Reading/Watching Log
In the reading/watching log for this week, we have some very nice pictures from The Musketeers, a handful of YA fantasy books, and The Mousetrap...again (absolutely NO SPOILERS).
First of all, here’s our first look at the up-coming The Musketeers starring Tom Burke (Athos), Howard Charles (Porthos), Luke Pasqualino (D’Artagnan) and Santiago Cabrera (Aramis).
Now, I hope that my track record on this LJ is enough to convince you that I don’t do a lot of flailing and crying and hair-pulling at the attractiveness of certain actors. But in this case...
Oh my God, this man is gorgeous.
I haven’t read Alexander Dumas’s original novel, just watched several (not very good) film and television adaptations, but I’ll be on the lookout for this one. Perhaps by the time it’s available, I’ll have been able to track down the book as well. Hopefully some pictures of the women will emerge soon, as I’m interested in what their costumes will look like, not to mention the fact that Emily Beecham is in this as well (a.k.a. the back-flipping Druid girl from Merlin who clocked in about twelve seconds of screen-time in The Witch’s Quickening but was still super-awesome).
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Reading this, there’s no doubt in my mind that DWJ was a HUGE inspiration for JK Rowling - there’s just something about her puzzle-box plots, her whimsical treatment of magic, the meaningful names and the sheer Englishness of her body of work that reads exactly like a prototype of Harry Potter.
Howl’s Moving Castle is perhaps the most well-known of Diana Wynne Jones's extensive body of work (and not just because of the Hayao Miyazaki film), the idea of which she credits to a little boy who spoke to her during a school visit, suggesting that she write a story about a magical, moving castle. Who he was and where he is now is a complete mystery, but she quite touchingly dedicates the book to her brief muse, who may well not even remember or be aware of what he inspired.
In a sendup of the usual fairytale formula, Sophie Hatter is the eldest of three daughters, and so well aware that she's destined to have no adventures whatsoever in her life - especially with two younger, prettier sisters. Still, she's resigned to working in her late father's hat shop until the day the notorious Witch of the Waste enters and turns her into an old woman. Sophie has no idea why this has been done to her or how she can possibly break the spell, but she takes to the road before anyone sees what’s become of her.
But ironically, her transformation gives Sophie a new lease on life, finding that as an old woman she’s lost most of her inhibitions and so has no problem whatsoever in seeking out the wizard Howl in the hopes of getting cured. This is despite the fact that Howl is renowned for seducing young girls and stealing their hearts; that he's the wizard who lives in the titular Moving Castle that roams the countryside and terrorizes the population. Yet once there, Sophie sets herself up as his cleaning lady and makes a deal with the fire demon that lives in his fireplace: if she can help break his mysterious contract with the wizard, he’ll break the spell that’s been placed over her.
Why You Should Read This: Read the first sentence of that previous paragraph again, for it’s there that DWJ’s true genius lies. There are probably thousands of fairytales out there that deal with young women who are enchanted into old ladies, but how many authors actually explore what effect this might have on their psyches? How many describe in vivid detail how difficult it is to cope with an aged body, complete with aches and pains and heart murmurs? This is examining the consequences of magic from the inside out, and DWJ is nuanced enough to portray Sophie’s transformation into an old woman as a good thing for her self-esteem whilst simultaneously being very bad for her life expectancy.
DWJ’s other gift is in how she manages to make magic feel so domestic, and by doing so somehow rendering it even more powerful and mysterious. Whether it be Calcifer the fire demon nestling in the fireplace or Howl turning his home into a flower shop with little more than a flick of his wrist, everything weird and wonderful is treated so casually (almost flippantly) by the narrative that the perspective flips on itself, making it all seem even more exhilarating and potent to the reader. Again, the inevitable comparison is with Harry Potter, in which nearly every spell and charm is met with awe and excitement.
