Electricity - Book review

Victoria Glendinning’s second novel Electricity was published in 1995. It is an excellent piece of writing narrated in the first person beginning in the period 1883.

Charlotte is reflecting on what has happened to her in the last couple of years with wit, candour and growing self-realisation. The narration is so credible the reader feels a privileged confidante.  

A twenty-one-year-old stranger, Peter Fisher, was due to stay at their London suburb family home by arrangement with a relative for a modest rental. The acquisition of a lodger was timely since the father of the house had lost his job. Charlotte was eighteen. An attachment developed in the close confines. It transpired that Peter was a young genius fascinated with electricity, working with a Mr Ferranti, ‘the coming man’.

Soon after Charlotte’s Aunt Susannah came to stay at their house too. And Charlotte had to share her bedroom…

All of the characters are well-drawn, whether it’s the positively creepy father, the put-upon mother, the querulous Aunt, or the electricity-obsessed Peter. Of all these, Aunt Susannah is the most amusing and memorable.

Glendinning’s descriptions of the period, down to the finest detail of the way they lived, put the reader deep into the story. There’s plenty of humour and indeed poignancy, sadness and tragedy. Many subjects spark interest, such as animal magnetism, Mesmerism, electricity itself, dress-making, precious and semi-precious stones, English apples, séances, electroconvulsive therapy, infidelity and duplicity, all expertly woven into Charlotte’s tale.

This is a believable slice of life in the 1880s, and very well told. 

Book review - Investigating Murdoch Mysteries

The official companion to the TV series, Murdoch Mysteries (2015) is a lavish reasonably priced hardback with dozens of colour photographs. Ideal for any fan to own. The authors Michelle Ricci and Mir Bahmanyar were given much assistance from the cast and crew; this book covers series 1 thru 8, so there will be spoilers. As usual, Titan Books gives us an excellent book in every respect.

There’s a foreword by the author of the books, Maureen Jennings, enjoying how her characters are being brought to life. The introduction is by Christina Jennings (no relation!), Executive Producer and Chairman & CEO of Shaftesbury films, explaining that some twelve years ago Maureen Jennings’ publisher sent her the books to read, and she decided to adapt three books as TV movies. Although the adaptations were faithful to the books, there was one exception; the invention of another character outside her comfort zone, just like Murdoch, so coroner Julia Ogden was created. The films were successful and the broadcaster was keen for a continuing series to be produced. It was decided to depart from the darker tone of the movies, ‘more Jules Verne, less Dickens’, and introduce steampunk and humour, with knowing nods to the future, and of course there would be romance. Happily, the team assembled provided all that, and more, from good writing, brilliant Victorian and Edwardian sets, to excellent acting.

There are fascinating insights into the characters, Victorian Toronto, and the inventions of the time depicted.  The Toronto police were formed in 1859. By the time of the start of the series (1895) the police have all-night patrols, a mounted unit for outlying areas and to control speeding horses! Bicycles for patrols were introduced in 1894, and as we know Murdoch was a keen cyclist. Up to the early 1890s, the police were also the main source of ‘social services’, until humane societies came on the scene. 

We are presented with blueprints of Police Station No.4 and the morgue. And Prime Minister Stephen Harper appeared as a desk sergeant. We’re given an insight into the music, too, which is an important aspect of the series, helping to create the mood. 

Yannick Bisson (Murdoch) does not, has never, and will never wear mascara or any eye makeup, we are told. Those distinctive eyelashes have been with him since he was born! It could have been a daunting prospect to audition for a character that had already appeared in three TV movies. However, executive producer Val Coons had declared he was looking for someone different, He read about three times to get the part – which he has definitely claimed as his own over eight series.

Considerable coverage is given to the costumes, which again have to reflect not only the period but the characters. The offices, and all the other sets, are painstakingly created to evoke that period feel.

All the main characters are covered in some depth – Julia Ogden, Constable George Crabtree, Inspector Thomas Brackenreid, and Doctor Emily Grace. Then we meet their friends and foes, too, all of whom grow in depth as the series moves forward, not least Chief Constable Percival Giles, tycoon James Pendrick, spymaster Terrence Meyers and arch-enemy James Gillies, among many others.

There’s an intriguing blueprint of Pendrick’s electric car, ‘The Pendrick Bullet’, which took four months to perfect instead of the usual two weeks for inventive props. And it worked, as shown, with the actors in the cab!

And of course we can’t forget the many historical figures who appear in the series: Prince Alfred, Alexander Graham Bell, Winston Churchill, Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Harry Houdini, Jack London, ‘Bat’ Masterson, Annie Oakley, Theodore Roosevelt, H.G. Wells, and many more fascinating cameos.

