strange and random happenstance

The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline by Nancy Springer
Published by: Puffin Books
Publication Date: February 21st, 2009
Format: Kindle, 188 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

The main reason Enola has been able to keep herself hidden from her brothers is by secreting herself away in the poorer section of London. While sacrificing luxury and safety and a well cooked meal, her landlady, Mrs. Tupper, has become something of a surrogate mother to Enola in her own mother's absence. So when Mrs. Tupper is threatened things hit a little too close to home for Enola's sake and she vows to get to the bottom of things. It turns out Mrs. Tupper isn't at all who Enola assumed, starting with the fact she's far more observant than Enola has ever given her credit for. Enola could have sworn she'd gotten away with all her different disguises, turns out Mrs. Tupper just didn't like to pry. Mrs. Tupper has kept her own history secret so what does she care if her own lodger does the same? But the time has come to tell Enola of her past because whatever "message" the thugs want from her she has no idea what they are referring to. Mrs. Tupper's husband was in the Crimean War. As was often the case she followed her husband to the front because there was no way to send money home and it was the only way for her husband to support her. When he was injured in Scutari, Turkey, Mrs. Tupper met Florence Nightingale, who was trying to help care for the wounded. Byzantine ideas about health care meant that the injured men were left alone all night, the nurses only allowed to work during the day. Mrs. Tupper's husband died one night and Florence Nightingale took pity on the young pregnant war widow who had gone deaf from the bombs at the front. She gave her a new outfit and money enough to return home to England. Sadly Mrs. Tupper lost the baby and in her despair throughy no more of the nice nurse who helped her return home. But as far as she knew there was no message. Yes, she was given a piece of paper, but she can't read and got ride of it. But apparantly that message is very important because Mrs. Tupper is soon kidnapped and Enola is demanding to see the bedridden Florence Nightingale because no one takes her landlady and gets away with it!

In a series that is peopled with fictional characters it's always a bit of a risk to bring in an actual historical figure. People have preconceived notions about what they were like and unless it's a small cameo there's more chance for it to go wrong. Now I'm sure some people actually view Sherlock Holmes as real and hopefully love the way Nancy Springer has portrayed him like I do, but he's real in a different way than say Florence Nightingale. And that was really the sticking point for me in this book. I loved the idea of Florence Nightingale being a spy, I loved the coded message in the crinoline composed of embroidered flowers, once more showing how women can subvert what society thinks of them by using home arts to convey important information, but it just didn't quite work. The version of Florence Nightingale that I have in my head really comes from two sources, Drunk History and Victoria. I know these aren't probably the best sources, but Paget Brewster covered the whole Florence Nightingale taking to her bed and ruling her little world from the comfort of her mattress so I at least knew about that weird little historical detail that actually plays an important role in Enola's case. My problem was more with how Enola talked about Florence being an invalid than necessarily in how Florence herself was handled. Enola views Florence as a strange eccentric who likes to hold everyone under her power by claiming to be an invalid. Of course she eventually admits that her "every inference concerning the remarkable Florence Nightingale proved wrong, as became apparent to [her] within a few minutes." Florence just didn't want to waste time on social niceties and just wanted to get down to work. OK, fine. That's totally believable. What wasn't cool was that Enola's view of invalids was so negative. Yes, she's from the upper classes where invalids are more likely highly strung people looking for attention, but that doesn't mean they can be all classified as malingerers. Her contempt for the ill, and let us make it very clear, we actually don't know if Florence Nightingale was ill or not, left a bad taste in my mouth that all the flowery codes couldn't ameliorate.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Crimean War, Drunk History, Embroidery, Enola Holmes, Florence Nightingale, Invalid, Kidnapping, Mrs. Tupper, Nancy Springer, Paget Brewster, Scutari, Sherlocked, The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline, Turkey, Victoria

Agatha and the Truth of Murder
Starring: Stacha Hicks, Joshua Silver, Ruth Bradley, Michael McElhatton, Liam McMahon, Clare McMahon, Pippa Haywood, Brian McCardie, Amelia Dell, Richard Doubleday, Derek Halligan, Samantha Spiro, Blake Harrison, Tim McInnerny, Bebe Cave, Dean Andrews, Seamus O'Hara, and Ralph Ineson
Release Date: December 23rd, 2018
Rating: ★★★
To Watch