The two women certainly share the same sense of humour, but if anything, DWJ is even more droll, even more witty. In fact, there is a deftness to DWJ’s writing style that Rowling lacks; a sense of having a clear sense of the story she wishes to tell and a straightforward, no-nonsense manner in which she tells it. This is one of those rare books (usually reserved for adult novels) that I can read for the third, fourth, fifth time and still pick up on some new detail that I'd previously missed, or find myself laughing at a gag I’ve read a dozen times before.
Like Rowling, DWJ’s stories are intricately plotted, in this case with Sophie being witness to several events that don't have their full meaning explained until much later. The identities of several characters remain concealed, or even divided up between various entities for much of the book's duration, and the motivations of the book's main players can be puzzlingly obscure. It's a tangled web that takes some discernment (or perhaps a second read) to fully grasp, especially given the rather hurried wrap-up, but it makes for a surprisingly complex storyline that demands your full attention. In fact, the next time I read Howl’s Moving Castle, I may decide to take notes so that I can write-up a timeline of what exactly was going on over the course of the story.
Sophie makes for an unorthodox heroine, not only in the enchantment that renders her an elderly woman, but in her practicality and dry wit. She makes a perfect foil for the flamboyant, dishonest, self-appreciative Howl, who tries to "slither out" of his predicaments rather than face them head-on. They’re both vividly realized, and DWJ is an expert in taking an impartial view of these people and their personalities, letting the reader judge for themselves what they're really like (in other words, she's a master of the "show, don't tell" rule).
Renewed interest in DWJ (and this book in particular) rose after the release of Studio Ghibli's adaptation of the story, which is currently available on DVD. Though I enjoyed the film, especially for its visual brilliance, it changes or omits several important elements of the storyline, leaving it rather convoluted as a result. It's better treated as supplemental material to the book than a straightforward adaption of it, but it's still very enjoyable in its own way.
The Lady Grace Mysteries: Assassin by Patricia Finney
First of all, I really dig the titles of these books. Each one is a single word and each title runs in alphabetical order; for instance, the first book in the series is Assassin, the second is Betrayal, the third is Conspiracy, the fourth Deception, and so on. Goodness knows what the author will do when she reaches the likes of X and W and Y, but for now, it’s a fun conceit.
Set in 16th century England, the stories centre around Lady Grace Cavendish, a thirteen year old Maid of Honour to Queen Elizabeth the First. Her mother died when she was young, having inadvertently prevented an assassination attempt on the Queen by eating a poisoned meal that was meant for Elizabeth. As such, Grace holds a special place in the Queen’s court, a position that she’s willing to exploit when it comes to solving mysteries.
The book is written as though it’s Grace’s daybook, with Grace herself giving a first-hand account of all her experiences. Novels-as-diaries, or even first-person narrative, isn’t one of my favourite formats for telling a story, as not only to you run the risk of making your protagonist feel immensely ego-centric (all those “I”s and “me”s) but they inevitably sap away some of the suspense - obviously whatever danger Grace finds herself in, she lives long enough to write it all down in her diary later.
But in this case, author Patricia Finney handles it well. Grace is a chatty and friendly young woman, managing to come across as a girl of her time-period, but with enough modern sensibilities that the reader can relate to her. Approaching her thirteenth birthday means she is nearly of marriageable age, and the Queen has chosen three suitors for her: young and handsome Lord Robert Radcliffe, old and amiable Sir Charles Amesbury, and arrogant but wealthy Sir Gerald Worthy. Grace is given the opportunity of choosing which of the three she prefers, with the Queen devising a test in which each one gives her an anonymous gift. Of these gifts, Grace is to select the one that she prefers, and the husband that goes with it.
She’s a little leery about this process, and would altogether rather be walking the Queen's dogs and spending time with her secret friends, the acrobat Masou and the laundry-maid Ellie, but a fiancé is duly selected.
