The Girl on the Cliff tells the story of Aurora and Grania; the first, a little girl who lost her mother tragically at an early age and the second, a woman who is running away from her problems and her emotions in the hope that they will dissipate without the painful and inevitable confrontation.
Aurora is the girl on the cliff of the title and it is here that Grania first sees her and fears for her as it is the place from where her mother hurled herself that attracts Aurora the most. As she is a most precocious and sensitive girl, there is a collective fear that she may follow her mother to a tragic end.
Discord between families
Grania befriends Aurora, partly out of a personal subconscious need to be maternal and also because Aurora is so engaging that she is difficult to resist. Grania has returned home after living in New York with her partner, Matt, and is looking for a distraction after a tragedy of her own and Aurora and her extremely attractive father provide this. Despite Grania's mother's warnings, Grania agrees to take care of Aurora while her father is away. Aurora captivates Grania and they become close very quickly, each filling a need that the other has.
As time passes and the relationship between Aurora and Grania deepens, Kath, Grania's mother deems it prudent to tell her daughter what she knows of the connection between their family, the Ryans and Aurora's, the Lisles.
Anna and Mary
Riley takes us back to wartime London where an Irish maid called Mary becomes the only source of comfort for the poor little orphan girl, Anna. Brought back from Russia by Lawrence Lisle under a veil of secrecy, Anna becomes his adopted daughter and Mary is her nursemaid. When Lawrence marries, Anna becomes unwanted as a result of the manipulation of his controlling new wife and Mary steps in and takes an enormous risk to ensure Anna's happiness. It is towards the end of the story that we learn that Mary was Kath's grandmother and Anna, Aurora's grandmother.
Tragedy reigns
But the connection does not end there. Kath too has a first-hand story to tell about the influence that the Lisles have exercised over the lives of the Ryans and relates an event one summer where Lily, Aurora's mother was attacked as a teenager. Lily and Kath's slow-witted brother, Joe are curious friends, Lily being an object of worship for Joe. When Lily's mean-spirited half-brother, Gerald joins them that summer, tension in the group is high.
Kath has a lot of guilt about what happened in her part of the story as it results in the end of Joe's simple existence with his family. Lily is also deeply changed by the events and it is suggested that it is what happened to her that summer that made her unbalanced, and set in motion the steady decline in her mental health that peaked with her suicide.
Grania's life in New York
On the periphery of the main story, Riley also keeps us informed about the people that Grania left behind when she fled New York. She deserted Matt with whom she lived and who she now chooses to shut out of her life completely. Matt continues his life in New York; he finds himself with a new girlfriend, one that he does not necessarily want, leading to a life that he has tried to avoid. As a reader, you demand that Grania and Matt are reconciled although with Grania ignoring him, something dramatic has to happen in order for the two to come together again.
The climax of the book
Riley does not fail to provide a moving end to her book. Ultimately, it is an ending which suggests a sound and happy future for Grania although not necessarily with Aurora as part of it. Grania manages to deal with her pride which has been her ultimate obstacle to happiness; if she is able to conquer this, there is a chance that she will be content. Is her future with Matt or Aurora's father, the handsome Alexander? Will the apparent tension between the Lisles and Ryans finally be buried? The climax solves these questions.
Riley has written a saga of families that entertains and moves in parts, as well as showing the tragedy resulting from manipulation by others that can affect lives to the extent that they become ruined. But Riley also shows how knowing the past and learning from the attitude and outlook of people around you can be cathartic and healing and can lead you to a life where happiness is possible.
Source
The Girl on the Cliff, Lucinda Riley, Penguin Books, 2011.
Rachel Deeming - Rachel is a mother of two boys, one 18 months old and the other a busy boy of four. She used to work until recently as an English teacher ...
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