Agatha Christie has asked Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for help. She needs to know how one pushes through writer's block. She doesn't want her career to be over just when it's starting. His oblique advice is to design a golf course. Though Agatha does attempt this it's not very successful given the real reason she's blocked; her husband Archie wants a divorce because he wants to marry his mistress. Who just happens to be a golfer. The perfect antidote to her problem arrives on her doorstep in the form of Mabel Rogers. Six years previously the love of Mabel's life, Florence Nightingale Shore, was brutally attacked on a train and succumbed to her injuries days later with Mabel by her side. Mabel has spent the last six years devoting her life to solving the murder of Florence and has come to Christie believing she can help. At first Agatha is disinterested, but then realizes that this might be just the thing to fix her writer's block. They decide to lure the suspects to a country house with the incentive that they might get a share in a large inheritance. Agatha will be "Mary Westmacott" a representative of the law firm sent to validate the claimants legitimacy and suitability, with many questions needing answering, in order to figure out who might be a murderer. Mabel will act as an all-round servant, able to root through the guests possessions when they are otherwise engaged. The suspects are a young nurse, whom Florence censured, Florence's cousin, whom inherited Florence's not inconsiderable estate, a solider, a boxer, and a mother whom Florence was intending to visit before her untimely death. Agatha and Mabel have set it up just like one of Christie's novels, get all the suspects together and find out who the guilty party is. The only problem is their ruse results in the death of one of their suspects. So now they have a second murder to solve as their time runs short. There's only so long they can hold their suspects and the outside world has gone mad with Christie's disappearance! They must catch the culprits AND get Agatha out of the news with her timely reappearance as soon as possible.    

Agatha and the Truth of Murder is based on the clever conceit of taking two real life mysteries and having the investigation of one being the reason for the other. The first mystery is the murder of Florence Nightingale Shore in 1920, which this film postulates Agatha Christie as solving during her 1926 disappearance. It's complete fabrication, they don't even stick too closely to the actual facts, especially where suspects are concerned, but for it's entertainment value it's a fun diversion in the style of Christie's own work. Though what faults it has could have been easily fixed. The movie's problems, like the mysteries, number two. Firstly there needed to be a better understanding of exactly who Florence Nightingale Shore was. She was an amazing woman, a war hero, a nurse as formidable as her godmother and namesake. Yet we only see a glimpse of her at the beginning of the film when she's attacked and then learn secondhand through her friend Mabel Rogers about the crime and only a little about the woman she loved. How can we care about Florence's murder if the character isn't grounded? This wouldn't have taken much to solve, just a little more exposition instead of passing over her to get to Agatha as fast as they could. And that speed is the second problem, the pacing is all off in this film. The narrative is rushed. I defy anyone to actually know whose country house the investigation is taking place in and how all the suspects are connected to Florence Nightingale Shore before the revelation of the killer who you can't see coming and then the final denouement! The filmmakers were too intent on getting everyone closeted away from the world, cloistered in that big house just like Agatha Christie would do in one of her own books that they forgot that as an author she always made her books accessible. If you paid close enough attention you could solve it. Everything made sense. Here it's just a jumble whirling around you like an out of control ride at an amusement park. That's not to say it isn't fun, it just isn't as satisfying an experience as it could have been if a little more care had gone into making it. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 1 comments  

Labels: Agatha and the Truth of Murder, Agatha Christie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Disappearance, Florence Nightingale, Florence Nightingale Shore, Mabel Rogers, Mary Westmacott, Murder, Roaring Back to Reading, True Crime

Kelly Jones is easily as much of a fangirl of Regency Magic as I am judging from her debut in the genre, Murder, Magic, and What We Wore, which is a treasure trove that mines the genre for the best of the best. But one would expect that combination of the literary and the historically studious from an author who received a Bachelor of Arts in English and Anthropology, two subjects I wished I'd taken more classes of in college. Growing up in San Francisco she was introduced to Jane Austen at a young age and I'd like to think that that helpful librarian is what spurred her into getting a Master’s in Library and Information Sciences from the University of Washington after she finished her undergrad. Over the next fifteen years on her way to becoming an author she surrounded herself with books; working in libraries and bookstores until she finally decided to focus on her writing. Nowadays when Kelly isn't writing she's teaching workshops for writers of all ages on such diverse topics as just writing a novel to superpets to the science of chickens. Sadly Shoreline Washington is a bit far for me to commute for a workshop...

Getting back to the chickens... not only does she keep chickens that are sadly not showing any aptitude for magic but her first book was about chickens! Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer is about twelve-year-old Sophie and her magical chickens. The book is illustrated by Katie Kath and published by Knopf Books For Young Readers and got a slew of awards. While I have yet to read this book, or it's sequel which comes out later this year, if it is anywhere near as funny or original as Murder, Magic, and What We Wore, I see many awards in Kelly's future. And given her diversity in interests, from "magic, farm life, spies, sewing, the odd everyday bits of history, how to make sauerkraut, how to walk goats, superheroes and what makes them so super, recipes to make with a lot of eggs, anything with ghosts (particularly friendly ghosts), how to draw chickens that actually look like chickens, and any story she’s never heard before" I can't wait to see what she'll write next... though I would like to put in a vote for a sequel to Murder, Magic, and What We Wore!  

