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regshoeAt long last, I have returned to the D. K. Broster read-through! It's good to be back.
World Under Snow (1935) is a fairly massive departure from Broster's previous style and niche—instead of a romantic historical adventure, it's a modern detective novel. I thought her last historical, Almond, Wild Almond, was particularly weak; perhaps she agreed, and thought it was time for a new direction. Perhaps she wanted to develop further the strand of modern-set and mysterious writing from the second half of A Fire of Driftwood. Or perhaps her co-writer G. Forester is responsible for the new style; and this is a particularly frustrating question because I have been totally unable to find out anything about G. Forester. All that seems certain is that they never published any other books under that name; but whether they ever wrote anything else (obscure short stories, unpublished, or under another name), how they knew Broster, what their literary tastes and background were in general or what the G. stands for, I have no idea.
Anyway, it's a murder mystery! We open on a snowy winter's evening in the Cotswolds, where something mysterious happens to a postman, David Jenner, as he struggles on his round over the wolds (neither rain, nor snow, nor glom of nit...). After that we meet Hilary Severn, a civil servant and friend of Jenner's who uses his house as a base while fishing in the Cotswolds; Hilary learns of Jenner's disappearance, and then of the discovery of his body buried in a snowdrift. At the same time Hilary's BFF, the elaborately-named Denzil Folyat, has just got engaged to a charming girl named Chloe Page. Hilary goes to the Cotswolds to comfort Jenner's grieving widow, but the plot begins to thicken when Mrs Jenner tells him about her suspicions of foul play surrounding her husband's death. Initially intending simply to relieve Mrs Jenner of this obvious delusion, Hilary turns sleuth—and soon discovers that things are not at all as simple as they seem, and that Jenner's death appears connected in some way with his friend Denzil, and a certain unpleasant rival he has for Chloe's affections...
It's a cleverly-constructed mystery, and I enjoyed the unfolding of all the vital details, the clues planted early on that come back, the relation of apparently unrelated parts of the story to each other, and the eventual solution of the mystery. The shape and mood of the thing are very much reminiscent of the more famous detective authors of this period—Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, etc.—and I enjoyed seeing an example of the genre that hasn't stood the test of time so well and comparing them. It's definitely not as good as theirs—the plot and solution rely quite a lot on contrived coincidence, and I thought some of the details were rather implausible—but it was a fun and suitably dramatic mystery, and I enjoyed it.
And, because one can't really give full opinions of a murder mystery without spoilers: I especially enjoyed the twists and turns where it looks like Denzil dunnit and then it turns out he himself was mistaken about that. I guessed part of the eventual solution but not all, and I liked that Garlock the corrupt policeman with a grudge who was obviously ruled out near the beginning comes back and turns out to have been the culprit after all! I did think the device of someone else sending the threatening letter to Jenner on Garlock's behalf was especially weak—it really reads as though the authors originally intended to have Garlock send it, and got stuck between realising that it wouldn't make sense for him to do so because it would have undermined his American alibi and wanting to keep the letter as A Clue, settling on this unsatisfactory solution. And I was disappointed that poor Mrs Jenner never gets to learn that she was right after all!
I also really enjoyed seeing Broster writing in a new setting and atmosphere. The prose is recognisably hers, though not so distinctive as in her other novels, and I wonder how much of this is because of the new context and how much is because some of it was written by Forester instead (one gets curious about exactly how this co-writing works...). And the modern setting is great fun: a world of motor cars, 1930s office work, crowded Underground trains and sudden telephone calls clashes rather with Broster's favourite themes of honour, which come up faintly and rather confusedly in poor Hilary's characterisation. Another thing it has in common with other interwar-period detective novels I've read is a certain self-consciousness of both setting and genre: there's a lot of comparison between modern and Victorian life and values, for instance, and an awareness on the characters' parts that they're 'playing the role' of sleuth in a certain type of story. That was interesting to see, and I enjoyed some of the snobbishness about modern life, though some of it seems rather hypocritical—I don't think you get to complain about how the interconnectedness of the modern world ruins no-longer-isolated lovely old villages with new development when you're driving a car halfway across the country every weekend, Hilary—and the portrayal of Chloe as (rather blandly) good because old-fashioned has a slightly nasty savour to it after Almond, Wild Almond.
