Published in between: February 10 2009 and January 29 2013
By: Doubleday Canada
Average number of pages per book: 370
Reading attempt: 1 for each book
Average reading time per book: 4-5 days
Average rating: «««« ½
Advice: Try it you’ll like it
The context
Have you ever
experienced a complete lack of interest or trepidation while reading a certain
novel and wish you were reading something else?
Well, as a compulsive reader, I have to admit that this is no foreign
concept to me.
As a matter
of fact, had I not felt complete indifference towards the book I was attempting
to read last November, I may have never stumble upon these gems.
What
attracted me at first was the bright cover jacket; then it was the strange
titles. But it’s finally the synopsis of
“The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie” that made up my mind.
After all,
who would not be intrigued by the idea of an eleven-year-old girl, who fancies
chemistry and more specifically poison, and whose world changes the day she
comes face to face with a dying man in her cucumber patch?
The story and characters
In his
series of novels, Alan Bradley depicts the life of an aristocratic family on
the verge of bankruptcy living in rural England in the 1950’s. Now as you may imagine, this is only the tip
of the iceberg.
The story
is set in Bishop’s Lacey a small village in rural England in proximity to
Buckshaw Manor, where our main character, Flavia Sabina de Luce, lives.
Now Flavia
is not exactly what you would call your typical eleven-year-old. She is actually a happy medium between
·
Sherlock
Holmes (for her analytical mind and her passion for chemistry)
·
Nancy
Drew (for her strong penchant for solving crime even when, according to the
police, she’s not welcomed)
·
Pippi
Longstocking (for naming her bike “Gladys” and always tearing up her clothes to
the great damn of her father) and
·
Wednesday
from the Addams Family (for her Machiavellian ideas to get back at her two
despicable sisters, Feely and Daffy, through poison).
Among the
other characters of the household are:
·
Flavia’s
father, Colonel Haviland de Luce, grief-stricken by the death of his wife,
Harriet de Luce, over 10 years ago and whose sole source of comfort is his
extended collection of postage stamps.
·
Flavia’s
oldest sister, Ophelia de Luce (aka Feely); a narcissist who enjoys playing the
piano, torturing Flavia through physical and mental ways aided by Daffy, and who,
most of all, likes stringing along her numerous beaus.
·
Flavia’s
other sister, Daphne de Luce (aka Daffy); the bookworm who doesn’t miss any
occasion to show off her extended knowledge to Flavia ... just as long as there
is something in it for her.
·
Mrs.
Mullet (aka Mrs. M), the cook and house lady, whose cooking should always be
ingested alongside antacids and who loves gossiping above all else. In a way, she is the Mrs. Hudson to the
Flavia de Luce’s novels.
·
Dogger,
the manor’s handyman, who since he was tortured during WWII hasn’t been exactly
the same and is prone to “fits”. But mostly he is the equivalent of Sherlock
Holmes’s Doctor Watson to Flavia, as he always seems to be prepared should she
need help and even at times one step ahead of her.
·
Inspector
Hewitt, the lead investigator on every crime Flavia investigates
informally. More brilliant than Holmes’s
Inspector Lestrade, he always lets out a sigh of exasperation when Flavia’s
undesired involvement into his inquiries comes to light. And yet, he seems to rather enjoy her company
and her insights.
As for the
mystery part, through the 5 novels, Flavia will face
1)
the
murder of one her father’s old schoolmate,
2)
the
accidental “hanging” of a puppeteer during one of his shows,
3)
the
assault of a fortune-teller and the murder of a common thief,
4)
the
brutal assassination of a famous movie star and
5)
the
death of the church organist, the opening of a patron saint’s tomb and the
legend of a once famous jewel.
The common review
The secret
of Alan Bradley’s success is that just like a good wine, he gets better and
better over time at getting us completely committed to his story: the mysteries
he builds keep getting deeper, more refine and more complex. But his main achievement lies not entirely
within the plot itself, but more in how he treats his characters and the way
they deal with everyday live and its anxieties.
Flavia’s
character is especially well constructed.
Her fears and cries regarding the statement that she is “not her mother’s
daughter” as her sisters keep saying to torture her, feel incredibly real. You can also feel her malice as she concocts
poisons, picks locks, and crosses fields on her faithful “Gladys” You can
almost grasp it as she spies on her family member’s every move in order to
exonerate or charge them with murder.
I also
rather enjoyed Dogger’s character as you can feel his distress while he
attempts to control the occurrence of his “fits”. The quiet reserve he shows
towards Flavia’s endeavors and her false excuses/justifications and pretenses
is quite touching and is probably part of the reason why she lets him in on her
thoughts and theories. He is to her an
ally as he tries to remain unbiased, does not seem to approve or disapprove of
her enterprises and show no judgment either good or bad regarding her
unofficial involvement. He remains
simply present should our heroine need a hand or a quiet listener.
Moreover, as
the series has progressed, Bradley always takes things a step further every
time, giving the lives of the de Luces household more depth. As a result, Colonel de Luce, although
typically British in his demeanor, allows himself some small displays of
affection towards Falvia in her times of need; Feely finally has one’s heart
set on one of her suitors and Inspector Hewitt, who even though he still shows
signs of exasperation at Flavia’s unwanted participation, tends to resign
himself to it... just as he tends to resign himself to the fact that Flavia
always seems to stumble upon the corpse firsthand, compromising all his crime
scenes.
In the end,
every one of his books can stand alone on his own. But when you read them chronologically, you
are under the impression that the characters and their stories are perpetually
moving forward in time, growing a little with each page of each book; and this
notwithstanding the fact that each book ends with the solving of its crime and
the unraveling of its intrigue.
Well not
every book per say should you consider the last sentence of the fifth book... Intrigued are you. Although I am not a fan of the “spoiler alert”,
I do believe I can point out without unveiling any details, that the next installment
is already highly anticipated J
As always,
keep reading all of you bookworms and book lovers out there. As for myself, I
will return to The Casual Vacancy. So, until next time...
Ladybug
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