This book was wonderful. I love it when I "like" the characters by the end of the first chapter. It makes continuing easy.
Imagine if Sherlock Holmes had retired to the country to work on his experiments, his writing, and take up beekeeping. This is where the story begins.
The book takes place during the time during and immediately post World War I. England is at war and women begin to take on a strong role in keeping the country alive while the men are fighting. Modern ideas are pushing away the remnants of Victorian England.
Through a twist in writing style - our book begins as someone describing how a trunk was delivered . . . a trunk that held many unusual objects and a memoir written by our main character and narrator, Mary Russell.
Mary is a precocious 15-year old who moves into the family farm next door with her aunt after her family is killed in an accident. Mary isn't just any teenager, she's brilliant, and so makes a perfect companion for Holmes. She rebels strongly against her bitter guardian and spends hours on end conversing with and learning from Sherlock Holmes. Mary is an early feminist and Holmes teaches her everything he can before she leaves for college in Oxford. It's sad that most of her teen years are skipped over with broad statements - I would have liked to have seen more of the young Mary. We fall in love with the gangly teenager and suddenly she's a woman who gives Holmes "apoplexy" when he first sees her again after her tranformation. The bulk of the book is set at a time when Mary is of college age.
The two soon have cases to solve - Mary isn't the "sidekick" of Holmes, like Dr. Watson had been - she's his partner and over the course of the book we see that she is becoming his equal in crime detection and his true friend in life. In many ways, she becomes the female Sherlock Holmes. In their crime detection, we follow them through a variety of disguises - from gypsies to transgendered dress.
Their first big case is the kidnapping of an American Senator's young daughter, which soon becomes apparent had a criminal mastermind behind it - the likes of which Holmes hasn't seen since Professor Moriarty. This foe escapes this time, but reappears later and seems to have studied Holmes thoroughly and is now out for Sherlock and everyone he cares about.
The book is not an Arthur Conan Doyle rip-off - though is definitely written in a similar style. If you have read any Sherlock Holmes stories, you will definitely feel like this picks up where they left off. But unlike the earlier stories, this Holmes has aged into a more subtle and infinitely more likeable, imperfect person. One of the reasons we like him is because he has such admiration and affection for his young colleague (our leading lady.) I know that in Doyle's Holmes, ego might not have allowed him to so easily brought on a young, female apprentice, but King's aging Holmes does it believably.
As with most first books to a collection, this one has some slight flaws, but overall is a great mystery. I can't wait to continue on to the rest of the series.
Imagine if Sherlock Holmes had retired to the country to work on his experiments, his writing, and take up beekeeping. This is where the story begins.
The book takes place during the time during and immediately post World War I. England is at war and women begin to take on a strong role in keeping the country alive while the men are fighting. Modern ideas are pushing away the remnants of Victorian England.
Through a twist in writing style - our book begins as someone describing how a trunk was delivered . . . a trunk that held many unusual objects and a memoir written by our main character and narrator, Mary Russell.
Mary is a precocious 15-year old who moves into the family farm next door with her aunt after her family is killed in an accident. Mary isn't just any teenager, she's brilliant, and so makes a perfect companion for Holmes. She rebels strongly against her bitter guardian and spends hours on end conversing with and learning from Sherlock Holmes. Mary is an early feminist and Holmes teaches her everything he can before she leaves for college in Oxford. It's sad that most of her teen years are skipped over with broad statements - I would have liked to have seen more of the young Mary. We fall in love with the gangly teenager and suddenly she's a woman who gives Holmes "apoplexy" when he first sees her again after her tranformation. The bulk of the book is set at a time when Mary is of college age.
The two soon have cases to solve - Mary isn't the "sidekick" of Holmes, like Dr. Watson had been - she's his partner and over the course of the book we see that she is becoming his equal in crime detection and his true friend in life. In many ways, she becomes the female Sherlock Holmes. In their crime detection, we follow them through a variety of disguises - from gypsies to transgendered dress.
Their first big case is the kidnapping of an American Senator's young daughter, which soon becomes apparent had a criminal mastermind behind it - the likes of which Holmes hasn't seen since Professor Moriarty. This foe escapes this time, but reappears later and seems to have studied Holmes thoroughly and is now out for Sherlock and everyone he cares about.
The book is not an Arthur Conan Doyle rip-off - though is definitely written in a similar style. If you have read any Sherlock Holmes stories, you will definitely feel like this picks up where they left off. But unlike the earlier stories, this Holmes has aged into a more subtle and infinitely more likeable, imperfect person. One of the reasons we like him is because he has such admiration and affection for his young colleague (our leading lady.) I know that in Doyle's Holmes, ego might not have allowed him to so easily brought on a young, female apprentice, but King's aging Holmes does it believably.
As with most first books to a collection, this one has some slight flaws, but overall is a great mystery. I can't wait to continue on to the rest of the series.
Posts
FYI--The Beekeeper's Apprentice is a *free* ebook at TheBeeisFree.com until 4/15!!
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting concept to me--this idea of picking up where someone else's books left off but giving it your own twist...I wonder if there are other examples of authors doing this, and I wonder what Doyle would say? If he'd appreciate the continuance or be annoyed that someone is biting off his original idea, however changed the end result is.
ReplyDelete