Did you know that the Roman name for the island of Guernsey was Sarnia? It was certainly new knowledge for me and for this snippet alone I would have been happy to have read Mrs Baillie Reynolds’ 1925 novel ‘The Spell of Sarnia’. There is a great deal more to take from the book though, for this is a thoroughly engaging story of romance, mystery, folklore and witchcraft. It might be overthinking things to suggest that the book is also a reflection on the erosion of ancient traditions in the face of the capitalist obsession with ‘growth’, but if you perhaps squint just a little then the traces of such threads can surely be seen. Odd, perhaps, in a book written by a woman who married a stockbroker, but then again it can certainly be unfair to suggest that every person intimately engaged in the realms of commerce and the pursuit of capital must be tainted by wickedness. Sorely tempting, but unfair.

In terms of plot, the novel is fairly straightforward. A relatively impoverished descendent of Guernsey aristocracy returns to the island to find his ancestral home turned into a Country Club run by someone who seems to be a rather shady character. Returnee connects with an aunt who recounts the tale of the mythical ‘lost’ perfume ‘Sarnian Bouquet’ which was concocted by her brother, a perfumier turned to the demon drink by lost love. The ‘mystery’ element of the book then concerns the search for the lost ‘prescription’ for the perfume and this in turn introduces the threads of folklore, witchcraft and ultimately romance, all of which combine nicely in a very pleasing tapestry.

This narrative tapestry seems to be a blend of truth and fiction, fittingly so for a story that revolves around the idea of a ‘lost’ perfume that is itself a magical blend of secret ingredients. My 1949 reissue of the novel further muddies these waters by including advertisements encouraging one to “Build up and herd of Golden Guernseys” complete with photograph of an impressive looking beast, alongside ones for ‘Perfumes of Guernsey’ by C.Stonelake and Co., a pharmacist business that professes to be operated by the descendants of the ‘Pierre Dulac’ character in the novel. There is also a reproduction of a note, dated October 1925 and apparently signed from Baillie Reynolds, to one W. (Or possibly JW) Stonelake who apparently told her the story of the lost ‘Sarnian Bouquet’ perfume from which her tale sprung. And oddly enough (or perhaps not), ‘C.Stonelake and Co.’ Is also the publisher of the 1949 edition… A Stonelake Pharmacy does appear to still operate on the island. All intriguing little connections if one cares for such things.

For someone who was not a native or long term inhabitant of the island, Baillie Reynolds’ nevertheless infuses the book with what feels like a convincing sense of place. True ‘donkeys’ (or ‘ânes’), as the Guernsey inhabitants are traditionally called, might disagree, but for an idle tourist like me there are plenty of references to real places that once can locate on maps (the Pleinmont headland, the causeway to Lihou) to get a sense that the writer has a genuine warmth for the place.

Similarly, the folklore elements (including the tale of how the Guernsey Lily came into being, which naturally involves fairies) feel convincing but never overpowering. The involvement of witchcraft also strikes me as being admirably balanced. There are visions in crystal balls, mesmeric trances, pentagrams drawn on rocks and an amusing confusion of a goat as a satanic presence, but none of it feels either sensationally tokenistic nor wearisomely involved and detailed. Anyone looking for a darker supernatural thriller type affair might feel disappointed, but for someone like me who finds such things rather trying, ‘The Spell of Sarnia’ hits something of a sweet spot.

It might be just a shade too populist to appeal to true aficionados of the weird (or indeed of the Wyrd) but nevertheless I can just about imagine someone in the 21st Century making a soundtrack album for an imaginary film of ‘The Spell of Sarnia’. Someone like Drew Mulholland perhaps, or Alison Cotton, whose marvellous ‘The House of the Famous Poet’ features in the new Riz Ahmed movie ‘Relay’. I would certainly listen to such a thing, just as I would certainly recommend tracking down a copy of ‘The Spell of Sarnia’.