Question: When did you first discover Jane Austen?

Answer: As a young person, I was a strong reader with a small public library, and everyone worked hard to keep me from running out of (reasonably appropriate and interesting) books. So, my mother and one of the librarians introduced me to Jane Austen in middle school. I'd never realized a classic could be funny!

Question: What do you think Jane Austen would think of her impact with so many literary offshoots, from parody to pastiche?

Answer: I think she might be a bit surprised to see how many of us share her sense of humor, more than 200 years later! (I know I worry whether anyone will find my writing as funny as I do.) But I think she'd be pleased that other writers understood that she was capturing a world in her stories, and to see how they imagined that world in theirs.

Question: Where do you get your inspiration from?

Answer: I tend to pull bits of stories from the world all around me. For Murder, Magic, and What We Wore, part of the inspiration was Florence Nightingale's Cassandra (early Victorian, I know!), where she talked about upper-class ladies (like herself) losing their minds for want of useful, valuable employment. I love and value the work I do; so what would it feel like to be prevented from doing it by society? Regency England was a time when women could cross class boundaries -- think of Emma, Lady Hamilton. But what would cause a lady to deliberately step down society's ladder, instead of up? What would that lady risk, and why, and what would it feel like?

I find amazing pieces of actual history, too, and try to let those lead me. What were women doing in 1818? Who had power? How did they use it? What did the world look like? The more history I learn, the more I question my own assumptions -- and I consider that a gift. The chapter heading quotes are my answer to anyone who tries to tell me "But a woman could never have -- " Really? Are you absolutely certain about that?

I also write the books I want to read, and I was craving a Regency fantasy that wasn't a romance. I love romance, but I also love stories about work, and family, and friendship, and responsibilities. I wanted to read about a girl who was too busy with other things to fall in love. What would it look like if Jane Austen had written and published a novel about a lady writer who did not marry? It bothered me that I couldn't quite imagine such a story.

Question: What makes the early 19th century mesh so well with magic?

Answer: That it was a time of great change, all over the world, including technological change. Magic fits best into times where anything seems possible, and where it would be used in new ways. I also particularly enjoy the way science and magic can fit together, so I like to think that the scientific advancements of the previous century would have had an impact on magic as well.

Question: The world building and system of magic varies greatly in the regency fantasy genre, how did you go about creating yours?

Answer: I love puzzling out a world from the clues an author includes. One of the things I love about reading Austen outside her time is that she doesn't explain anything, but a reader can pick up what's important to the characters as the story progresses. I like to treat magic and how it interacts with a novel's world the same way.

For this book, I thought about magic as creating things that could not be manufactured -- couldn't be designed and passed on to someone else to produce. It's artisan-magic, perhaps -- something where the person with the magic can't avoid getting their own hands dirty. And that means that a lady who's talented in something other than ladylike accomplishments like music or painting might not be able to use her talent, or at least might not profit from it. I love the ways that practicality and magic interact: what would you need magic for, if you were wealthy? What couldn't you get any other way? I try to think about the social questions as well: In a society with a wealth gap the size of Regency England's, would the lower classes have any experience of magic at all, unless they had it themselves? Or would it be almost indistinguishable from the other privileges of wealth -- just another way to one-up Lady So-and-So? What would people in that particular time be concerned about, or be unable to accomplish any other way?

Question: If you had to choose between writing only period literature or only fantasy literature, which would win?

Answer: It would be a tough choice, but I'd choose fantasy. My first novel, Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer, is a contemporary fantasy about a girl learning to care for magical chickens, after all! I cannot stop asking "what if?"

Question: Be honest, have you ever dressed up in Regency clothes just to pretend for a moment you are in the past?

Answer: Alas, I haven't managed to make the clothes yet so that I can wear them! Instead, I take out the sewing patterns and dream about having a sewing talent like Annis does (and the patience to figure out how to use it!) But I had an amazing amount of fun looking through fashion plates to see what Annis would wear and what she would sew.

It's a funny kind of pretending for me, though. I never wish I was actually in the past, because I know my family history. I'd be the Irish maid, not the English lady -- and I have no illusions about the challenges that Irish maid might face. I suppose that's why I choose fantasy over history: I want to try on a world where I could be something my ancestors couldn't dream about.

Author Photograph © Susan Brown

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Anthropology, Class System, English, Florence Nightingale, Jane Austen, Kelly Jones, Librarians, Magic, Murder Magic and What We Wore, Regency, Regency Magic, Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer