The Hallmarked Man's Final Chapter: What I liked and what I didn't.

I'm not sure I have ever written an entire blog post on a single seven page chapter of a Strike book, but there is a first time for everything. This scene, like the rest of the book, is such a mixed bag with parts that make me melt and parts that make me cringe.  Both Strike and Robin behaved sensibly at times and acted like complete idiots (and completely out of character) at others. Let me make if clear, it does not bother me that they did not become a couple. It did bother me that they seemed to be so out-of-character at the time.  So, here goes!

First of all, I loved the setting and my heart leapt when Strike wrenched the door open to go after her. It was absolutely fitting that this revelation happen in the stairwell where they met seven years ago, and when his knocking into Robin and having to tend to her stopped him from going after Charlotte. It also evoked the memory of Robin running out of her first dance with the Flobbergroom to meet (and hug!) Strike on the stairs. So, one check in the Yay column

Then, Strike does something stupid: he tells her that she's about to make the same mistake twice. This was not the point to open with and he ought to know that Robin does not want or need his advice on this. Yo, Corm, remember how you were done shagging Bijou, until Ilsa called you up and told you it was a mistake to shag Bijou, and then you immediately went out and shagged Bijou again?  And remember how many problems that created for you?  The very fact that Robin was still dreading the evening and debating what she would say to a proposal makes me think she was leaning towards saying no. But something like this is only going to tip her towards the "Yes" side of things. So, one check in the Boo! column. 

I actually do not blame Robin for her initial negative reaction. What woman wouldn't be upset to know that multiple people she barely knows have been told about Ryan's plans to propose, and that they gossiped to her business partner about it? This is one reason I really hate public proposals in front of family and friends, which have become common for everything from prom invitations to marriages: they put pressure on the woman to say yes immediately. This type of talk going around before Murphy pops the question is, as she tells us, adding to her pressure and confusion. So, while I liked this part for its realism, and especailly Strike's "So you know?" response, giving away that he know about the proposal was probably another strategic error on Strike's part. 

The next part he gets right:  he finally tells her in a straightforward way that he's in love with her. That's what's been needed for so long. So, two checks in the Yay column. 

But then, Robin goes completely off the rails. Her being shocked, even angry at the suddenness of the announcement is understandable. But this idea that Strike wants her single so she won't leave the agency has been illogical from the start. First, the agency has two male subcontractors with wives and children, and just hired a single father. Second, she has been acknowledging all the way through the book that there is another explanation: that he has feelings for her. Let's go back to Chapter 12.

The reasons for Strike’s antipathy towards Murphy were more mysterious to Robin, but she had a suspicion it was because he was afraid he was going to lose his business partner to marriage and children. If that was indeed his concern, Robin found it both insulting and infuriating, because she’d surely proven her commitment to the job and the agency ten times over by now. Of course, there was another possible explanation for Strike’s attitude, but she wasn’t going to think about that – except that she did think about it, more often than she wanted to admit. I told Amelia exactly what Charlotte wrote… she knew I was in love with you…

And Chapter 15, the bathroom at the Prince of Wales, where she really latches onto the idea.

Was he trying to tell her indirectly that he did have deeper feelings for her than he’d ever admitted before? Was he pushing to see what she felt in turn? Or was it safe to play this game, now she was with Murphy? Was his aim to undermine her relationship, because it suited him better to keep her single, meaning the threat of her leaving the agency receded?

Even the Christmas bracelet, a gift which Robin realizes any sensible person would see as a token of love, makes her second-guess the situation and reach on the wrong conclusion: 

In the midst of her guilty deliberations about what might be going on inside Strike’s head, Robin kept bumping back against the conclusion she’d reached in the bathroom of the Prince of Wales pub: that Strike, whether consciously or unconsciously, was playing some kind of game intended to weaken her ties to Murphy, lest she contemplate leaving the agency for a more settled existence.

Strike has been surly, uncommunicative and emotionally clueless on multiple occasions, but he has never been manipulative. He knew Matthew hated her doing the job, yet he never tried to talk her out of marrying him. Even when the engagement was called off the first time, he never said, "You're well shod of him," as he did at the racetrack. So now, when he's finally told her straight out, she doubles down and insists the wrong explanation must be the true one.  

“I know exactly what you’re doing." It was taking every ounce of her self-possession not to break down. ‘You’re scared I’ll leave the agency if I marry—’

"Bullsh*t, that’s not—"

"Then why say this tonight? Because you think you’re about to lose me," she said, before he could answer. "Well, you needn’t worry, I’m not going any—"

"This isn’t about the agency. It isn’t," he insisted, before she could contradict him. 

This attitude is what has made Robin seem out of character all through this book, and it comes to a head here, So, I'm putting a second check in the Boo! column. 

So, Robin storms off and then comes back with her second complaint. 

“You’ve had ages," said Robin, who was now shivering with anger. "Years. I was single. I was free. Every single time we got – even slightly close to – you pushed me away and went off screwing other women."

"Not lately," said Strike.

