Bloggery

Tuesday 8th Nov 2011

Becky Milford

When Authors Adopt - Advice on Wintry Reads

The crowds jostling for space on Pulteney Bridge last Saturday evening… the smell of bonfire smoke in the ice-sharp air… the crackle and bang of jewel-bright fireworks… autumn is definitely breathing a restful sigh, ready to let winter swoop on in with a coating of early-morning frost and Christmas excitement. And while for many this means digging out the anti-freeze and having the aggravating task of setting the alarm fifteen minutes early to get the car started, there are definitely positive things to take from the coming cold-snap. For me, winter is my favourite time of year to read.

            Don’t get me wrong – I adore lying on a beach, devouring novels at an alarming rate while soaking up sun and sangria (the reading naturally trailing off slightly the more the latter is consumed) – but there is nothing that beats a great new book and a cosy fireside. The idea of a weighty hardback novel, fresh from Mr B’s, complete with a squidgy armchair, a fluffy rug, golden lamplight and a plate of crumpets oozing butter is just heaven. Virginia Woolf famously announced all women need a room to call their own – well, I just need a snug corner. And if it’s raining outside then all the better.

            There are so many exciting new titles on the Mr B’s shelves at the moment that it can occasionally seem impossible to pick the perfect read. I’m forever worried about getting ‘book envy’, much akin as to when you hold off ordering steak in favour of the fish and then watch, green-eyed, as the person opposite you tucks into prime sirloin. Somehow it doesn’t seem right to flit between books. In summer I can overload my bag with skim-worthy paperbacks but now, when the wind is howling and I want to be ensconced in a chair for over an hour, there seems something luxurious about gripping a sturdy hard-back edition. So what to choose?

            There are two titles on the ‘Top Banana’ shelves that I’ve been eyeing for a while now, and these are books I am just as much intrigued about as excited by.

            For some reason winter always puts me in the mood for crime – perhaps the knowledge that for several hundred pages I’m going to be led on a merry dance, collecting clues and red herrings in equal amounts, only to have it tied up neatly at the conclusion. I tend to hark back to the old-fashioned murder mysteries – an assortment of guests, a locked room, some ancient family disagreement and then, after dinner one night, a scream in the dark… for some people Christmas is about watching Elf for the hundredth time, for me it’s a good country house murder, with a quick-witted, savvy detective on hand to solve it. And there are two books that pretty much have these needs sewn up, and interestingly enough both are continuations of characters and places from long-dead authors.

            In ‘Death Comes to Pemberley’, PD James takes the beloved characters of Pride and Prejudice and adds her own crime-minded twist. It is six years since Elizabeth was married, and the Darceys are comfortable in their exquisite country-home. But then, on a sufficiently wind-racked and rain sodden night, just as their small dinner party is coming to an end, a carriage comes careering up the drive, and out falls a dishevelled and frantic Lydia. She bursts into the hall and cries that Wickham, the no-good cad we all loved to hate, has been murdered! The men-folk hurry into the woodlands and discover him, drunk and bloodied, leaning over the corpse of another man…

            And so the premise begins for a fabulous murder mystery in which debts are discovered, ill-doings come to light, and each of our adored characters has suspicion thrown on them as we try to figure out how Wickham got himself into this sticky situation.

            Similarly, Anthony Horowitz has taken it upon himself to follow in the footsteps of Arthur Conan Doyle in his new book 'The House of Silk' – no small enterprise. And yet this is the first sequel to be endorsed by the Conan Doyle estate, and the cover proudly declares it is the ‘new Sherlock Holmes novel’. Watson is our ever-romanticising narrator, and the skill and wit with which Holmes deduces his crimes has, assumedly, lost none of their ingenuity. We meet the mystery-solving duo in Holmes’ study in a situation I already feel comfortable with – feet by a roaring fire, spooning lavender cream onto their scones, sipping tea – and Holmes immediately showcases his power for intellectual deductions. Before long a gravely ill man is knocking on the door of 221B Baker Street, needing assistance…

            Horowitz has, like James, adopted the original author’s famous style, and makes no excuses for the flickering gas-lamps, the echoing footsteps, and the return to our favourite characters that have always stayed on just-the-right-side of cliché. This is no Guy Ritchie adaptation. Neither is it, like James’ work, a hybrid of two alternative styles. Horowitz has written this because he loves the era, the author, and the atmosphere, and wants to extend this enjoyment of reading for others. Also, it must be so tempting for a novelist to take something they admire and gleefully turn it over in their own hands, moulding it slightly, getting to play with the characters they must wish they had created.

So is it a good idea to take an established and beloved idea and try to form your own story from it? Readers tend to approach these releases with either understandable trepidation (will their favourite characters be turned into pastiches; will the falsely adopted style seem overdone) or will they feel excitement and delight at the opportunity to read something fresh that is still a loving homage to their favourite authors? It must be a struggle for any writer trying to take the reins, and yet can it also be seen as a ‘cop out’? Are they just using established popularity to guarantee a hit without doing any of the difficult ground-work?

Horowitz has still had to come up with a thrilling plot that showcases all of Holmes’ detective prowess. If The House of Silk was any less detailed and ingenious than Doyle’s originals then it would have utterly failed. So perhaps there is a kind of humbleness in sharing the kudos? And it is so interesting to approach writing techniques that were ultimately employed over a hundred years ago, and luxuriate in the unashamed period style. Sometimes it’s nice to not be modern; to shy away from those books that comment on society and the world’s problems. After reading the first chapter of The House of Silk, I think what Horowitz has ultimately created is a rollicking, fun adventure that happily once-more brings to life one of literature’s adored heroes.

            Of course, PD James has a plethora of best-sellers which feature her detective-poet Adam Dalgliesh, and in a recent interview said that her own feelings towards sequels were ambivalent, since much of the pleasure of writing comes from creating characters and situations that one constructs oneself. And yet she has taken up Austen’s mantle with what seems a deft hand. I have read the first chapter, in which she gives a brief overview of Pride and Prejudice, and details exactly where each character finds themselves at her novels opening. So far the style is pitch-perfect, written with just enough admiring good-humour that it manages to update the prose without making it seem a dragging follow-up. She says that one of her favourite parts about writing the book was revisiting Pemberley and the great cast of Bennets, Bingleys and Darcys that have withstood the test of time.

            Personally I cannot wait to read Death Comes to Pemberley. I think, strangely enough, that the authors could combine to make something really fantastically readable. After all, you could hardly find two more different styles – one is seeped in romance and the trials of finding a husband, while the other is seeped in bloody murder and the kind of trials that take place in a courtroom. And yet both tip a nod to psychology, and this is where it gets interesting –digging deeper into the characters we loved from Pride and Prejudice, and combining the two juxtaposing styles so that they compliment each other in all the right places. I just hope she doesn’t try to immerse us too much into the mind-sets of the characters that we will, quite frankly, have already formed opinions about. This is perhaps the danger she faces. A fantastic murder mystery, with twists, turns and ingenious clues, set in the beloved regency setting of the Darcy’s manor and written with all the wit, warmth and humour of Austen is ultimately what I’m crossing my fingers for when I start this novel next week – quite a tall order, actually.

I’d be really interested to see what other people think; those who have read these new books, those who (like me) have an eye to doing so, and those who are completely against it. Feel free to come into the shop and have a chat, or write a comment on our facebook discussion here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mr-Bs-Emporium-of-Reading-Delights/14875640050