Lastly, we’re given a year-by-year account of the attraction, disappointments, travails and on-off courtship of William Murdoch and Julia Ogden.

Every year, the writing staff  meet a number of months before the next series goes into production and they develop stories and ideas. We’re given a fascinating overview of how a storyline comes together – the 100^th episode, in fact – and how the writers lay out a particular story with all the specifics – the beats – of what happen in each scene. They have to attend to logical progression, clues, red herrings, humorous interludes. The beat sheet is the guide; this becomes 15 pages of prose, scenes in paragraphs. It’s then read and revised and approved and then it becomes a 50-minute script.

As the back-cover blurb says, this is a treasure trove for fans of the series.

Work in progress - Bradbury & Hood

Another work in progress. This is the beginning of a Victorian adventure. It still requires considerable research, even though it is plotted. I’ve written the first chapter and look forward to getting back to it, probably early next year. Again, feel free to comment, criticize...

BRADBURY & HOOD

 

Nik Morton

Angel's trumpets - Wikipedia commons

 

"It is a bad thing to give servants too much liberty.  They are seldom grateful," said Mrs Marguerite Cattermole as she strolled through the delightful hotel gardens festooned with the colourful and richly scented flora of Tenerife, her patrician voice raised well beyond the intended hearing of her companion, Miss Dora Marshall.  In their wake, seemingly oblivious to the beauty that surrounded them, was Mrs Cattermole's nephew, David Mordlin, his black frock-coat in need of care, his long thin nose in an open book, the high morning sun glinting on his pince-nez. "However, considering your rather theatrical entreaties, Miss Marshall," Mrs Cattermole went on, "I dare say you may take an hour off tomorrow."

            "Very generous..." murmured Georgina Hood, trying to keep a straight face. 

She sat a few yards away in the shade of an orange tree, studying her sketching pad. 

Mrs Cattermole was forthright in her views: she had already remonstrated with Georgina concerning the inadvisable habit of roaming the town of Icod de Los Vinos by herself, without benefit of chaperone, settling down wherever her artist's eye and whim took her.

            Georgina sat up straight and stretched, pleased with her efforts.  With a flourish she signed the bottom left-hand corner of the drawing and dated it: 18th of May 1887.

            Even sitting under this lovely aromatic tree she could feel the heat, despite her white cotton lace-trimmed dress.  She carefully removed the straw hat and mopped her brow with a handkerchief.  

            A shadow fell over her drawing.

            "They're beautiful flowers, Ma'am.  Angel's trumpets, I reckon.  And, if I may say so, you have finely caught their likeness."  The male voice was definitely American. 

            She turned in her collapsible wooden chair and looked up at the dapper tall young gentleman.  The sun was high and she shielded her eyes with a hand.

            "Sorry," he quickly ventured, moving out of line with the sun.

            "Thank you."  She refrained from making plain whether her appreciation was for his compliment on her artwork or for him moving to a more harmonious position.  "You seem to know your plants, sir."

            "I like to think so, Ma'am.  I'm here to study the dragon tree in the town."

            Removing his Panama, he bowed.  He had black hair and his blue eyes twinkled in the light, the corners creasing with his smile.  "Richard Dawes Bradbury, Ma'am, at your service."

            So many Americans seemed to have strange names, she thought.  His features were tanned. A rather prominent hawk-like nose curved over a thick moustache.  His fawn-coloured suit was of expensive cut, decidedly English. A fob chain was draped across his waistcoat.  He stood quite nonchalantly, weight on one foot.

            She took his hand: "Miss Georgina Hood."

            "And, Miss Hood, do you feel your artistic accomplishments are threatened by these new-fangled cameras?"

            She smiled.  "One day, perhaps, Mr Bradbury. But not for a while.  Art is an interpretation, a representation, if you will, while cameras tend to show everything."

            "You mean cameras never lie, but artists do?"

            How forward these Americans were!  Yet she liked the verbal fencing; so much more spirited than the empty pleasantries of London.  "True lies, perhaps, sir.  An oxymoron, I am sure, but art does strive for truth - an inner truth a mere photograph cannot capture."

            He bowed slightly.  "I confess to knowing little of art, Miss Hood.  Some art and the circles in the art world seem quite pretentious - yes, we have them in Boston, too - but I cannot abide artifice.  I know what I like and I greatly admire your work."

            She felt her cheeks flush but was pleasantly gratified by his praise.  "Art is a great leveller these days."  She tried to keep a straight face as she continued:  "You could say it is an instrument of a new kind of class fusion. The professional house decorator is no longer a mere tradesman, and the architect and artist are socially not only acceptable in society but positively interesting!"

            "Ah, class.  Yes, that disease has crossed the Atlantic too!"  He chuckled. "Who knows, one day perhaps we Americans will reverse the trend and export our mores to your English shores!"