Later that night one of her rejected suitors is found dead and another is thrown into prison on suspicion of murdering him. Certain that her fiancé is innocent, Grace seeks permission from the Queen to investigate the matter further. Along with Masou and Ellie, she begins to question witnesses, uncover clues, and discover truths not only about the murder, but all three of her suitors and their families.
Why You Should Read This Book: I actually grabbed my copy of Assassin at a library book sale, having seen copies of it on shelves here and there but never being inspired enough to actually pick it up. I’m well out of the age-range of the target audience, but as a casual reader, I enjoyed it. Finney cleverly incorporates many of the outdated beliefs and superstitions of the time (Grace suggests that they look at the murder victim's corpse in the hope that the murderer will be reflected in his eyes) with common sense and rudimentary science that helps Grace discover the real culprit behind the murder.
Furthermore, she captures the flavour of the Elizabethan era well in regards to the language, culture, beliefs and details of the period, scattering in plenty of historical trivia that adds to the richness of the reading experience. Yet though it’s a historical mystery, it also has something of a fairytale quality to it, what with Grace’s three suitors, her mother’s tragic death, and the cross-class friendships that she shares with Masou and Ellie. If you’re on the lookout for a decent book (strong heroine, informative content) to give to a girl (or boy) aged six to ten, then this is a safe bet.
Ballad of Favour by Monica Dickens
Years ago (I think I was about twelve or thirteen) I read Monica Dickens’s The Messenger and completely, utterly loved it. It stayed with me strongly enough that I sought it out on Amazon.com and ordered it from a UK seller, and found to my surprise - and joy - that it held up extremely well on re-reading as an adult. Surely one of the great disappointments of adult life is re-experiencing something that you loved as a kid only to find that it wasn’t even half as great as you remember it being. Well thankfully, this wasn’t the case with The Messenger.
Rose Wood is a thirteen year old girl who lives at Wood Briar Hotel, owned and managed by her mother. Situated between the ocean and the moorlands, Rose enjoys helping out in the hotel, socializing with the guests as well as attending horse-riding lessons at the local stables. Though she has gets along well with her good-natured mother, she and her father have a slightly more strained relationship.
Perhaps to make up for this, she shares a special friendship with one of the permanent residents of the hotel, an elderly man called Mr Vingo, who is privy to her deepest secret: that she is the chosen messenger of Favour, the spirit of a great grey horse that lived centuries ago. This horse is renowned in the area for its role in saving a village from a flood by escaping its cruel master and carrying a young stable-hand across the moors, outracing the impending waters in a bid to warn the people. Now considered a legend, the horse's spirit lives on, transcending the boundaries of time in order to send his chosen ones on quests to right wrongs and save lives.
All of this is much, much better than it sounds. In the previous book, Rose was transported back to different periods of history to solve the mystery that surrounded the hotel's annex, a building haunted by tragic events and a cursed atmosphere that caused on-going disasters right through to the present day. This first book was essentially a ghost story with a twist, requiring Rose to find out the root cause of the annex's affliction by inhabiting the minds and bodies of those who were there to witness key events, gathering information through their eyes despite being unable to intervene in any way. I loved it at twelve, and I loved it at twenty-eight.
Yet for whatever reason, I never got around to reading the other three books in the series, even though I have very clear memories of them being on the school library shelf. Well never mind, it’s better late than never, and Ballad of Favour was duly ordered. But this is when sequelitis set in. I guess after such high expectations, it’s only natural that the sequel would fall a little short.
In Ballad of Favour, Rose is once more summoned by Favour, though this time it is not to right an old wrong, but prevent a future calamity from happening. Transported forward in time, Rose hears the cries of a frightened child, and comes to realize that Favour expects her to find out where it's coming from, and to save it from whatever is giving it cause to scream. To do this, she's sent to several people and places in order to gather clues as to when and where the potential catastrophe is to take place.
