Recent reading

[troisoiseaux]

Read Real Ones by Katherena Vermette, discovered via sabotabby: a novel about about two adult sisters, who are Michif/Métis on their dad's side (this is important), grappling with the public exposure of their estranged mother's false claims of Indigenous ancestry, which she's used to build a career as an artist. I feel like most of the novels I've read tackling race-faking for profit/clout/??? in academia/the arts are biting satires - R.F. Kuang's Yellowface, Elaine Hsieh Chou's Disorientation - and even Louise Erdrich's The Sentence uses supernatural elements to express the violence of white people appropriating Indigenous identity; this one feels... subtler, maybe? It's very much grounded in the family drama of two sisters being betrayed and disappointed yet again by a self-absorbed mother who's betrayed and disappointed them over and over for as long as they can remember, this time playing out with a Greek chorus of op-eds and Twitter takes on a scandal now so weirdly familiar that Vermette tends to reference them obliquely rather than in detail. Really good; I especially liked how distinct the two sisters' voices were, as alternating POV characters.

Read With a Bare Bodkin by Cyril Hare, which fell short of Hare's Tragedy at Law, imo, but honestly, what wouldn't? This one had some fun concepts— set against the backdrop of a minor government agency housed in some sprawling pile for the duration of WWII, the plot kicks off with a conversation about how one of the civil servants is a mystery novelist on the side and everyone going "oooh wouldn't this office be a great setting for a murder mystery?", so it's got quite a crossover of tropes— and also the distinction of being one of the few mysteries where the author pulls a "clearly signaling something as A Clue by having the main character realize that some detail is Significant" and I actually immediately twigged to the discrepancy being hinted at and remembered where to cross-reference the detail earlier in the book, although, to be fair, this was not exactly subtly dropped, either in context or by the author to the reader.

Comments

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

I love Cyril Hare. I don't remember this one. I do remember a ghost story (not by Cyril Hare) which is also set in a house in the country where Bletchley Circle-like workers are waiting out the war (but the house is haunted). Anyway, I agree Tragedy at Law is difficult to beat.

[sovay]

I do remember a ghost story (not by Cyril Hare) which is also set in a house in the country where Bletchley Circle-like workers are waiting out the war (but the house is haunted).

Would you be able to tell me its name?

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

I hunted it down. I listen to the Classic Ghost Stories podcast on YT and it is part of the Christmas ghosts playlist. It is Green Holly by Elizabeth Bowen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1t9S_PJOag&list=PLY-NL5PMfzvWbUuSEiRqhO_RrE3FDqqxA&index=12

[troisoiseaux]

Ooh, this sounds great. Thanks for finding it!

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

👍👍

[sovay]

It is Green Holly by Elizabeth Bowen

Thank you so much!

[chestnut_pod]

Hm! I really, really liked The Sentence, so if there Vermette bears comparison, perhaps I will add it to the list.

[troisoiseaux]

I mean, The Sentence is genuinely one of if not the best book(s) of the 2020s so far, imo, so I'm hesitant to promise that, but Real Ones is a very good book that deals with some similar concepts and if you liked The Sentence you'll probably also like this one.

[sovay]

Read With a Bare Bodkin by Cyril Hare, which fell short of Hare's Tragedy at Law, imo, but honestly, what wouldn't?

Agreed, but I deeply love Pettigrew needing to read someone else's notes on himself to figure out his own emotions.

[troisoiseaux]

I deeply love Pettigrew needing to read someone else's notes on himself to figure out his own emotions.

Oh, absolutely same. It was very funny to me how Pettigrew was in a situation of both... having the plot thrust upon him against his will, I guess?, and also being deeply nosy for Definitely Not Personal Reasons. Pfff. This Is A Totally Normal Thing To Do.

[sabotabby]

Yay! I'm glad you liked it.

[troisoiseaux]

Thanks for the rec! I don't think I'd have come across it if you hadn't posted about it.

[lirazel]

That first book sounds really strong. Not necessarily something I feel up to reading right now, but I'm glad it exists in the world.

And Cyril Hare definitely sounds like an author I need to check out!!!

[troisoiseaux]

Definitely recommend Cyril Hare - and specifically, Tragedy at Law - if you like 1940s mysteries!

[lirazel]

I love 1940s mysteries, so I will check him out! Thank you!

[regshoe]

I'm thinking perhaps I made a mistake reading Tragedy at Law first, but also that I must read some of Hare's other books too :D

I actually immediately twigged to the discrepancy being hinted at and remembered where to cross-reference the detail earlier in the book

This does not happen to me very often with detective novels either, but it's so fun and satisfying when it does!

[troisoiseaux]

I'm actually glad I encountered Tragedy at Law first— I don't know if I would have been particularly compelled to seek out his other novels if I'd read this one first, but now my interest is piqued.

[muccamukk]

I really liked real ones too. I love the family relationships, and the way Vermette kept turning the problem to look at it from different angles. Have you read The Break and sequels?

[troisoiseaux]

I have not! This was my first encounter with Vermette's work, but I'll have to check out more.