Winspear, Jacqueline: An Incomplete Revenge


Book excerpt: In her fifth outing, Maisie Dobbs, the extraordinary psychologist and investigator, delves into a strange series of crimes in a small rural community.

With the country in the grip of economic malaise, and worried about her business, Maisie Dobbs is relieved to accept an apparently straightforward assignment from an old friend to investigate certain matters concerning a potential land purchase. Her inquiries take her to a picturesque village in Kent during the hop-picking season, but beneath its pastoral surface she finds evidence that something is amiss. Mysterious fires erupt in the village with alarming regularity, and a series of petty crimes suggests a darker criminal element at work. As Maisie discovers, the villagers are bitterly prejudiced against outsiders who flock to Kent at harvesttime--even more troubling, they seem possessed by the legacy of a wartime Zeppelin raid. Maisie grows increasingly suspicious of a peculiar secrecy that shrouds the village, and ultimately she must draw on all her finely honed skills of detection to solve one of her most intriguing cases.

Rich with Jacqueline Winspear's trademark period detail, this latest installment of the bestselling series is gripping, atmospheric, and utterly enthralling.

This is definitely my favorite so far of the series. Especially considering I found the last one to be most depressing. Hope seems to be returning to Maisie's world, despite her suffering one more loss in this book. And the portent of WWII looms in the not so distant future.

Winspear's books are very much a recommended read, and as I have now caught up with the books so far published, I shall sit here and sulk until another comes out...

For those who know a little as I do about the Depression era in the UK as compared to the US, this would help realize the helplessness and hopelessness and despair of the time.

Here is a passage that I found rather moving:


Quote:
'"In some ways, Maisie, similar work has engaged us of late. We --- my contacts overseas and my colleagues in London --- are most concerned with a growing frustration on the other side of the Channel. The depression we find ourselves in here, and which is causing havoc in America, is allowing people to give weight to that which divides them, rather than to the shared experiences and elements of connection they see mirrored in their fellow man. There are those in Germany who would use discrimination to elevate their politics, which gives us cause for disquiet. And on the continent in Spain, inequities threaten to become incendiary. There are many people, Maisie --- and I confess, I am among their number --- who believe our peace to be only so resilient and who fear another war."
"I pray it doesn't come to that, Maurice."
"Yes, pray, Maisie. Do pray."
And as her beloved mentor regarded the vista before him, his hands clenched on the arms of his chair, Maisie reached across and placed her hand on his.'



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Winspear, Jacqueline: Pardonable Lies

Book cover excerpt:

In the third novel of this bestselling series, London investigator Maisie Dobbs faces grave danger as she returns to the site of her most painful memories from the Great War to resolve the mystery surrounding a pilot's death.

Agatha Christie's Miss Marple. Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone. Alexander McCall Smith's Precious Ramotswe. Every once in a while, a detective bursts on the scene who captures readers' imaginations---and hearts---and doesn't let go. And so it was with Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs, who made her debut just three years ago in the eponymous first book of her series and is already on her way to becoming a household name.

In the third novel of this unique and masterly crime series, a deathbed plea from his wife leads Sir Cecil Lawton to seek the aid of Maisie Dobbs, psychologist and investigator. As Maisie soon learns, Agnes Lawton never accepted that her aviator son was killed in the Great War, a torment that led her not only to the edge of madness but also to the doors of those who practice the dark arts and commune with the spirit world.

Maisie accepts the assignment--determined to prove Ralph Lawton either dead or alive--and in doing so is plunged into a case that tests her spiritual strength, as well as her regard for her mentor, Maurice Blanche. The mission also brings her together once again with her college friend Priscilla Evernden, who served in France and who lost three brothers to the war--one of whom, it turns out, had an intriguing connection to the missing Ralph Lawton.

Following on the heels of the triumphant Birds of a Feather, Pardonable Lies is the most compelling installment yet in the chronicles of Maisie Dobbs, "a heroine to cherish" (Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review).

I continue to love this series, but this one is a most troubling installment. Maisie goes thru a "dark night of the soul" that threatens her stability. You travel with her through her roller coaster of a case. Actually, there are 3 cases, and somehow they all have a connection. But the devastation to Maisie herself is really what moves this installment. Her relationship with her late mother is dipped into a little bit more. The spirituality side of Maisie comes thru even more here, and is what helps her deal with her memories of the war, a betrayal of trust, and attempts on her life. Quite an emotional tale, this one.

I have a hard time reviewing these books without giving something away, which is why I include the book cover excerpts. Needless to say, I haven't been disappointed by this series yet, and truly doubt I will be.

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Winspear, Jacqueline: Birds of a Feather

Book cover detail:

Jacqueline Winspear's marvelous and inspired debut, Maisie Dobbs, won her fans from coast to coast and raised her intuitive and resourceful heroine to the ranks of literature's favorite sleuths. Birds of a Feather finds Maisie on another dangerously intriguing adventure in London between the wars. It is the spring of 1930, and Maisie has been hired to find a runaway heiress. When three of the heiress's old friends are found dead, Maisie must race to find out who would want to kill these seemingly respectable young women before it's too late. As Maisie investigates she discovers that the answers lie in the unforgettable agony of the Great War.

This book is as good as the first, and lends even more insight into the world of the time and life after WWI. Details of the times that I first learned about in one of Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody books. To reveal it here would be to give away an important plot detail in the book, so read it and find out.

