Two SH book reviews: “Ms Holmes of Baker Street” and “The Tale Not Told”.
In this post I’m going to voice some of my feelings regarding the books “Ms Holmes of Baker Street” by C. Alan Bradley, William A.S. Sarjeant and “The Tale Not Told” by Constance Wilder-Wokoun (I'm not really writing book reviews as such as I've forgotten what format you're supposed to use when writing them, it's been a long time since I did it at school). I’m talking about these books together as they both have the premise that Sherlock Holmes was a woman who was pretending to be a man in order to pursue her chosen profession as a consulting detective. This idea does have some historical basis. I seem to recall a news story whereby a musician (possibly a trumpet player) passed herself off for over 50 years as a man, even marrying a woman and adopting two kids. The kids and supposedly the wife knew nothing about it until it was discovered on her death that she was in fact a woman.
I am somewhat a stickler for canon and if something doesn’t sit right within it then I tend to think of it as either AU or not viable. Ms Holmes of Baker Street was an excellent book and I found the premise very interesting. Far from seeming unbelievable it managed to explain various points about Sherlock’s character including giving a reason for the drug taking, erratic appetite, etc. After reading it I’d hoped to read a novel or fanfic which used this premise, which leads me onto “The Tale Not Told”.
Unfortunately, I found this story rather disappointing. Half the book was spent following the adventures of a young Sherlock Holmes (really Charlotte) and her brother Mycroft. It’s difficult to say much about it without spoiling the book. Whilst the first couple of chapters of part one seemed okay the rest seemed somewhat far fetched and did not follow canon, with both Mrs Hudson and Dr Watson knowing Sherlock from the age of about 12. As I’ve said earlier, I prefer novels or fanfic to fit in with the canon of the established universe and when a writer messes with the characters so much it doesn’t sit right. There are other things which didn’t seem right towards the end of the book like her use of hypnosis (in her early 20s) when it would have still been in its infancy.
In summary if you want to read an interesting premise about Sherlock Holmes as a woman I would recommend Ms Holmes of Baker Street, not The Tale not Told. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I read it (if only because I would have always wondered if I were missing out on a novelisation along the lines of the first book which stuck quite firmly with the canon though was told mainly in essay form), but I can’t help but feel it would have been a whole lot better if it had stuck with the canon or perhaps been done with original characters.
The question is after reading Ms Holmes of Baker Street, do I believe that Holmes could have been a woman? Yes, I do would be the answer. However, as Conan Doyle obviously intended Holmes to be a man (I mean what Victorian man would picture a woman disguising herself as a man), I would be inclined to think of him in those terms (I also prefer it for some reason). On the other hand, a female Holmes is an interesting premise in an AU universe, and I would like to one day come across this idea in either fanfic or as part of a novel.
I think this is an interesting idea to apply to other fandoms as well. How would things have turned out if for instance Benton Fraser was a woman? (I chose the example of making Fraser the woman as if he were still a man and became involved with a female Ray Vecchio, I think his uncomfortably with women would prevent them from becoming close, whereas female Fraser, would possibly behave in a similar fashion to Fraser’s sister, Maggie Mackenzie. -While I’m on the subject I find it interesting to note that both Fraser and his sister fell in love with criminals, she even going as far as to marry hers, of course she didn’t know he’d been a criminal at the time.) Of course Benton (or whatever her feminised name would have been) wouldn’t have needed to disguise herself as a woman to fit in with society of the modern day. Given the close friendship which the male characters establish, would they have come involved romantically? Would they have had kids? Are there any AU’s that deal with this premise? (This may have been raised before of course - I may even have raised it myself, but if I did I can't remember what conclusions were drawn, if any:)