Tag: harriet vane

Episode 13: STRONG POISON, part 4

~ Sharon

In which Charis and Sharon conclude their discussion of STRONG POISON. We follow Miss Climpson as she has an encounter with Spiritualism, Miss Murchison as she snoops, and give away the whodunnit and howdunnit. We also talk about narrative echoes to previous Wimsey mysteries, such as Mrs. Wrayburn in relation to the other elderly women in UNNATURAL DEATH and THE UNPLEASANTNESS AT THE BELLONA CLUB. And we consider the callbacks to the scene in WHOSE BODY? where Peter solves the case.

Download the episode 13 transcript!

Shownotes:

  • We bring up TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG by Connie Willis, which we both love so much, again in our discussion about Miss Climpson’s fake seance.
  • W.B. Yeats’ interest in Occultism is well-documented in his own writing and biographies about him.
  • For more on the Fox Sisters, see this article from The Smithsonian.
  • Charis brings up LEVERAGE, her favorite tv show.
  • “You’ve been Dread Pirate Robertsing it”; Sharon is referring to a pivotal plot revelation in THE PRINCESS BRIDE.
  • We both talk about our distaste for Turkish Delight, despite early reading of THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE convincing us it would be delightful.
  • The anecdote about Anne Shirley expecting diamonds to look like amethysts is from ANNE OF GREEN GABLES.
  • King Cophetua; Harriet’s friends are referring to a ballad in which a king falls in love on first sight with a beggar maid and proposes marriage.

Episode 12: STRONG POISON, part 3

~ Sharon

In this third of four episodes on STRONG POISON, we start discussing the second half of the book. We talk about the very uncomfortable Christmas Peter spends at Dukes Denver. We also consider detective fiction as “the purest literature we have” and how STRONG POISON marks a turn in Sayers’ style. Sharon finally learns how to pronounce Norman Urquhart’s name, the book catches us up on several characters’ love lives, and we see how a Cattery operative works. Also: more plot!

Download the episode 12 transcript!

Shownotes:

  • We talk about contemporary mystery writer Tana French as an inheritor of Sayers’ style of character portraiture.
  • THE SECRET HISTORY is by Donna Tartt, and we both highly recommend it.
  • Charis paraphrases JRR Tolkien’s comments on Sayers from a 1944 letter to his son, in which he actually wrote “I could not stand Gaudy Night. I followed P. Wimsey from his attractive beginnings so far, by which time I conceived a loathing of him (and his creatrix) not surpassed by any other character in literature known to me, unless by his Harriet.” [Letter 71 from THE LETTERS OF JRR TOLKIEN, ed. by Humphrey Carpenter]
  • We reference the Bechdel test in our discussion of JRR Tolkien’s criticism of Sayers’ mysteries.
  • “I served seven years for Rachel”; this is a story from the Hebrew Bible that Freddie Arbuthnot cites to Lady Levy.
  • “The Adventurous Exploit of the Cave of Ali Baba” is from the short story collection LORD PETER VIEWS THE BODY, first published in 1928. In it, Peter fakes his own death in order to infiltrate a gang of criminals.

Episode 10: STRONG POISON, part 1

~ Sharon

In which Charis and Sharon finally (finally!) start discussing STRONG POISON, the fifth Lord Peter Wimsey mystery. We talk about the dramatic introduction of Harriet Vane, our love for the novel’s first few chapters, and the theme of the detective’s intuition. We also cover Parker’s promotion, Sayers’ desire to “Reichenbach” Peter, and the many callbacks this book has to previous mysteries in the series.

This will be the first of two episodes on the first half of STRONG POISON. We do not give away the whodunnit.

Download the episode transcript. (Prepared by Nia Greene)

Shownotes:

  • “Guinness is good for you” – Sayers penned the jingle for this famous advertisement. Learn more about the Guinness zoo ad campaign here.
  • ‘Gaudy Night‘ by Dorothy L. Sayers – this essay was collected in Howard Haycraft’s THE ART OF THE MYSTERY STORY (1946), and can be found online here
  • “Reichenbaching” is a reference to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘The Final Problem’
  • If you or someone you know experiences suicidal thoughts, as Peter Wimsey does, you are not alone–in the US, you can speak to someone at suicidepreventionlifeline.org by calling 1-800-273-8255, or you can reach out via text to www.crisistextline.org by texting ‘home’ to 85258 in the UK, or 686868 in Canada.