Jacqueline Winspear is rapidly joining the ranks of my favorite authors. I enjoy a good read that requires me to pay attention to even some of the smallest details. She delves into a spiritual level of investigation that insists that we each take stock in our own intuition and instincts. That to deny them or to push them aside as not worthy or notice is to deny part of ourselves, and part of our inherent warning system. Maisie Dobbs is a character that prompts us to use more of our "brain power", our intellect, our observations, our gut urges, etc. Brava!

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Winspear, Jacqueline: Maisie Dobbs

From book cover:

She started as a maid in an aristocratic London household when she was thirteen. Her employer, Lady Rowan Compton, a suffragette, took the remarkably bright youngster under her wing and became her patron, aided by Maurice Blanche, a friend often retained as an investigator by the elite of Europe. It was he who first recognized Maisie's intuitive gifts and helped her to earn admission to prestigious Girton College at Cambridge where Maisie planned to complete her education.

The outbreak of war changed everything. Maisie trained as a nurse, then left for France to serve at the Front, where she found---and lost---an important part of herself.

Ten years after the Armistice, in the spring of 1929, Maisie sets up on her own as a private investigator, one who has learned that coincidences are meaningful, and truth elusive. Her very first case involves suspected infidelity but reveals something very different. In the aftermath of the Great War, a former officer has founded a convalescent refuge for those grievously wounded, ex-soldiers too shattered to resume normal life. It is a working farm known as The Retreat. When fate brings Maisie a second case involving The Retreat she must confront the ghost that has haunted her for ten years.

I was charmed and very moved by this book. The empathy and insight of the title character, Maisie Dobbs, is a delight to read. She sounds like a person everyone should be blessed to have in their life. And to read her backstory, it is touching and heartbreaking. And she uses her insight to aid her client(s).

Her first client is a gentleman who suspects his wife of infidelity. Maisie makes sure that she finds out what he intends to do with the information, and how he would react if it were proven true. She is an ethical person, who wants to make sure that nothing untoward and "evil" will come of her investigation. The story then spins into another case. The whole book is truly a joy to read and I cannot recommend it enough!

'Very excitable virgins' dominate town

"Cranford" about a 19th-century British town and its spinster gossips
Film, airing on PBS Sunday, stars Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton
Show was huge hit in UK when it aired last year

LONDON, England (AP) -- "Cranford" doesn't follow the trend to sex-up TV adaptations of British classics, and the screenwriter is proud of it.

"There is no sex," laughs Heidi Thomas, who adapted Elizabeth Gaskell's witty and astute observations of mid-19th century village life in Northern England, where a group of spinsters dominate social mores. "You are dealing with a lot of very excitable virgins, and that to me is so much more delicious than sexing it up."

The cast concurs.

"If it's not there, you don't think about it," says Imelda Staunton, who plays Miss Pole, the most nosey and gossipy of the group.

"I think it can be sexy if it's suggestion -- touching hands can be erotic," observes Judi Dench, a teasing sparkle in her eyes. She plays Miss Matty Jenkyns, who's at the heart of the story, her chance at marriage denied by prudence, duty and fate.

Both diminutive but commanding, Dench and Staunton were seated side by side at a press appearance. With a few sidelong glances and an occasional chuckle -- but mainly with unfussy common sense -- they mused on an era where the cut of a bonnet denoted status, and feelings were buried deep beneath propriety and etiquette.

The three-part miniseries, on PBS Sunday at 9 p.m. EDT (check local listings), first aired on the BBC last year. The British media had expected the adaptation to be just another in a long line of period dramas. But the production went on to garner critical acclaim and strong ratings, prompting plans for a two-part sequel next year.

Dench feels the British audiences responded "to the sense of community" depicted in the sweetly sad and quaintly funny story of everyday life and eternal values. "Despite everyone knowing everyone's business, in a nosey way, nevertheless it's about being there for each other," she said in a later phone interview.

At one point, the project was deemed too expensive to film -- and ultimately, fewer episodes were made than originally planned.

Dench's involvement was always paramount. Luckily, when filming finally began last year, she was still available, despite her high-profile, international career, which includes her recurring role as M in the James Bond movies.

"I had read 'Cranford' at school, but I hadn't remembered much about it," says the 73-year-old Academy Award-winning actress. She reread the book and immediately recognized the quality of Thomas' adaptation. "You know straight away -- when you read something and you can hear how you are going to say the words. The whole situation and the characters just jumped off the page. The adaptation was very, very true."

She particularly likes that, although Miss Matty's joys and sorrows lie at the core of the adaptation, it's an ensemble piece. "Everyone gets a turn, and a very good turn, a very good go," she says.

The cast also features Eileen Atkins, who plays Miss Deborah Jenkyns, Miss Matty's firm but fair-minded sister; Michael Gambon as Thomas Holbrook, Miss Matty's one-time suitor; and Philip Glenister as Mr. Carter, a modern-minded land agent

Additionally, Francesca Annis portrays Lady Ludlow, the local landowner trying to cling to a heritage threatened by the rise of the Industrial Revolution and the coming of the railway. And Simon Woods proves that while the series may not depict anything blatantly sexy, it certainly offers up a handsome romantic hero. His character is Dr. Frank Harrison, whose arrival causes hearts to flutter.

The town of Knutsford, Cheshire, which Gaskell fictionalized for her story, proved to be too altered by time, so the historically preserved village of Lacock in Wilshire provided the main location.

Dench says that the Victorian costumes were a huge asset in dictating the way the actors portrayed the manners and mannerisms of the Cranford folk. "If you put on those clothes you can't slouch in a chair, you have to sit on the edge," she says. "The costume entirely informs -- the minute you put it on all the other bits fall into place."

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.



Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/TV/05/01/apontv.cranford.ap/index.html