Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Novels of mistaken identity, sort of
My beach book this past weekend was a softcover reprint of Josephine Tey's mystery Brat Farrar, which I'd never read before. I couldn't put it down. It is now added to the short list of books I love in which twins impersonate each other, or lookalikes impersonate someone unknown to them, as part of some nefarious plan. Right up until the end of Brat Farrar, I wasn't quite sure if Brat really was an impersonator or not (and I'm not telling). That, Brat's innate goodness and desire for retribution against the true villain of the tale, and the neatly-constructed plot, kept me turning pages quickly. It reminded me in many ways of an almost-gothic novel from the sixties, I think, by Mary Stewart: The Ivy Tree, in which a young woman is hired by a no-good handsome farmhand to impersonate the lost prodigal daughter, who was apparently her double. Both novels also feature horses in the English countryside as key points in the plots. The Ivy Tree is also a page-turner and is one of my beach books from my mother's bookshelf. I first read it when I was around sixteen. Even though I know how it ends, Stewart's writing is a pleasure to re-read. Others come to mind: The Prince and the Pauper, by Mark Twain, the twins and mistaken identities in the plays of Shakespeare (particularly in Twelfth Night, the twins Viola and Sebastian), and another Mary Stewart novel, Touch Not the Cat, which features a set of possibly psychic and possibly wicked twins, but the reader doesn't know if they are heroes or villains until the final chapters. I don't usually read mysteries, but I'd always heard good things about Brat Farrar, so when a copy turned up at one of the recent book sales, that tipped the scales and I grabbed it as I was leaving the shop. Glad I did. Anyone have other mistaken identity tales? I know I'm missing one more, but I can't think of it.
I've been sorting books for two days now, and am almost finished. Three boxes to go, but I'm not going to get to them today, I've got other chores to do before I head out tonight. Whew. Teetering stacks all around me of the books I haven't shelved yet. If they fall over and crush me, I wish you all the best, dear readers. Please don't think of me with sympathy, I brought it on myself, you know.
I've been sorting books for two days now, and am almost finished. Three boxes to go, but I'm not going to get to them today, I've got other chores to do before I head out tonight. Whew. Teetering stacks all around me of the books I haven't shelved yet. If they fall over and crush me, I wish you all the best, dear readers. Please don't think of me with sympathy, I brought it on myself, you know.
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Hint: "it is a far, far better thing I do, than I have ever done"...
though I can't say I've ever read that book all the way through. I've seen various movie adaptations of it... does that count?
Thanks for the information on the "twin" good reads. I look forward to reading them!
- Vicki
though I can't say I've ever read that book all the way through. I've seen various movie adaptations of it... does that count?
Thanks for the information on the "twin" good reads. I look forward to reading them!
- Vicki
# posted by 
: 9:52 PM
: 9:52 PM
The Talented Mr. Ripley is a great twisted twin story(and the movie with Matt Damon was actually good,too!)and just recently,Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris falls into this catagory.
G&P particularly surpised me,since Harris isn't really known for mystery/suspense stories(her biggest book was Chocolat).
G&P particularly surpised me,since Harris isn't really known for mystery/suspense stories(her biggest book was Chocolat).
I too love Brat Farrar, as well as Tey's The Singing Sands. No twins, but a subtle, classy mystery.
# posted by : 1:42 PM
: 1:42 PM
Dickens, of course, of course!! I read that so long ago I think I've completely forgotten the plot, horrors!
I read "Chocolat" and was not wowed, but I was entertained, which is almost as good. Will look for G & P, thanks Lady T. Haven't read the Highsmith book either, but I've always heard good things about it: the terrible villain you can't help but root for.
I think I read "The Singing Sands" when I was a teenager, but I'd forgotten it was also her book. My memory is dreadful, see above. I'll seek it out!