As a set-up, it's not quite as effective as that of the previous book, and the suspense that could have been generated by a race-against-time scenario in which Rose is struggling to make sense of her experiences before disaster hits is somewhat lessoned by the minutia that fills the story (there’s a lot of chores, riding lessons, and even a wedding that Rose has attend).
Why You Should Read This: Because Monica Dickens’s central conceit gives her a lot of room in which to stretch her creativity. A key component of Favour’s power to send Rose back in time actually involves putting her within the minds of other people. As it's put in the story: "Rose was inside Linda. She could feel her emotions and what it was like to be her, but at the same time she was still Rose and could observe her." As such, Rose is privy to the secrecy of another’s internal thought processes whilst experiencing a taste of life as someone who is poor, or sick, or creative, or with low self-esteem, or a bully, or of a different race. It’s a great idea, and Dickens utilizes it well, adding plenty of insight into what it means to be a human.
Even though it’s been out of print for years, try and track this series down. It’s an incredibly unique ghost/time-slip adventure, and though I preferred The Messenger to this, Ballad of Favour has some neat sequences in which Rose tries to figure out the time and place of the impending disaster from her brief experiences within the lives of those connected to the endangered child.
The Mousetrap
NO SPOILERS
Funny(ish) story: Last year I travelled with my sister up to Wellington in order to see The Mousetrap, knowing that a. it was an Agatha Christie mystery that was in the public domain and thus could accidentally be spoiled at any time during the course of my internet travels and b. would probably never play in Christchurch given the current state of...well, every single public venue that we have (that’s only a slight exaggeration). So I braved my fear of flying and endured a half-hour flight to the North Island in order to see it.
I also saw it last week in Christchurch. It came here after all. Not just that, but my father’s cousin and his partner were co-producers and were involved in the audition process and promotional material (in fact, I told them that the one in Wellington was rather campy, and apparently this had an impact on the way this director managed this particular version).
But it was really interesting seeing a production for a second time so soon after seeing it for the first. I’ve never actually done that before in my life (well, I suppose I’ve seen Cats twice, but there was a decade in between and I barely remember the first time) but in this case, The Mousetrap being a murder-mystery and me knowing the solution meant that I could better appreciate some of the actors’ choices. Major Metcalfe in particular has a reaction to something that makes a lot more sense in the context of what’s really going on, and many of Christie’s red herrings are easier to spot.
Performance-wise, the real treat was that we not only had much better seats (we were in the second row as opposed to the very back row) but that it was held in St Michael and All Angel’s Church, a beautiful building that is one of our few undamaged heritage buildings. We’re clean out of theatres, but the church provided a wonderful atmosphere.
Completed in 1872, it has some beautiful framework and is apparently (according to my program) one of the largest timber churches of its style in the world. Though granted, the pews got a bit uncomfortable after a while.
The Mousetrap is known for being a very intimate play, what with only eight characters and a single set, and is typical Christie - full of plot holes and contrived coincidences, but still utterly captivating. Its longevity is testimony to that, and though many of its components feel like clichés by today’s standards, it’s always worth stressing that Christie actually invented most of these familiar tropes back in the 1940’s/50’s. In this case, the play involves a young married couple trapped in their guesthouse by a snowstorm, along with five guests and a police investigator, who has reason to believe one of their number has recently committed a murder.
Though the budget of the Wellington production was significantly higher, resulting in a swanky set and special effects (snow perpetually falling out the window, a fire flickering in the grate) I thought that the Christchurch version certainly held its own. Especially good was Moreen Eason as Mrs Boyle. In Wellington the actress felt rather too young for the part (you can always tell by the voice) but here she was played by a woman well into her eighties. According to Victoria (my father’s cousin’s partner), Moreen was actually only a stand-in actress for the auditions, but was so good in the role that they encouraged her to go for the part for real. And she got it! I hope when I'm that age I'm doing something similar.
So all in all, it was a good night. Just to top it off, on the way in we stopped at an evening market (they’ve popped up everywhere in sites were buildings have been levelled) and I managed to snag this necklace:
Rabbits! How neat is that?