            "You must surely feel proud already, Mr Bradbury.  Haven't we already taken up your wonderful invention, the type-writing machine?"

            "Just so!"

            "As I recall it was advertised recently in The Lady as a machine that 'does not overtax the physical and mental abilities of women'."

            "Sounds mighty condescending to me."

            She smiled, liking him for that observation.  "I thought so, too."

            "And, Miss Hood, do you market your art-work?"

            "Yes.  My illustrations often accompany the articles I sell to newspapers and magazines in England."

            "A lady journalist?"  His tone verged on disbelief, just short of being rude.

            "Yes."  She fought to contain here ire.  "Is that so strange?"

            "No, no," he hastened to mollify.  "We Americans pride ourselves on moving with the times.  Why, a few ladies are entering professions usually considered the province of men - as though marriage is no longer the natural course of things..."

            "I shall just have to forego the pleasure of darning a husband's socks while he reads to me what he thinks is suitable material from his newspaper."

            "You like sewing, then?"  He was grinning again, clearly amused by her irony.

            She laughed. "I abhor it as a means to pass time - though admire it as an accomplished skill which sadly I do not possess."  She slipped her sketch-pad into a leather satchel.

            "Might I be so bold as to ask to accompany you at dinner this evening?"  For all his seeming American brashness, he appeared quite fearful of a refusal.  She had not noticed him in the dining room before so perhaps he had arrived today, yet clearly he was aware that she travelled - and ate - alone.  She was intrigued.

            She nodded and recalled her Head Mistress's dictum: "Pigeons nod, my dear.  Young ladies speak."  She smiled at the memory. "I would be delighted," she said.

 

***

 

This is about a third of the first chapter and establishes the hero and heroine who join forces to set up a detective agency.  

 

 

The Mystery of Murdoch

My wife and I are following the series Murdoch Mysteries. We’re on the fourth series – there have been seven and an eighth is being produced. The TV episodes are based on the books of Maureen Jennings, who was born in Birmingham, England in 1939 and emigrated to Canada when seventeen. The stories centre round police station No.4 in Toronto in the 1890s. The main characters are Detective William Murdoch, Inspector Brackenreid and Constable Crabtree.

Jennings has written seven Murdoch books. The first is Except the Dying (1997), which was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis and Anthony first novel awards. This book plus the next two, Under the Dragon’s Tail and Poor Tom is Cold were made into TV movies in 2004. This is where the mystery comes in. These three movies starred Peter Outerbridge as Murdoch, Colm Meaney as Brackenreid, and Matthew MacFadzean as Crabtree. The pathologist is male in the first book and underwent a scriptwriter sex-change and became Dr Julia Ogden for the movie, in the guise of Keeley Hawes.

The plot of Except the Dying is followed by the TV movie, judging by the synopsis. I have not been able to see the three TV movies; they don’t seem to be on DVD, though they were released in Canada as Murdoch Mysteries: Movie Collection. The book’s story goes: Detective Murdoch investigates the murder of a young girl found drugged and strangled in an alley. The autopsy reveals the girl was pregnant. Murdoch finds himself investigating prominent members of Toronto society when the girl is identified as Therese Laporte, a chambermaid working for a wealthy family. When a possible witness to the murder is also killed, Murdoch learns that Therese was seen voluntarily getting into a carriage, as if she knew the occupant. Before long, another witness seems to be in danger…

Jennings captures the period well and uses her research subtly, scattering the underworld vernacular judiciously; ‘… you had connections with Therese Laporte?’ Connections is a euphemism for sex.. Brackenreid in the book is Irish, so Colm Meaney was a good fit, I imagine: ‘… He had rigorously tried to expunge his native brogue but it slipped out now and again…’

Murdoch is a devout Roman Catholic. ‘Brackenreid was perfectly aware of his detective’s faith but always tried to get in a jibe or two at Murdoch’s expense...’

Murdoch rents shared accommodation with Arthur and Beatrice Kitchen, who seem to be his sounding board.

Now, the mystery is why the original cast didn’t continue for the series. The Canadian TV series Murdoch Mysteries first aired in 2008 and stars Yannick Bisson as Murdoch, Thomas Craig as Brackenreid, Hélène Joy as Dr Ogden and Jonny Harris as Crabtree. Interestingly, Australian actress Hélène Joy featured in Under the Dragon’s Tail as the wife of a judge. There’s no sign of the Kitchens. Murdoch’s sounding board is Julia – a creation of the screenwriters.

Hélène Joy as Dr Ogden

 

 

Yannick Bisson                                                       Thomas Craig

 

The series scriptwriters – and actors – seem to have nailed the characters. Granted, Brackenreid is now a bluff Yorkshireman, but his mannerisms and speech leap from the book:

            He nodded over at the wall, which the detective was using as a blackboard. ‘What’ve       you got there?’

