|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
CITY AND SHORE is subtitled The Function of Setting in the British Mystery. The author tries to show how the setting is an element that carries the story along. She uses 18 novels set in London and 15 novels set by the sea . The seaside venues range from Norfolk and Suffolk through Brighton and the South Downs, the Scottish and Welsh coasts, Dorset, and miscellaneous venues on the east, south and west coasts. Books from 1901 to 1995 are included in the survey. A mystery, or crime story consists of detection plus horror, as started by Edgar Allan Poe in the mid 19th century. In the 20th century, we meet Baroness Orczy's OLD MAN IN THE CORNER in stories written from 1901 to 1905. The old man is what has become known as an armchair detective. He relates his tales to a young female journalist over cups of tea as they sit in a Lyons Corner House. The streets and public and private spaces of London, as well as its alleys suggest deception. Watch out for a disguised person or one barely seen in the fog . . . he'll be a wrong 'un. The body is secreted, perhaps in a wood or a park. Then the criminal establishes an alibi by going to a public space, such as a railway station, in order to be seen by others. Patrick Hamilton in HANGOVER SQUARE uses both city and shore locations to show the schizophrenia of his lead character. In THE MINISTRY OF FEAR, Graham Greene uses the blackouts during World War II, to further isolate the protagonist. Marjorie Allingham uses "patterns of dark and light: to represent themes of confusion and illumination." The themes carry on into the seaside stories, the shore representing winds of change, with cliffs always designating danger. The author examines each of the books analyzed by retelling the whole story. It is an interesting kind of literary criticism, but unless you have read all the works described or do not plan to do so, it is best avoided since there are spoiler in all 33 entries. There is also an extensive bibliography and index, as well as the introduction and conclusion.
Reviewed by Barbara Franchi, November 2004
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