First of all, here’s our first look at the up-coming The Musketeers starring Tom Burke (Athos), Howard Charles (Porthos), Luke Pasqualino (D’Artagnan) and Santiago Cabrera (Aramis).
Now, I hope that my track record on this LJ is enough to convince you that I don’t do a lot of flailing and crying and hair-pulling at the attractiveness of certain actors. But in this case...
Oh my God, this man is gorgeous.
I haven’t read Alexander Dumas’s original novel, just watched several (not very good) film and television adaptations, but I’ll be on the lookout for this one. Perhaps by the time it’s available, I’ll have been able to track down the book as well. Hopefully some pictures of the women will emerge soon, as I’m interested in what their costumes will look like, not to mention the fact that Emily Beecham is in this as well (a.k.a. the back-flipping Druid girl from Merlin who clocked in about twelve seconds of screen-time in The Witch’s Quickening but was still super-awesome).
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Reading this, there’s no doubt in my mind that DWJ was a HUGE inspiration for JK Rowling - there’s just something about her puzzle-box plots, her whimsical treatment of magic, the meaningful names and the sheer Englishness of her body of work that reads exactly like a prototype of Harry Potter.
Howl’s Moving Castle is perhaps the most well-known of Diana Wynne Jones's extensive body of work (and not just because of the Hayao Miyazaki film), the idea of which she credits to a little boy who spoke to her during a school visit, suggesting that she write a story about a magical, moving castle. Who he was and where he is now is a complete mystery, but she quite touchingly dedicates the book to her brief muse, who may well not even remember or be aware of what he inspired.
In a sendup of the usual fairytale formula, Sophie Hatter is the eldest of three daughters, and so well aware that she's destined to have no adventures whatsoever in her life - especially with two younger, prettier sisters. Still, she's resigned to working in her late father's hat shop until the day the notorious Witch of the Waste enters and turns her into an old woman. Sophie has no idea why this has been done to her or how she can possibly break the spell, but she takes to the road before anyone sees what’s become of her.
But ironically, her transformation gives Sophie a new lease on life, finding that as an old woman she’s lost most of her inhibitions and so has no problem whatsoever in seeking out the wizard Howl in the hopes of getting cured. This is despite the fact that Howl is renowned for seducing young girls and stealing their hearts; that he's the wizard who lives in the titular Moving Castle that roams the countryside and terrorizes the population. Yet once there, Sophie sets herself up as his cleaning lady and makes a deal with the fire demon that lives in his fireplace: if she can help break his mysterious contract with the wizard, he’ll break the spell that’s been placed over her.
Why You Should Read This: Read the first sentence of that previous paragraph again, for it’s there that DWJ’s true genius lies. There are probably thousands of fairytales out there that deal with young women who are enchanted into old ladies, but how many authors actually explore what effect this might have on their psyches? How many describe in vivid detail how difficult it is to cope with an aged body, complete with aches and pains and heart murmurs? This is examining the consequences of magic from the inside out, and DWJ is nuanced enough to portray Sophie’s transformation into an old woman as a good thing for her self-esteem whilst simultaneously being very bad for her life expectancy.
DWJ’s other gift is in how she manages to make magic feel so domestic, and by doing so somehow rendering it even more powerful and mysterious. Whether it be Calcifer the fire demon nestling in the fireplace or Howl turning his home into a flower shop with little more than a flick of his wrist, everything weird and wonderful is treated so casually (almost flippantly) by the narrative that the perspective flips on itself, making it all seem even more exhilarating and potent to the reader. Again, the inevitable comparison is with Harry Potter, in which nearly every spell and charm is met with awe and excitement.
