To understand, allow me to introduce you to Maisie Dobbs, "psychologist and investigator. I love a sense of place, geographically speaking. Well described locations in novels help me become easily lost in them. When I visualize places, I thoroughly enjoy what I read. It is easy for me to be familiar with situations in the first Windspear novels. I lived in Kent, England which Maisie regularly visits in the series.
I traveled periodically up to London by train. I did some explored off-the-beaten-track locations similar to those Maisie knew. Maisie also served as a nurse in France see images of period nurses' uniforms below. Maisie was born the daughter of a costermonger seller of fruits and vegetables and lost her mother, through death, at an early age.
Masie ultimately went into household service and spent her early life as a maid in an upper-class London household. Kent, the Garden of England, is the site of many stately homes.
It is easy to imagine Masie working in any one of them. If a book's setting is a place I've never visited, I quickly find locations that the author describes. Movement in a series is easily traced by referring to maps as paper copies or on the internet. I love the feeling of visiting a time out of history whether it's the 'Great War" and its aftermath as depicted by Winspear, or Masie's further adventures during the later part of the 20th century.
And finally, excellent research knits location and time together in a believable whole. Winspear excels here whether it is using her family experiences, delving into Kentish places or spending hours in libraries or archives. Winspear excels at creating believable plots based on tidbits, not grandiose issues. She sets out to describe and define her characters based not on blood and gore situations, but rather intimate details. Maisie uses those psychological items that are so good at allowing readers to understand the plot, ferreting out the culprits.
Winspear's characters are true-to-life, whether she describes Maurice Blanche, her mentor and tutor, Lord Julian and Lady Rowan Compton who present Maisie with the necessary means to obtain a university education or her right-hand man Billy Beale, who appears in later books of the series, and ultimately how she sets herself up in business. We meet many ordinary people who become fascinating because of Winspear's descriptions.
There are fifteen books in the series so far. All are meticulously researched. Each can stand alone, but readers gain more of a sense of the main character, Maisie, as well as her time and place if they begin reading the series with book 1 "Masie Dobbs. Some critics and reviewers have stated that they really didn't know much about the characters at the end of the book. Perhaps this is because Maisie does not come across to readers like me as an especially warm person.
She holds a great bit of her emotional self back, likes to stay in control of both professional and personal situations, and even sets about arranging life for some of those close to her in a manner which she feels is best for them.
I can not help but wonder if this is not necessarily a defect on the author's part, but rather a part of who Maisie is because of both her experiences as a youth and then in the war.
Winspear certainly does have me beguiled. Some readers have complained that the first book is "choppy. Her inquiries take her to a picturesque village in Kent during the hop-picking sea On the way to see a client, Maisie Dobbs witnesses a man commit suicide on a busy London street.
The following day, the Prime Minister's office receives a letter threatening a massive loss of life if certain demands are not met August As Michael Clifton is mapping land he has just purchased in California's beautiful Santa Ynez Valley, war is declared in Europe -- and duty-bound to his father's native country, the young cartographer soon sets sail for England to serve In the summer of , the career of psychologist and investigator Maisie Dobbs takes an exciting new turn when she accepts an undercover assignment from the British Secret Service.
Sent to pose as a junior lecturer at a private college in Cambridge, Early April To the costermongers of Covent Garden -- sellers of fruits and vegetables on the London streets -- Eddie Pettit was a gentle soul with a near-magical gift for working with horses.
So who would want to kill him The year is Maisie Dobbs is contacted by an Indian gentleman who has come to Eng Four years after she set sail from England, leaving everything she most loved behind, Maisie Dobbs at last returns, only to find herself in a dangerous place.
On a fine yet chilly morning, as she Sunday September 3rd Francesca Thomas Maisie Dobbs - one of the most complex and admirable characters in contemporary fiction Richmond Times Dispatch - faces danger and intrigue on the home front during World War II. During the months following Britain's declaration of war on German When Cath Book 9.
Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear. Early April, Shelve Elegy for Eddie. Book Shelve Leaving Everything Most Loved. A Dangerous Place by Jacqueline Winspear. Maisie Dobbs returns in a powerful story of politi… More.
Shelve A Dangerous Place. Journey to Munich by Jacqueline Winspear. Working with the British Secret Service on an unde… More. Shelve Journey to Munich. Sunday September 3rd At the moment Prime Mi… More. Shelve In This Grave Hour. Shelve To Die But Once. The American Agent by Jacqueline Winspear. Shelve The American Agent. The Consequences of Fear by Jacqueline Winspear. Shelve The Consequences of Fear.
A Sunlit Weapon by Jacqueline Winspear. In the latest installment of the New York Times be… More.
0コメント