A century ago

One hundred years ago today King Tut's tomb was discovered. In celebration here's
a nibble from my next Sherlock Holmes tale, 

The Strange Case of the Pharaoh's Heart. 

"I have read since that Carter describes it as having a 'sad but tranquil expression.' True enough, but it’s also unnerving, those large eyes staring up at you from centuries past, the oddly delicate, almost feminine features. I will never be quit of that unyielding goldeface, nor the unasked question that seems to hang upon his lips."

Missed Opportunity?

 Let me get this out of the way: I hate to criticize, so let me just say after one episode that Netflix's The Irregulars is not my cup of tea. It's not your cup of tea. It's not a cup of tea at all. More like a cup of treacle, if I had ever tasted treacle, which I haven't, and I do not intend to test my simile.

But among its many apostasies from the Canon, one struck me. 

Girls. 

Girls in the Baker St. Irregulars.

And why not? Although Doyle only mentions boys, that doesn't actually preclude the possibility of girls in the group. He mainly refers to them as street arabs (a term which I suspect has fallen out of favor in our more enlightened times). And even if Holmes specifically required boys, who's to say that a young girl dressed as a boy wouldn't have escaped his notice? He wouldn't have strip-searched them. I think he left recruiting details up to Wiggins.

So why, pray tell, couldn't a motherless, nearly fatherless, ragamuffin girl of the streets been a member? 

A girl named Doolittle.

Eliza Doolittle.

Now, if this possibility had occurred to me when writing The Strange Case of Eliza Doolittle, would I have incorporated it into the book? Very possibly. It would be hard to resist. How much or how little would it have changed the telling? I'd hate to speculate here, because even speculation would require innumerable spoilers. I'll let you rewrite in your minds, as you're reading or re-reading the novel. And let you mull over the road not taken.

Review: Unnatural Creatures

 Unnatural Creatures begs to be compared with Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, because there’s a huge hole in both: the main character. The mover of events. And focusing instead on peripheral characters,  in both points up the artificial nature of a plot’s unraveling.  The main characters (in this case Victor Frankenstein’s mother Caroline, his future bride Elizabeth, and her malformed maid, Justine) are  largely cut off from knowledge of what causes the mayhem which claims them all. This isn’t merely a shifting of perspective: Victor Frankenstein and his creation are rarely on stage, or even in the same geographic location as our three heroines. The sources of his genius and his madness are obscured. The monster himself is only glimpsed at first, and he and his creator never share the stage.

All this would seem to be insurmountable obstacles to the story development. But Waldherr has created (or extrapolated) such complex, breathing characters that the hole at the center of her story becomes a whirling maelstrom which seeks to drown its main characters. Her secret is in placing the blame for the horrifying events which occur on Caroline, Elizabeth, and Justine in turn—in their own minds. Which leads them to struggle with their fates—fates laid down two centuries ago by Mary Shelley. The struggle is fascinating, not least because Waldherr coaxes forth a wholly original story which cheats the original. 

Does the monster have his revenge on his creator? Or is he tracked down and destroyed? Like I’m going to tell you. Unnatural Creatures is at its heart a magic show. I’d never reveal the magician’s secrets. What are you waiting for? Read it.

Unnatural Creatures can be found here on Amazon.

Listen up!

 It's finally here!

I have been listening to the brilliant rendition of my book The Strange Case of Eliza Doolittle by Peter Noble and I'm just delighted. I hope you will be, as well. This Sherlock Holmes novel available at all the usual suspects, including

Audible

Audiobooks

Amazon

...and other letters of the alphabet.