[These notes were made in 1991:]. His preliminary apologia notwithstanding, I could have wished Mr. Maugham to exert himself a little more to capture the Victorian tone for his multiple Victorian narrators. That, however, is the only major complaint I have of this rather gracefully structured, rather well-composed meditation on the narcissistic underpinnings of homosexuality, as exemplified in the identical twins theme (Maugham would doubtless be horrified to see his work so brutally reduced -- but it's not an unfair assessment, I think). In this case, it's not twins proper, but similar half-brothers, one of whom (the real heir) runs off to Australia when he finds himself in conflict with English society and in order to give greater rein to his fully-acknowledged homosexuality. Caught in a destructive relationship with a man with the rather modern name of Clint, he has a brief period of contentment on his own horse-breaking ranch; eventually and consequent to Clint's reappearance, he sinks into alcoholism, of which he dies. Before he does, however, he is sought out and found by his illegitimate half-brother - the two get to know one another, and though the brother is heterosexual, there is a definite intimation that the brotherly relationship becomes very intimate indeed - a sort of self-acceptance for both? The last part of the novel is what justifies the "mystery" in the title, for it details the steps that Ben, the half-brother, takes to reclaim the estate which rightfully belongs (or belonged) to Jamie, the exile. Ben eventually renounces his claim in favour of blackmailing the rather heartless mother who drove Jamie from England in the first place. I thought this was a really good read, and tho' the gay protagonist dies the stereotypical self-destructive death, still it's quite a courageous one for 1969.
