are both dead, and her uncle, M. Richot, has plans to marry her off when she turns 18. Her family had money and upon 18, she inherits some unknown “fortune.”
Today, she is to meet with the gentleman her uncle has established as her suitor. She’s mortified when her disgustingly obese cousin, Paul Richot, enters. Learning her uncle has matched her with this repulsive human being, she realizes the uncle merely wishes to keep the fortune within his control.
Louise later that night plans her escape. Stealing some nun’s clothes, she escapes and eventually makes her way to the beach where she plans on taking the ferry from the island to St. Marc. From there, she plans to travel to Rouen and obtain a job.
Fate intervenes on the beach. While noticing a seaman leaning against an upturned boat she trips and ruins her ankle. This man, the titular of the book, Jonathan Guest, lifts her up and inspecting the ankle informs her that she will not be able to walk. Irritated at her misadventure, she insists on getting on the ferry. Instead, he assists her onto his small vessel, named The Petrel.
After learning of her life woes, the pair take to the water and cross to England, where her real adventure(s) truly begin. They land somewhere along the coastline of the Sussex Downs. He brings her to his home, where his mother, Matilda, keeps house, and keeps her nose out of her son’s business. Sadly, while Louise is clearly infatuated with the first real man in her life, she’s got competition in the immediate appearance of a lovely Maria Beecham; she clearly is wealthy and beautiful and blonde.
Living in Guest’s home, Louise is told to keep quiet, if she hears anything, like strange visitors in the night, to stay upstairs and keep her mouth shut. But Louise is a strong-willed individual. And despite everyone’s best efforts, there are loose lips. Is Jonathan a smuggler of illegal goods? Louise eventually befriends Matilda, an aging woman who claims to once have been the desire of many a young man. When Louise shares the identity of her mother, Matilda expressively is shocked and proves that her mother indeed was a fiery-redheaded English actress who vanished to France, thereby clearing up that mystery.
There’s many plot points and intrigue, but suffice to say, Jonathan Guest traffics in bodies. No, not slaves, but people looking to escape their tarnished past and sail away from England to France. Despite this knowledge, Louise is still in love with this rogue and no amount of calamity will sway her from her man.
Lies, deception, and betrayal run rampant and our author does a wonderful job keeping the reader forever guessing at the outcome while the narrator breaks infrequent breaks into her past and share a murky foreshadowing comment from the present, which happens to be 3 years in the future.
Come the end of the novel, Maria and Louise are forced to briefly team up to save Jonathan’s life only to be fighting at the conclusion while Jonathan attempts to escape authorities. A fire breaks out on The Petrel and engulfs Maria. Fleeing from the flames, she leaps into the waters and is never seen again. Louise is knocked senseless and the flames leap upon her. She’s rescued from the infernal by Jonathan, dropped into his dinghy, and rowed back ashore. He’s placed under arrest and hung for his crimes.
Louise comes to weeks later in Jonathan’s home, tended by Matilda. Her face is swathed in bandages. Unwrapping her face and demanding a mirror she finds her plain features marred and scarred by the flames. No faerie tale ending can heal that face, and her hair is gone. She dons a veil and learns she is pregnant with Jonathan’s child, which somehow survived her harrowing, fiery ordeal.
Time passes and her hair eventually regrows. She gives birth to a girl and calls her Joanna after the baby’s father. Maria’s brother, Ned, for whom I have entirely glossed over, orders her to abandon the veil and let her baby gaze upon her true features. She does and the baby is not frightened.
She eventually marries Ned and is pregnant now with his child. While visiting the shore where Jonathan first landed with her and likewise met their ill-demise, she sees a boat slowing coming ashore. She’s shocked to realize the man is Jonathan, alive despite being informed he was dead! Too, another man is present. His name is Barney, and he is the ultimate sinister villain of the novel. He was responsible for arranging the transportation of people for Jonathan to transport. He also sold Jonathan out to the authorities since it convenienced him to do so for a monetary reward.
Barney is mortified to find Jonathan alive and well along the shore. Jonathan confesses to having escaped the hanging and fled the country. The two fight it out while Louise watches in horror. Barney eventually succumbs to a heart attack. Jonathan loudly proclaims his victory to his lost love, Maria. He then gets back into his dinghy and rows away.
The ultimate question: is Jonathan Guest truly alive and a fugitive from English law or is a ghost, returned for retribution? The scenario could be interpreted either way.
In any case, Louise never reveals the truth that she saw Jonathan alive. And Barney’s corpse is discovered by the coast guard.
And so, the novel concludes but if anyone is intrigued by this lost literary work, I suggest you obtain a copy. Be assured that there are tons of other pieces of the puzzle I’ve avoided revealing, and plenty of lovemaking. I’m personally not one to read romance novels, but this one receives an A+ in my book!
(Side note: in real life, author Margaret Archer sustained burns to her own back during World War Two. She was in hospital in 1943. I suspect much of Archer’s personal burn experiences formed the basis for Louise’s own suffering, both physical and emotional).
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