Perhaps it's a feature of the genre that characters and relationships take a back seat to the development of the mystery plot, but I did feel that these weren't nearly as good as they often are in Broster's historical novels. There was a lot of potential in the various tensions and conflicts of Hilary and Denzil's friendship, but apart from a few fraught moments it's not developed anything like as compellingly as some of the relationships in the other books. And I found both Hilary and Denzil frustratingly neither-one-thing-nor-t'other in their values and morals: they're not committed to honour and duty as Keith and Ewen are—perhaps the authors felt it wouldn't be plausible for any men to be, in the modern world—but neither are they really bad, and the resultingly rather vague way in which they're good but flawed I found much less interesting than the conflicts of loyalty, love and duty in the historical books. And there's no slashiness anywhere!
A few other things! Broster's books are often notable for fun minor characters, and that's still the case here—I especially liked Quentin, Hilary's irritatingly curious ten-year-old nephew. At one point there's a striking reoccurrence of what looks like the central idea of the short story 'Fate the Eavesdropper', although here the calamity is merely significantly threatened, and I found that a very interesting example of how authors reuse ideas across stories. There is, as far as I can find, only one free digitised copy of this book on the internet, and it's missing a couple of pages—not plot-crucial pages, but aggravating enough. I shall have to find a paper copy and see if I can fill in the gap (this book won't be eligible for Project Gutenberg for a while, but it's as well to prepare...)
Overall, definitely not one of Broster's best, but very entertaining, and interesting for being something a bit different in the progress of the read-through. And next is Child Royal, which looks like another interestingly different one!
World Under Snow (1935) is a fairly massive departure from Broster's previous style and niche—instead of a romantic historical adventure, it's a modern detective novel. I thought her last historical, Almond, Wild Almond, was particularly weak; perhaps she agreed, and thought it was time for a new direction. Perhaps she wanted to develop further the strand of modern-set and mysterious writing from the second half of A Fire of Driftwood. Or perhaps her co-writer G. Forester is responsible for the new style; and this is a particularly frustrating question because I have been totally unable to find out anything about G. Forester. All that seems certain is that they never published any other books under that name; but whether they ever wrote anything else (obscure short stories, unpublished, or under another name), how they knew Broster, what their literary tastes and background were in general or what the G. stands for, I have no idea.
Anyway, it's a murder mystery! We open on a snowy winter's evening in the Cotswolds, where something mysterious happens to a postman, David Jenner, as he struggles on his round over the wolds (neither rain, nor snow, nor glom of nit...). After that we meet Hilary Severn, a civil servant and friend of Jenner's who uses his house as a base while fishing in the Cotswolds; Hilary learns of Jenner's disappearance, and then of the discovery of his body buried in a snowdrift. At the same time Hilary's BFF, the elaborately-named Denzil Folyat, has just got engaged to a charming girl named Chloe Page. Hilary goes to the Cotswolds to comfort Jenner's grieving widow, but the plot begins to thicken when Mrs Jenner tells him about her suspicions of foul play surrounding her husband's death. Initially intending simply to relieve Mrs Jenner of this obvious delusion, Hilary turns sleuth—and soon discovers that things are not at all as simple as they seem, and that Jenner's death appears connected in some way with his friend Denzil, and a certain unpleasant rival he has for Chloe's affections...
It's a cleverly-constructed mystery, and I enjoyed the unfolding of all the vital details, the clues planted early on that come back, the relation of apparently unrelated parts of the story to each other, and the eventual solution of the mystery. The shape and mood of the thing are very much reminiscent of the more famous detective authors of this period—Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, etc.—and I enjoyed seeing an example of the genre that hasn't stood the test of time so well and comparing them. It's definitely not as good as theirs—the plot and solution rely quite a lot on contrived coincidence, and I thought some of the details were rather implausible—but it was a fun and suitably dramatic mystery, and I enjoyed it.
And, because one can't really give full opinions of a murder mystery without spoilers: I especially enjoyed the twists and turns where it looks like Denzil dunnit and then it turns out he himself was mistaken about that. I guessed part of the eventual solution but not all, and I liked that Garlock the corrupt policeman with a grudge who was obviously ruled out near the beginning comes back and turns out to have been the culprit after all! I did think the device of someone else sending the threatening letter to Jenner on Garlock's behalf was especially weak—it really reads as though the authors originally intended to have Garlock send it, and got stuck between realising that it wouldn't make sense for him to do so because it would have undermined his American alibi and wanting to keep the letter as A Clue, settling on this unsatisfactory solution. And I was disappointed that poor Mrs Jenner never gets to learn that she was right after all!
