Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers
Mar. 4th, 2007 01:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Harriet Vane has never dared to return to her old Oxford college. Now, despite her scandalous life, she has been summoned back ...
At first she thinks her worst fears have been fulfilled, as she encounters obscene grafitti, poison pen letters and a disgusting effigy when she arrives at sedate Shrewsbury College for the 'Gaudy' celebrations.
But soon, Harriet realises that she is not the only target of this murderous malice - and asks Lord Peter Wimsey to help.
Set five years after the events of Strong Poison, the fascinating thing about this book is that whilst there is a strong mystery element to it, it's essentially a character study of Harriet Vane who is struggling to come to terms with her friendship with Peter Wimsey and his continued proposals of marriage. In fact, for a book labelled on the front as "A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery", he doesn't appear in person until three-fifths of the way through - until then we have Harriet's thoughts about him, a couple of letters and the appearance of Wimsey's nephew, Lord Saint-George (a kind of 'Mini-PeterWimsey') who effectively subs for his uncle.
You may think that a book that's essentially there to be a 'will she-won't she' would be boring and self-indulgent wankery on the part of the author, but you would be completely wrong because Sayers mixes Harriet's dilemma in with the plot and various philosophical and social theories about the role of the genders, which far from being a dry academic exercise, really brings out Harriet's confusion and intelligence. In fact, the denouement serves as a means for both characters to step back and evaluate what's been happening between them over the previous years and is a catalyst for the happy ending that fans were undoubtedly longing for.
Mixed in with this is a strong contemporary feel to the writing - Sayers deliberately brings in the politics of the time and we see in the background Wimsey's involvement in international politics on behalf of the Foreign Office, as well as some side discussion as to events in Germany (from one Don's protest against the Kinder, Kirche, Kuche regime in Nazi Germany to a very uncomfortable statement from the Porter that "what we need is an 'Itler").
Sayers references the previous adventures of Wimsey and Vane throughout the text, but you don't need to have read them to understand the plot or the nature of their relationship. Speaking as someone who has only read two of her Wimsey works, I'm most definitely a Wimsey fangirl and shall be running off to read the rest.
My only criticisms of the book are a repeat of what I said in my review of Strong Poison - the publishers should really be offering some kind of footnote or endnote translating the Latin/Ancient Greek/Hebrew sections for those of us unable to understand them. In particular, the final exchange between Wimsey and Vane:
"Placetne, magistra?"
"Placet."
left me scratching my head because whilst I can guess perfectly well that it's Harriet finally saying yes, it's obviously her saying yes in a particular way that adds to both characterisations. It's very frustrating and it's only thanks to Google that I found an explanation here. This is precisely the type of touch that the publishers should be putting into the book.
I would also take issue with the publishers New English Library, who are getting money for old rope by reprinting the "new introduction by Elizabeth George" in every addition, along with a postscript on Wimsey, written by Sayers in the character of his Uncle Paul. Personally, I find it cheap and insulting and given the back quotes from a wide variety of well-known mystery writers, it should not have been difficult to find different people to give different introductions to each book. Bad show, New English Library. Bad show indeed.
The Verdict:
As much a fascinating character study as it is a twisting mystery, this book is very enjoyable and I'm now an unashamed Wimsey fangirl.
Harriet Vane has never dared to return to her old Oxford college. Now, despite her scandalous life, she has been summoned back ...
At first she thinks her worst fears have been fulfilled, as she encounters obscene grafitti, poison pen letters and a disgusting effigy when she arrives at sedate Shrewsbury College for the 'Gaudy' celebrations.
But soon, Harriet realises that she is not the only target of this murderous malice - and asks Lord Peter Wimsey to help.
Set five years after the events of Strong Poison, the fascinating thing about this book is that whilst there is a strong mystery element to it, it's essentially a character study of Harriet Vane who is struggling to come to terms with her friendship with Peter Wimsey and his continued proposals of marriage. In fact, for a book labelled on the front as "A Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery", he doesn't appear in person until three-fifths of the way through - until then we have Harriet's thoughts about him, a couple of letters and the appearance of Wimsey's nephew, Lord Saint-George (a kind of 'Mini-PeterWimsey') who effectively subs for his uncle.
You may think that a book that's essentially there to be a 'will she-won't she' would be boring and self-indulgent wankery on the part of the author, but you would be completely wrong because Sayers mixes Harriet's dilemma in with the plot and various philosophical and social theories about the role of the genders, which far from being a dry academic exercise, really brings out Harriet's confusion and intelligence. In fact, the denouement serves as a means for both characters to step back and evaluate what's been happening between them over the previous years and is a catalyst for the happy ending that fans were undoubtedly longing for.
Mixed in with this is a strong contemporary feel to the writing - Sayers deliberately brings in the politics of the time and we see in the background Wimsey's involvement in international politics on behalf of the Foreign Office, as well as some side discussion as to events in Germany (from one Don's protest against the Kinder, Kirche, Kuche regime in Nazi Germany to a very uncomfortable statement from the Porter that "what we need is an 'Itler").
Sayers references the previous adventures of Wimsey and Vane throughout the text, but you don't need to have read them to understand the plot or the nature of their relationship. Speaking as someone who has only read two of her Wimsey works, I'm most definitely a Wimsey fangirl and shall be running off to read the rest.
My only criticisms of the book are a repeat of what I said in my review of Strong Poison - the publishers should really be offering some kind of footnote or endnote translating the Latin/Ancient Greek/Hebrew sections for those of us unable to understand them. In particular, the final exchange between Wimsey and Vane:
"Placetne, magistra?"
"Placet."
left me scratching my head because whilst I can guess perfectly well that it's Harriet finally saying yes, it's obviously her saying yes in a particular way that adds to both characterisations. It's very frustrating and it's only thanks to Google that I found an explanation here. This is precisely the type of touch that the publishers should be putting into the book.
I would also take issue with the publishers New English Library, who are getting money for old rope by reprinting the "new introduction by Elizabeth George" in every addition, along with a postscript on Wimsey, written by Sayers in the character of his Uncle Paul. Personally, I find it cheap and insulting and given the back quotes from a wide variety of well-known mystery writers, it should not have been difficult to find different people to give different introductions to each book. Bad show, New English Library. Bad show indeed.
The Verdict:
As much a fascinating character study as it is a twisting mystery, this book is very enjoyable and I'm now an unashamed Wimsey fangirl.