            ‘It’s a map of the area pertinent to the scene of the crime, sir.’

            ‘I hope that chalk will rub off.’

            ‘If it doesn’t I’ll personally whitewash the wall.’

            Brackenreid went closer. ‘Explain it to me, Murdoch.’

Murdoch’s hesitation and careful, precise manner are from the book, merely enlarged upon by the actor; in the book, he has a moustache, but these days it seems quite rare for a hero to wear one (Tom Selleck excepted, of course!) so Bisson is clean-shaven.

One of the attractions for the books was the period atmosphere. The attraction of the TV series is the main leads, their on-off romance, and the introduction of virtually anachronistic crime detecting inventions. Real history and people from history often figure in the plots – Buffalo Bill Cody, Annie Oakley, H.G. Wells, Nikola Tesla, Jack London, Arthur Conan Doyle, for example. There is plenty of humour as well as gore. The TV series has a big fan base. In 2011, Rogers Media dropped the show after the fifth series, but CBC picked it up.

Reviews of the books have been good, though a few reviewers have complained that the books aren’t like the TV series – which isn’t surprising since the books came first! Then again, the publisher doesn’t really help by putting the series cast on the cover; before the series, the TV movie cast was on the cover, which was fine (even if Dr Ogden wasn’t in the book!) The fact is, the TV series helps to sell the books. It’s a business, after all.

If you like Victorian murder mysteries, you’ll find plenty to appreciate with Murdoch, in either book or TV series.

 
The other books in the series are:

Let Loose the Dogs

Night’s Child

Vices of My Blood

A Journeyman to Grief.

 

 

The First WWW – 1890-style

Tim Berners-Lee was inspired to invent the World Wide Web after seeing a copy of Enquire Within Upon Everything – 1890. In fact, he named the early versions of the web ‘Enquire’ after it.

Published by Old House Books, who produce facsimile copies of long out of print maps and books that they believe deserve a second innings (British cricket term). Their reprints of Victorian and Edwardian maps and guidebooks are of interest to genealogists and local historians, and writers of historical fiction. Other titles have been chosen to explore the character of life in years gone by and are helpful to anyone who wishes to know a bit more about the lives of their ancestors, whether they were respectable gentlewomen or cunning poachers.

This 1890 version was the eighty-second edition of this popular handbook, which was revised annually. By 1890 an astonishing 1,91,000 copies had already been sold. The facsimile hardback edition was published in 2003, reprinted 2005, 2007 and 2009.

 

There are 2775 entries ranging from ‘Choice of Articles of Food’ to a ‘Reader Reckoning or Marketing Table’ in old English pence. As the original editor began, ‘If there be any among my Readers who, having turned over the pages of this book have hastily pronounced them to be confused and ill-arranged, let them at once refer to the Index at page 389, and for ever hold their peace.’

At the top of each page is a pithy saying, such as ‘Bottles of brandy are followed by bottles of physic’, ‘Be temperate in all things’, ‘Morning is welcome to the industrious’.

Some of the old sayings still apply today, such as, ‘474. Hints for Home Comfort: Eat slowly and you will not over-eat.’ Many others reflect the mind-set of the period, of course, such as medicines should be diluted by one third when being administered to the fair sex, as compared to the male of the species.

I purchased this to add to my collection of books on the Victorian period in preparation for a crime series I've begun set in the late 1800s.

There’s a wealth of interest and information on beverages, bird keeping, bee-keeping, the rearing and management of children, choice of clothing for certain occasions, hints upon etiquette, indoor games, legal information and advice, the treatment for poisoning, recipes (receipts), and so on.

‘1329. Violent shocks will sometimes stun a person, and he will remain unconscious. Untie strings, collars, etc; loosen anything that is tight, and interferes with breathing; raise the head; see if there is bleeding from any part; apply smelling-salts to the nose, and hot bottles to the feet.’

‘1689. Eyelashes. To increase the length and strength of the eyelashes, simply clip the ends with a pair of scissors about once a month. In eastern countries mothers perform the operation on their children, both male and female, when they are mere infants, watching the opportunity whilst they sleep. The practice never fails to produce the desired effect.’ Sounds a little unsafe to me, but then it may have been the norm!

‘2246. To render shoes waterproof. Warm a little bees’ wax and mutton suet until it is liquid, and rub some of it slightly over the edges of the sole, where the stitches are.’

‘2630. Wine should be taken after the first course; and it will be found more convenient to let the waiter serve it, than to hand the decanters round, or to allow the guests to fill for themselves.’

If you have an interest in the Victorian or Edwardian age, or plan to write a story or novel set in these periods, this compendium is a must-have book.