May 23, 2005

Song of the Black Witch

Elizabeth Barr. Playboy: 1981.

Although surprising well-written for a gothic romance, this novel does not rise above its genre. Orphan girl, mysterious powers, young love, frigid wife, big house, every sex act gets someone pregnant, obstacles die, and couple are united.

It always frustrates me to see the characters in "historical" fiction judged by today's standards. The good guy is a sensitive liberal, and the bad guys are greedy conservatives. Why not acknowledge that people did have different values 150 years ago? This is what Angle of Repose did so well.

Nevertheless, Barr has drawn some very good minor characters, who do fit into the setting better, and who are of some interest.

January 7th, 2005

Bedelia

Vera Caspary. Dell, 1960.

Although the cover calls this a mystery, it is more accurately labeled a gothic novel, for all of the elements are here, with a modern twist: the man is the one who must figure out the mystery. Everything else is standard: the old mansion, a dark and stormy night, the protagonist questions his sanity and thinks the worst of his mate.

Written in 1945, this novel has some interesting thoughts on Ellen, a career woman, and Charlie, an upper-class man who nevertheless must work as an architect to earn a living. Other characters display hostility or subltle derision towards these two, but the author is sympathetic, and in the end (after Charlie forces his wife to commit suicide), they get together.

The author at one point laughs at her genre - Bedelia makes up ehr past and her name based on the ridiculous plot lines and absurd names of the romance and gothic novels she reads! Perhaps a silent plea for a bit of normalcy to the genre - yet she is betrayed by her own plot!