This unique novel centres on 12th century chess pieces – the Lewis Chessmen – carved from walrus tusk and discovered on the coast of the Outer Hebrides in the 1830s. Dunbar has taken this already intriguing story and embellished it with love and betrayal, with female agency and desire at its heart.
Marianne works as a lab technician in the British Museum. She is being bullied by her boss, who sends her on a dead-end mission to the Scottish island of Lewis to curate an exhibition of the Lewis Chessmen. As soon as she’s gone, George accuses her of stealing an artefact, putting her job in jeopardy.
Margit is an Icelandic carver of exquisite talent, but with a shattered body. She’s engaged by the local bishop to carve chess sets. The sets are boarded onto a ship, but that ship sinks in bad weather. The sets – with pieces missing – are found on the coast of the island of Lewis and hidden in the mysterious House of the Black Women, where they remain undiscovered for over 600 years. Macleod’s husband uncovers them, and she bargains with their landlords over payment.
Marianne relaxes into island life, finding companionship with Agnes, and possible love with Euan. Her mother traces her relationship with the Macleods who found the Chessmen. Marianne’s position with the British Museum is still in danger though … she somehow needs to prove George is lying.
Missing Pieces is a wonderful novel, with an enthralling, seamless blend of fact and fiction.
Reviewed by Bob Moore
About the Author
About the AuthorJennifer is a writer of novels and short stories. Drawing on her love of history, music and mythology she explores the stories left untold in conventional historical accounts. Her recent novel Missing Pieces. She self-published her debut novel Vivaldi’s Lost Concerto.
Her work as a social worker for many years has provided her with a rich source of material to develop her colourful and complex characters and compelling plots. Her travels have taken her to beautiful and enchanting places, including Venice, London and the highlands of Scotland – settings found in her work. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, Sociology and Social Work and lives and works a Kaurna land overlooking the fabulous Sturt Gorge Park.
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