December 2011 meeting

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The novel

Derby Day

by
D.J. Taylor

The roots of D.J. Taylor's novel Derby Day can be found in the Victorian world. It draws on the all-encompassing nature of a Dickens novel with its complex web of characters, incident, mystery, melodrama and scandal. Taylor creates a world with a multitude of vibrant characters from the wealthy Greshams of Belgravia to the thieves and villains that lurk beneath the veneer of polite society: Happerton, his scruffy assistant Captain Raff, and Pardew, his villainous accomplice. Derby Day is as much an homage to the Victorian novel as a work in its own right.

The novel centres around the Epsom Derby and charts a vast array of characters' actions as the plot leads up to this momentous event. It focuses on a great horse, Tiberius, and the underhand scheming that goes on behind the scenes of the famous race. At the onset of the novel Tiberius is owned by Mr. Davenant whose estate, Scroop Hall in Lincolnshire, has fallen on hard times. Mr. Happerton, a man who is 'not a gentleman', sets out to ruin Davenant and procure Tiberius to run under his new wife Rebecca's colours at the Derby race. Happerton is involved in a plot to gain money from Mr. Gresham, Rebecca's father, a theft in a jewellers' shop and other dealings with which he will make his fortune by placing bets at the Derby race.

What Happerton does not bargain for is his wife. Rebecca is a woman that neither her father nor husband understands. She is aloof and cold, calculating and unfeeling. Neither man trusts her and they are suspicious of her strange nature. She also puzzles characters outside her family who think her spoilt. When Rebecca finds out about Happerton's betrayal with a prostitute, she sets about to ruin him and ultimately succeeds.

This novel was put forward for discussion by Madelon.

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Opinions

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Tips for teachers

Arno's tip: Novel Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks Unflinching war story and touching romance set during the First World War.
Ellen's tip: DVD Hamlet Specially-filmed version of Gregory Doran's critically acclaimed 2008 RSC production with David Tennant and Patrick Stewart.
Elly's tip: Nonfiction The Time Traveller's Guide To Medieval England by Ian Mortimer Astonishing and revolutionary portrayal of humanity in an age of violence, exuberance and fear.
Madelon's tip: Novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald One of the greatest literary documents of the Jazz Age, an era in which the American Dream came to an end.
Niek's tip: Nonfiction Moonwalking With Einstein by Joshua Foer A revelatory exploration of the vast, hidden impact of memory on every aspect of our lives.