The Book Season
Mon., April 14, 11:59 AM
At our house we’re never at a loss for reading material. If there are no new books coming in, there are older ones we meant to read before as well as some we’re happy to read a second or third time. E.M. Forster and Jane Austen were among the pieces I dipped into this winter.
But I really lucked out over the past couple of months. First, there was Anne Perry’s Seven Dials, the twenty-third Charlotte and Thomas Pitt novel. Most of the books in this series are named for the London neighborhoods where the murder takes place. Neighborhoods change or even disappear over the course of a generation or two, so even if you are familiar with London – I’ve only been there once – it’s difficult to center yourself geographically. On the other hand, Ms. Perry carefully connects her stories with historical events, so that the reader can focus on the time. Over the twenty years or so covered by these stories, not only have the characters aged, but there have also been technological advances that play a part in the plot. (Example: as a policeman, Thomas Pitt needs a telephone in his home!)
In this novel Pitt is sent to Egypt in the course of the investigation. Not depending on the reader’s prior knowledge, Ms. Perry explains the customs and mores of the 1890’s, including the prejudices that constrain a murder investigation. I love a story with a really intricate plot.
The second “gift of the season” is Children of the Storm, the fifteenth Amelia Peabody novel by Elizabeth Peters. Even though there is an explanatory introduction and more background within the story, I think readers who haven’t read at least a few of the earlier novels would miss a great deal. It must be nearly forty years – within the books – since the young Amelia and her friend Evelyn first met Radcliff and Walter Emerson, and their adventures are long and detailed. This book takes place after the end of World War I – Ms. Peters is also careful about connecting her plots to real historical events – with motorcars and aeroplanes. On the other hand, no telephones in Luxor because Egypt did not have a nationwide telephone system at that time.
The family is now living in Luxor, still excavating, and still getting involved with multiple intrigues. Little did I know, when I checked out those boring Egyptology books for other people in high school, that I would find myself interested in the subject as well.
There will be other odds and ends, and before I know it, the fifth Harry Potter novel will arrive, since I pre-ordered it several months ago. I re-read all four books last year, and I get the impression that, when the seventh book is published, it will be more than a thousand pages and you will be able to understand it without reading the previous six. But what a wealth of adventure you would miss!
Meanwhile, congratulations to J.K. Rowling on the new baby.
Even stuck in the house, I get to travel the world in space and time. How wonderful reading is!
