Power and Manipulation in Ann Cleeves’s The Raging Storm

Thematic Claim

In The Raging Storm, Ann Cleeves constructs a portrait of power that is quiet, intimate, and deceptive. The central thematic claim holds that power is most effectively wielded not through overt force or institutional authority, but through the calculated exploitation of vulnerability, secrecy, and emotional dependence. Eleanor Lawson, a woman dismissed as a lonely widow, orchestrates two murders and a near-fatal attack, not by brandishing a weapon, but by employing charm, handwritten letters, and a deep understanding of other people’s hidden desires and fears. Her influence spreads through the story like the storm that gives the novel its title—unseen until it is already devastating.

Tracing the Theme Across the Plot

1. The Lure: Eleanor’s Manipulation of Jeremy Rosco

Eleanor’s first act of manipulation is the rekindling of her adolescent relationship with the famous adventurer Jeremy Rosco. Using letters and implied romantic longing, she convinces him to travel to Greystone and wait for her in a rented cottage. The village gossip assumes Rosco is waiting for a “someone special,” but only Eleanor knows the truth: she is using his lingering obsession with her as bait. The power dynamic is entirely flipped—Rosco, a national celebrity with wealth and fame, becomes a puppet, strung along by a woman who “loved the power” of being adored and controlling the narrative (Chapter Fifty). She deliberately keeps him waiting for two weeks, savoring the suspense and his vulnerability. This set piece demonstrates how secrecy and emotional withholding become tools of domination, far more effective than any overt demand.

2. The Conspiracy: Manipulating Vulnerable Allies

Eleanor does not act alone. She recruits two local men—Alan Ford, a grieving grandfather desperate to save his dying grandson Arthur, and Davy Gregory, a taxi driver yearning to recapture the camaraderie of his youth. Her power here lies in her ability to weave their private vulnerabilities into her plan. She does not order them to kill; instead, she presents the murder of Rosco as a means to an end: Rosco’s will leaves money to Eleanor, which she promises will fund Arthur’s experimental treatment in the United States. For Davy, she offers the thrill of being part of a “gang” again, playing on his nostalgia and loneliness. In Chapter Fifty, Matthew Venn reflects that “the men got caught up with the excitement and adventure of it… The plan fed into Eleanor’s desire to be the object of the man’s passion.” She does not coerce—she seduces, making each man believe the murder is his own idea. This diffusion of moral responsibility is a sophisticated form of power: she remains at the centre, pulling strings, while others take the physical risks.

3. The Cover-Up: Power Through Secrecy and Violence

When the investigation threatens to expose her, Eleanor demonstrates that her power is not limited to charm. She orchestrates a rockfall at Scully Cove intended to kill Detective Matthew Venn and Sergeant Ross May, using the location’s supernatural reputation to make the attack appear accidental. The evidence in Chapter Forty-Six describes how Venn realizes “the stone that hit him had been hurled out from the clifftop. Aimed.” Eleanor has given orders to Alan Ford, who executes the attempt while she remains in the background, protected by plausible deniability. Even after her arrest, she confesses only what suits her narrative, boasting that the murders were her idea and that she is “some sort of mastermind” (Chapter Fifty). Her final interview reveals that her motive was not charity but “love of power,” and she continues to manipulate those around her, including Venn, who admits she had “held for a while over him” (Chapter Fifty). The theme culminates in the recognition that power sustained by secrecy requires constant performance, but Eleanor is willing to enact that performance to the end.

Character and Symbol Connections

Characters as Vectors of Power

• Eleanor Lawson is the thematic engine. She embodies the paradox of the powerless appearing powerful: a woman with no official status, yet able to bend men to her will through letters and psychological insight. Her charm is her weapon; her vulnerability (a lonely widow with a dying husband) is her disguise.
• Alan Ford is the tragic figure whose love for his grandson becomes his weakness. Eleanor exploits his desperation, turning a devoted grandfather into a killer. His powerlessness in the face of Arthur’s disease is what makes him susceptible to Eleanor’s promises.
• Davy Gregory represents the desire for belonging. Eleanor offers him a sense of purpose and inclusion, which he craves more than moral clarity. His complicity shows how power can corrupt even well-intentioned people when it taps into unfulfilled needs.
• Matthew Venn and Jen Rafferty are the counterpoint—detectives who must resist Eleanor’s influence to uncover the truth. Venn’s own vulnerability (his childhood in the Brethren community, his estranged mother) makes him momentarily susceptible to her charm, underscoring the theme’s universality.