A few others: two of the romances of Georgette Heyer, in which characters cavort in Shakespeare-esqe plots involving disguise. A Jacobite sister and brother exchange costumes in "The Masqueraders" and a brother is forced to take the place of his missing twin in "False Colours." These are two of my favorite Heyers - suspenseful, with tidy plot twists and good dialogue.
I read "Chocolat" and was not wowed, but I was entertained, which is almost as good. Will look for G & P, thanks Lady T. Haven't read the Highsmith book either, but I've always heard good things about it: the terrible villain you can't help but root for.
I think I read "The Singing Sands" when I was a teenager, but I'd forgotten it was also her book. My memory is dreadful, see above. I'll seek it out!
A few others: two of the romances of Georgette Heyer, in which characters cavort in Shakespeare-esqe plots involving disguise. A Jacobite sister and brother exchange costumes in "The Masqueraders" and a brother is forced to take the place of his missing twin in "False Colours." These are two of my favorite Heyers - suspenseful, with tidy plot twists and good dialogue.
Wandered over from Miss Snark...because you said you'd blogged about Mary Stewart. The Ivy Tree is one of my all-time favorites (though I love them all and reread the whole collection periodically). Every time I read it, I hope this time they can find the happy ending without the traumatic invening events.
# posted by : 12:57 AM
: 12:57 AM
Thanks for coming by, Katrina - all hail Miss Snark!
My other favorite Mary Stewart novel (I have many, it seems) is "Touch Not the Cat" - the way she blends the old tale of Wicked Nick with the modern suspense story... what a writer. Of course this book also features old books (and one particular book, and even an antiquarian bookseller) as critical plot devices. What more could we ask for.
My other favorite Mary Stewart novel (I have many, it seems) is "Touch Not the Cat" - the way she blends the old tale of Wicked Nick with the modern suspense story... what a writer. Of course this book also features old books (and one particular book, and even an antiquarian bookseller) as critical plot devices. What more could we ask for.
All hail Miss Snark, indeed!
Another one I love love love is This Rough Magic. I shiver every time I read "This rough magic, I here abjure..." because I hear it in the voice of Mary Stewart's amazing, aging-Shakespearean actor.
I learned to love Shakespeare because of that book. I had Julius Caesar crammed so inelegantly down my throat in high school that I refused to try old Will again, but I would read This Rough Magic and think I must be missing something. I finally got the courage to try again and fell in love.
So, yeah. I owe Mary Stewart a lot.
Another one I love love love is This Rough Magic. I shiver every time I read "This rough magic, I here abjure..." because I hear it in the voice of Mary Stewart's amazing, aging-Shakespearean actor.
I learned to love Shakespeare because of that book. I had Julius Caesar crammed so inelegantly down my throat in high school that I refused to try old Will again, but I would read This Rough Magic and think I must be missing something. I finally got the courage to try again and fell in love.
So, yeah. I owe Mary Stewart a lot.
# posted by : 8:59 PM
: 8:59 PM
"The Tempest" is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays - and I love the way Stewart weaves its plot through her novel. Stewart is one of those well-educated British women who wrote fiction so well while pursuing their scholarly interests at the same time, I think of Dorothy Sayers, Agatha Christie, Elizabeth Goudge, Ellis Peters, who else... some of whom were classicists and translators who knew several languages, and this shines through in their fiction. Stewart is so... so LITERARY and BOOKISH yet her heroines have romantic and suspenseful adventures. Best of both worlds.
The Tempest is my favorite, and I know This Rough Magic is one of the reasons. I've spent countless hours thinking about whether or not it could be a true story and where it might have taken place.
And yes. She definitely was a gifted woman, a woman of power, but of grace and elegance too. I wanted to be just like her.
(I say was, but I wonder...is she still alive?)
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And yes. She definitely was a gifted woman, a woman of power, but of grace and elegance too. I wanted to be just like her.
(I say was, but I wonder...is she still alive?)
# posted by : 10:21 AM
: 10:21 AM << Home