The two women certainly share the same sense of humour, but if anything, DWJ is even more droll, even more witty. In fact, there is a deftness to DWJ’s writing style that Rowling lacks; a sense of having a clear sense of the story she wishes to tell and a straightforward, no-nonsense manner in which she tells it. This is one of those rare books (usually reserved for adult novels) that I can read for the third, fourth, fifth time and still pick up on some new detail that I'd previously missed, or find myself laughing at a gag I’ve read a dozen times before.
Like Rowling, DWJ’s stories are intricately plotted, in this case with Sophie being witness to several events that don't have their full meaning explained until much later. The identities of several characters remain concealed, or even divided up between various entities for much of the book's duration, and the motivations of the book's main players can be puzzlingly obscure. It's a tangled web that takes some discernment (or perhaps a second read) to fully grasp, especially given the rather hurried wrap-up, but it makes for a surprisingly complex storyline that demands your full attention. In fact, the next time I read Howl’s Moving Castle, I may decide to take notes so that I can write-up a timeline of what exactly was going on over the course of the story.
Sophie makes for an unorthodox heroine, not only in the enchantment that renders her an elderly woman, but in her practicality and dry wit. She makes a perfect foil for the flamboyant, dishonest, self-appreciative Howl, who tries to "slither out" of his predicaments rather than face them head-on. They’re both vividly realized, and DWJ is an expert in taking an impartial view of these people and their personalities, letting the reader judge for themselves what they're really like (in other words, she's a master of the "show, don't tell" rule).
Renewed interest in DWJ (and this book in particular) rose after the release of Studio Ghibli's adaptation of the story, which is currently available on DVD. Though I enjoyed the film, especially for its visual brilliance, it changes or omits several important elements of the storyline, leaving it rather convoluted as a result. It's better treated as supplemental material to the book than a straightforward adaption of it, but it's still very enjoyable in its own way.
The Lady Grace Mysteries: Assassin by Patricia Finney
First of all, I really dig the titles of these books. Each one is a single word and each title runs in alphabetical order; for instance, the first book in the series is Assassin, the second is Betrayal, the third is Conspiracy, the fourth Deception, and so on. Goodness knows what the author will do when she reaches the likes of X and W and Y, but for now, it’s a fun conceit.
Set in 16th century England, the stories centre around Lady Grace Cavendish, a thirteen year old Maid of Honour to Queen Elizabeth the First. Her mother died when she was young, having inadvertently prevented an assassination attempt on the Queen by eating a poisoned meal that was meant for Elizabeth. As such, Grace holds a special place in the Queen’s court, a position that she’s willing to exploit when it comes to solving mysteries.
The book is written as though it’s Grace’s daybook, with Grace herself giving a first-hand account of all her experiences. Novels-as-diaries, or even first-person narrative, isn’t one of my favourite formats for telling a story, as not only to you run the risk of making your protagonist feel immensely ego-centric (all those “I”s and “me”s) but they inevitably sap away some of the suspense - obviously whatever danger Grace finds herself in, she lives long enough to write it all down in her diary later.
But in this case, author Patricia Finney handles it well. Grace is a chatty and friendly young woman, managing to come across as a girl of her time-period, but with enough modern sensibilities that the reader can relate to her. Approaching her thirteenth birthday means she is nearly of marriageable age, and the Queen has chosen three suitors for her: young and handsome Lord Robert Radcliffe, old and amiable Sir Charles Amesbury, and arrogant but wealthy Sir Gerald Worthy. Grace is given the opportunity of choosing which of the three she prefers, with the Queen devising a test in which each one gives her an anonymous gift. Of these gifts, Grace is to select the one that she prefers, and the husband that goes with it.
She’s a little leery about this process, and would altogether rather be walking the Queen's dogs and spending time with her secret friends, the acrobat Masou and the laundry-maid Ellie, but a fiancé is duly selected.
Later that night one of her rejected suitors is found dead and another is thrown into prison on suspicion of murdering him. Certain that her fiancé is innocent, Grace seeks permission from the Queen to investigate the matter further. Along with Masou and Ellie, she begins to question witnesses, uncover clues, and discover truths not only about the murder, but all three of her suitors and their families.