I think Robin is being quite unfair here. She knows by now that he did not sleep with Kim-- and not for lack of opportunity. She knows the fling with Bijou was brief, and “ a misguided exercise in distraction and instant gratification.” The overwhelming majority of Strike's short and longer-term relationships (Ciara, Nina, Elin, Coco, and Lorelei) happened  when Robin was either engaged or married to Matthew. Bijou happened while she was in a long-term relationship with Ryan. The only woman Strike has taken up with while Robin was free was Madeline, and that was after Robin rejected him at the Ritz. And for not speaking up, Robin can't deny he has dropped lots of hints; she's been agonizing over them since last October. She could have spoken up herself many times. A simple "what do you mean by that?" would have gone a long way. To be stunned, confused and even angry is understandable, but this completely irrational response just doesn't ring true for Robin. 

I have read arguments that this regression in character development is the result of trauma, first residual effects of Chapman Farm, then the subsequent trauma of the ectopic pregnancy and the deliberate attempts to scare her with gorilla imagery. That is certainly understandable, but I don't think Galbraith did as good a job of making those PTSD symptoms real to use. In LW, we experienced several panic attacks with Robin. Here, we are told she had nightmares, was jumpy or even had a flashback, but we never experienced it through Robin's eyes. The changes in Robin's character would feel more authentic if the trauma symptoms felt more authentic. This is a major reason that this book does not seem as well-written as the earlier ones in the series.  In any case, this section earned a third check in the Boo! column. I will give half a "Yay" check to Strike here, because he at least had the good sense not to try to point all her irrational arguments out to her. I think that will eventually have to happen, but now is not the time or place. 

“I was scared of fucking it up, fucking everything up—"

"The agency, it’s always—"

"It wasn’t just the agency, it was this, us, the friendship—"

"Well, I’m still your friend, so you needn’t—"

"I don’t want to be your fucking friend," said Strike, his own voice rising now. "that’s what I’m fucking telling you.”

This part is not so much out of character but just strange. I have never known anyone in the middle of a shouting match then they are shaking with anger to throw in a "I'm your friend," statement. It also doesn't seem right for Strike to claim he doesn't want to be friends. One of the steps he has made in the last books was to realize that a romantic relationship must have a genuine friendship in its heart. He showed us that when he yells at Charlotte that they were never friends. And I think one of the factors that makes this scene, and by extension, the entire book, is that Strike and Robin aren't acting like friends, let alone best friends. So, check #4 in the Boo! column. 

“And you expect me to just throw away a two-year relationship, so I can be the latest woman you get bored with after a couple of months, do you?" said Robin, her voice echoing around the stairwell.

"It’s been seven years and I’ve never been bored. You think I’d be saying this if I just wanted a fuck? I’m not asking you to cheat, I don’t want an affair. I want to be with you. Permanently. Marry me.”

If Strike was surprised to hear himself say that, so were the rest of us. Never, in all the musings he has done in this book, has he even thought about marrying Robin, and certainly not immediately. There always seems to have been an understanding that they were going to have to date awhile to see if this being lovers and business partners thing will work. This seems completely out of character for Strike and I don't blame Robin for questioning his sanity here. Boo! check number five. 

Now, for the part that I absolutely hated:

"You’re – you’re insane," she said, numb with shock. "You’re literally – you’ve lost your mind. We’ve never so much as—"

"Easily remedied.”

Strike descended the stairs, and had placed his hands on her upper arms and pulled her towards him when she placed a fist on his chest and pushed him away.

"No!" she said, trembling at the contact, and angry at herself for doing so. "I’m not that person – I won’t do to Ryan what Matthew did to me!”

Who wrote this, Dorcus Pengelly? Strike grabs Robin, pulls her toward him and suggests a physical liason, and she had to push him away. I don't care if he's planning that long-awaited kiss or thinking she'll run back upstairs with him and try to see if they can make the red cloth sofa fart too. Robin has reflected in the past how sensitive she is to physical touch and how Strike is the one man who has never made her feel physically uncomfortable. No matter what happens going forward, that is no longer true. I'm not saying he would have ever forced anything against her will. Robin knew Matthew would not force anything on her against her will when he grabbed her and ripped the Green Dress, and she still hated him for doing it. This is so completely opposite of anything we have come to expect from Strike that his whole scene was ruined for me. I'm putting two more checks in the Boo! box for this, one for the verbal come-on and one for the physical. 

“I had to tell you," said Strike. "You had to know."

Robin struggled to find something to say and failed.

Yay. This makes sense. So, this leaves a final score of 3 1/2 yays, 7 boos.  

This last chapter is redeemed for me by Pat and what she says to him. She first assures him she won't gossip about what she overheard and gives Strike some good practical advice on how he "messed her around, and needed a new plan. I particularly appreciated her observation that Robin hasn't been happy at home recently. This is a big step forward for Pat, who in the past has grossly misjudged Robin's love life; for example, by thinking she was keen on Saul Morris, and suggesting she feign some anger at Ryan for being late to get him to buy her flowers. She is the voice of wisdom for Strike as, I hope, either Ilsa or the new therapist will be for Robin. And hopefully, his new plan will involve being corn-measurer Strike instead of priest-wielder Strike.  

Pat's sensibility and the non-too-subtle imagery of Strike trying to save the gasping goldfish again kept me from feeling overly negative about this final chapter. 

So, what's next?  I'll share my ideas in the next post. 

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