Symbols as Instruments of Power

• The Gold Locket: This sentimental object from Eleanor’s past becomes a tool of manipulation. She uses the story of returning the locket to Grace Fanshaw to create a narrative of her own kindness and to bond with Rosco. In reality, the locket’s recovery was orchestrated by Eleanor to deepen Rosco’s emotional debt to her. The locket symbolizes power disguised as generosity.
• The Storm: The raging storm of the title mirrors Eleanor’s method: it is chaotic, unpredictable, and forces people into isolation. Just as the storm traps the characters in Greystone, Eleanor’s schemes trap them in her web of secrets. The lull after the storm (Chapter Two) corresponds to the moments when Eleanor’s manipulations seem to succeed before the next crisis.
• Scully Cove: This dangerous, superstitious location represents the hidden violence that Eleanor’s power ultimately relies on. It is a place where bodies are dumped and accidents are staged—the physical manifestation of her willingness to use lethal force when charm fails. Venn’s near-death there marks the point where her power shifts from psychological to physical.
• The Missing Shower Curtain: This seemingly mundane detail becomes crucial evidence. Eleanor stages her own nosebleed to create an alibi, then disposes of the shower curtain to hide the blood. The curtain symbolizes the stagecraft of manipulation: everything is props and performance, designed to control appearances.

Complexity and Contradiction

Cleeves does not present Eleanor as a cartoon villain. Her power is rooted in genuine pain: a marriage to a drunkard, decades of boredom, and a longing for the adoration she experienced as a young woman. In Chapter Fifty, Venn acknowledges that “nothing that has happened to her since lived up to that sense of being adored by Rosco.” Her motive is not malice but a hunger for significance, and this makes her both repellent and pitiable. The novel also complicates the idea of victimhood. Rosco, though murdered, was selfish and used people; Alan Ford, though a killer, acted out of love. Eleanor’s power succeeds because she gives people what they think they want—money for Arthur, excitement for Davy—until the cost becomes clear. The true horror of the theme lies in how ordinary these manipulations are: she uses charm, letters, and the plausible promise of a miracle, tools available to anyone.

Study Questions and Answers

1. How does Eleanor Lawson’s use of letters differ from direct confrontation as a method of exerting power?

Eleanor’s letters allow her to control timing, tone, and emotional impact without the risk of immediate rebuttal. Written words create an illusion of intimacy and can be reread, deepening their effect. By contrast, direct confrontation would require vulnerability and expose her to the possibility of refusal. The letters become a one-way channel of influence, preserving her mystique and keeping Rosco in a state of anticipatory longing, as described when she makes him wait two weeks before her first appearance.

2. In what ways does the gold locket symbolise both sentiment and manipulation?

The locket is initially presented as a romantic relic of Eleanor and Rosco’s shared youth, but she later admits she manipulated the story behind it. By claiming she found the locket and returned it to its owner, she crafts a narrative of her own altruism, deepening Rosco’s emotional attachment. Symbolically, the locket is a container of false memory: it holds a sentimental story that she bends to her advantage, much as she bends reality to control those around her.

3. Why does Matthew Venn remain vulnerable to Eleanor’s charm even after he suspects her?

Venn’s vulnerability stems from his past—he was raised in a strict Brethren community and has struggled with emotional connection. Eleanor’s apparent warmth and interest flatter him, and her confession of a lonely life resonates with his own isolation. In Chapter Fifty, he admits she “held for a while over him,” demonstrating that her power exploits universal human needs for recognition and understanding, not just specific weaknesses.

4. How does the character of Alan Ford illustrate the theme that power can corrupt the well-intentioned?

Alan Ford is a devoted father and grandfather who has cared for his dying wife and sick grandson. His motivation is pure—saving Arthur—but Eleanor twists this love into a willingness to murder. By promising the inheritance will fund Arthur’s treatment, she transforms his desperation into complicity. Ford’s trajectory shows that power, when wielded by someone who understands another’s deepest fears, can turn moral people into killers.

5. Why does Eleanor confess so readily at the end, and what does this say about her relationship with power?

Eleanor confesses not out of remorse but out of a need to claim authorship of the murders. She boasts that the plan was her idea and that she is a “mastermind,” revealing that the confession itself is another act of control. She cannot stand to have her role diminished or attributed to others. For Eleanor, power is synonymous with narrative control; confessing ensures she remains the central figure, even in defeat.