I also really enjoyed seeing Broster writing in a new setting and atmosphere. The prose is recognisably hers, though not so distinctive as in her other novels, and I wonder how much of this is because of the new context and how much is because some of it was written by Forester instead (one gets curious about exactly how this co-writing works...). And the modern setting is great fun: a world of motor cars, 1930s office work, crowded Underground trains and sudden telephone calls clashes rather with Broster's favourite themes of honour, which come up faintly and rather confusedly in poor Hilary's characterisation. Another thing it has in common with other interwar-period detective novels I've read is a certain self-consciousness of both setting and genre: there's a lot of comparison between modern and Victorian life and values, for instance, and an awareness on the characters' parts that they're 'playing the role' of sleuth in a certain type of story. That was interesting to see, and I enjoyed some of the snobbishness about modern life, though some of it seems rather hypocritical—I don't think you get to complain about how the interconnectedness of the modern world ruins no-longer-isolated lovely old villages with new development when you're driving a car halfway across the country every weekend, Hilary—and the portrayal of Chloe as (rather blandly) good because old-fashioned has a slightly nasty savour to it after Almond, Wild Almond.
Perhaps it's a feature of the genre that characters and relationships take a back seat to the development of the mystery plot, but I did feel that these weren't nearly as good as they often are in Broster's historical novels. There was a lot of potential in the various tensions and conflicts of Hilary and Denzil's friendship, but apart from a few fraught moments it's not developed anything like as compellingly as some of the relationships in the other books. And I found both Hilary and Denzil frustratingly neither-one-thing-nor-t'other in their values and morals: they're not committed to honour and duty as Keith and Ewen are—perhaps the authors felt it wouldn't be plausible for any men to be, in the modern world—but neither are they really bad, and the resultingly rather vague way in which they're good but flawed I found much less interesting than the conflicts of loyalty, love and duty in the historical books. And there's no slashiness anywhere!
A few other things! Broster's books are often notable for fun minor characters, and that's still the case here—I especially liked Quentin, Hilary's irritatingly curious ten-year-old nephew. At one point there's a striking reoccurrence of what looks like the central idea of the short story 'Fate the Eavesdropper', although here the calamity is merely significantly threatened, and I found that a very interesting example of how authors reuse ideas across stories. There is, as far as I can find, only one free digitised copy of this book on the internet, and it's missing a couple of pages—not plot-crucial pages, but aggravating enough. I shall have to find a paper copy and see if I can fill in the gap (this book won't be eligible for Project Gutenberg for a while, but it's as well to prepare...)
Overall, definitely not one of Broster's best, but very entertaining, and interesting for being something a bit different in the progress of the read-through. And next is Child Royal, which looks like another interestingly different one!
no subject
Date: Apr. 9th, 2022 07:23 pm (UTC)Very disappointing, right? It would be much nicer if Denzil and Hilary went abroad together at the end of the book, and Chloe (who deserves *way* better) decided that she prefers to spend time with Hilary's sister, who is very nice and sensible! There, I've fixed it! XD
I also think that this novel isn't Broster's best, but the change of setting makes it interesting... it's fun to see those mentions of rugby matches and trains and telephones! XD Oh, and "Child Royal" is different too, but I liked it much better--it's one of my favourites by Broster so far. I hope you like it, too!
Oh, and if you ever want a mystery with significant levels of slashiness, to make up for this one, I recommend "The Red House mystery", by A. A. Milne. If you haven't read it already, I think it sounds like your kind of thing!
no subject
Date: Apr. 10th, 2022 03:07 pm (UTC)Ooh, I'll look forward to Child Royal, then... And The Red House Mystery sounds very good—a mystery with significant levels of slashiness is certainly relevant to my interests—thanks for the rec! I only know A. A. Milne as the author of the Winnie-the-Pooh books, so it must have been a bit of a change of direction for him too.
no subject
Date: Apr. 10th, 2022 03:49 pm (UTC)XD Pooh is also what I knew him from--apparently he wrote this one for his father, who liked mysteries. I wasn't sure if I'd mentioned it before, because when I read "Witching hill" after you recommended it, the vibe between Gilly and Uvo reminded me a little bit of this book's main characters! I think this gives more strength to the rec, right? :D
no subject
Date: Apr. 10th, 2022 04:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: Apr. 10th, 2022 06:52 pm (UTC)I think, on the whole, that I will skip it. I'm not a big fan of mysteries in general, and your description doesn't make it sound like something I can't miss.
I did order The Sea Without a Haven a while ago though, so I’ll report on that one when I've read it! Whenever that will be; I see now that it's been a month since I ordered it. I blame Brexit.
no subject
Date: Apr. 11th, 2022 03:37 pm (UTC)Fair enough—yeah, I agree that it's not unmissable.
How annoying—I hope The Sea Without a Haven arrives soon! I haven't read that one yet and know very little about it—I'll enjoy reading your thoughts on it.