Why You Should Read This Book: I actually grabbed my copy of Assassin at a library book sale, having seen copies of it on shelves here and there but never being inspired enough to actually pick it up. I’m well out of the age-range of the target audience, but as a casual reader, I enjoyed it. Finney cleverly incorporates many of the outdated beliefs and superstitions of the time (Grace suggests that they look at the murder victim's corpse in the hope that the murderer will be reflected in his eyes) with common sense and rudimentary science that helps Grace discover the real culprit behind the murder.
Furthermore, she captures the flavour of the Elizabethan era well in regards to the language, culture, beliefs and details of the period, scattering in plenty of historical trivia that adds to the richness of the reading experience. Yet though it’s a historical mystery, it also has something of a fairytale quality to it, what with Grace’s three suitors, her mother’s tragic death, and the cross-class friendships that she shares with Masou and Ellie. If you’re on the lookout for a decent book (strong heroine, informative content) to give to a girl (or boy) aged six to ten, then this is a safe bet.
Ballad of Favour by Monica Dickens
Years ago (I think I was about twelve or thirteen) I read Monica Dickens’s The Messenger and completely, utterly loved it. It stayed with me strongly enough that I sought it out on Amazon.com and ordered it from a UK seller, and found to my surprise - and joy - that it held up extremely well on re-reading as an adult. Surely one of the great disappointments of adult life is re-experiencing something that you loved as a kid only to find that it wasn’t even half as great as you remember it being. Well thankfully, this wasn’t the case with The Messenger.
Rose Wood is a thirteen year old girl who lives at Wood Briar Hotel, owned and managed by her mother. Situated between the ocean and the moorlands, Rose enjoys helping out in the hotel, socializing with the guests as well as attending horse-riding lessons at the local stables. Though she has gets along well with her good-natured mother, she and her father have a slightly more strained relationship.
Perhaps to make up for this, she shares a special friendship with one of the permanent residents of the hotel, an elderly man called Mr Vingo, who is privy to her deepest secret: that she is the chosen messenger of Favour, the spirit of a great grey horse that lived centuries ago. This horse is renowned in the area for its role in saving a village from a flood by escaping its cruel master and carrying a young stable-hand across the moors, outracing the impending waters in a bid to warn the people. Now considered a legend, the horse's spirit lives on, transcending the boundaries of time in order to send his chosen ones on quests to right wrongs and save lives.
All of this is much, much better than it sounds. In the previous book, Rose was transported back to different periods of history to solve the mystery that surrounded the hotel's annex, a building haunted by tragic events and a cursed atmosphere that caused on-going disasters right through to the present day. This first book was essentially a ghost story with a twist, requiring Rose to find out the root cause of the annex's affliction by inhabiting the minds and bodies of those who were there to witness key events, gathering information through their eyes despite being unable to intervene in any way. I loved it at twelve, and I loved it at twenty-eight.
Yet for whatever reason, I never got around to reading the other three books in the series, even though I have very clear memories of them being on the school library shelf. Well never mind, it’s better late than never, and Ballad of Favour was duly ordered. But this is when sequelitis set in. I guess after such high expectations, it’s only natural that the sequel would fall a little short.
In Ballad of Favour, Rose is once more summoned by Favour, though this time it is not to right an old wrong, but prevent a future calamity from happening. Transported forward in time, Rose hears the cries of a frightened child, and comes to realize that Favour expects her to find out where it's coming from, and to save it from whatever is giving it cause to scream. To do this, she's sent to several people and places in order to gather clues as to when and where the potential catastrophe is to take place.
As a set-up, it's not quite as effective as that of the previous book, and the suspense that could have been generated by a race-against-time scenario in which Rose is struggling to make sense of her experiences before disaster hits is somewhat lessoned by the minutia that fills the story (there’s a lot of chores, riding lessons, and even a wedding that Rose has attend).
