Beat Not the Bones

The title is of course from Act 5, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost, in which Armando says "The sweet war-man is dead and rotten; sweet chucks, beat not the bones of the buried: when he breathed, he was a man." In this case, the buried is David Warwick, an anthropologist in Papua New Guinea, circa 1950, who is nominally in charge of native welfare and protection of indigenous customs. When he dies, apparently by suicide, his young wife comes from Australia to uncover the truth about the husband she barely knew. Jay (actually a pseudonym of Geraldine Halls) packs plenty of Conradian themes into this brooding slim tale. When Stella arrives from the mainland, she finds that every white person is either lying to her or on the verge of a mental breakdown. Gone from the protective cocoon that has shielded her for her entire life, she finds herself wholly capable and unafraid to journey to the heart of darkness, to the village that holds the secret of her husband's death. It's a very dark examination of the human psyche, with plenty to say about colonialism, racism and sexism. One would be hard-pressed to tell it was written fifty years ago.

This is such a rich mystery, one that loops back on itself. Although one reading satisfies all the criteria for a great mystery, a second reading reveals how sly the author is in conveying what is a very dark vision of human motivations. I won't give any more away. Suffice to say, the atmosphere, the plotting, the insight into the psychological motivations and motives of the characters, and the knowing presentation of the British operations in the Territories gives this an all-too credible feel. On first reading, the horrible secret may seem dated, but on the second reading, with all the plot and character machinations truly revealed, the secret becomes all too appaling. This book was very hard to find in the stores, by the way. Enjoy!

This book is part mystery, part cultural clash, part un-romanticized love story and part sociological thriller all rolled into a lovely, haunting read set in Papua, New Guinea. Although written in the early '50s, it's rather complex and has a very contemporary feel. After reading this book I wanted to find anything else Ms. Jay has written but alas, her other books seem to be unavailable in the U.S. Someone should make a movie out of this great little novel