Why You Should Read This: Because Monica Dickens’s central conceit gives her a lot of room in which to stretch her creativity. A key component of Favour’s power to send Rose back in time actually involves putting her within the minds of other people. As it's put in the story: "Rose was inside Linda. She could feel her emotions and what it was like to be her, but at the same time she was still Rose and could observe her." As such, Rose is privy to the secrecy of another’s internal thought processes whilst experiencing a taste of life as someone who is poor, or sick, or creative, or with low self-esteem, or a bully, or of a different race. It’s a great idea, and Dickens utilizes it well, adding plenty of insight into what it means to be a human.
Even though it’s been out of print for years, try and track this series down. It’s an incredibly unique ghost/time-slip adventure, and though I preferred The Messenger to this, Ballad of Favour has some neat sequences in which Rose tries to figure out the time and place of the impending disaster from her brief experiences within the lives of those connected to the endangered child.
The Mousetrap
NO SPOILERS
Funny(ish) story: Last year I travelled with my sister up to Wellington in order to see The Mousetrap, knowing that a. it was an Agatha Christie mystery that was in the public domain and thus could accidentally be spoiled at any time during the course of my internet travels and b. would probably never play in Christchurch given the current state of...well, every single public venue that we have (that’s only a slight exaggeration). So I braved my fear of flying and endured a half-hour flight to the North Island in order to see it.
I also saw it last week in Christchurch. It came here after all. Not just that, but my father’s cousin and his partner were co-producers and were involved in the audition process and promotional material (in fact, I told them that the one in Wellington was rather campy, and apparently this had an impact on the way this director managed this particular version).
But it was really interesting seeing a production for a second time so soon after seeing it for the first. I’ve never actually done that before in my life (well, I suppose I’ve seen Cats twice, but there was a decade in between and I barely remember the first time) but in this case, The Mousetrap being a murder-mystery and me knowing the solution meant that I could better appreciate some of the actors’ choices. Major Metcalfe in particular has a reaction to something that makes a lot more sense in the context of what’s really going on, and many of Christie’s red herrings are easier to spot.
Performance-wise, the real treat was that we not only had much better seats (we were in the second row as opposed to the very back row) but that it was held in St Michael and All Angel’s Church, a beautiful building that is one of our few undamaged heritage buildings. We’re clean out of theatres, but the church provided a wonderful atmosphere.
Completed in 1872, it has some beautiful framework and is apparently (according to my program) one of the largest timber churches of its style in the world. Though granted, the pews got a bit uncomfortable after a while.
The Mousetrap is known for being a very intimate play, what with only eight characters and a single set, and is typical Christie - full of plot holes and contrived coincidences, but still utterly captivating. Its longevity is testimony to that, and though many of its components feel like clichés by today’s standards, it’s always worth stressing that Christie actually invented most of these familiar tropes back in the 1940’s/50’s. In this case, the play involves a young married couple trapped in their guesthouse by a snowstorm, along with five guests and a police investigator, who has reason to believe one of their number has recently committed a murder.
Though the budget of the Wellington production was significantly higher, resulting in a swanky set and special effects (snow perpetually falling out the window, a fire flickering in the grate) I thought that the Christchurch version certainly held its own. Especially good was Moreen Eason as Mrs Boyle. In Wellington the actress felt rather too young for the part (you can always tell by the voice) but here she was played by a woman well into her eighties. According to Victoria (my father’s cousin’s partner), Moreen was actually only a stand-in actress for the auditions, but was so good in the role that they encouraged her to go for the part for real. And she got it! I hope when I'm that age I'm doing something similar.
So all in all, it was a good night. Just to top it off, on the way in we stopped at an evening market (they’ve popped up everywhere in sites were buildings have been levelled) and I managed to snag this necklace:
Rabbits! How neat is that?