My Meets-In-Real-Life-And-Drinks-Wine-And-Is-Supes-Fun book club selected The Moonstone for our December meeting, which I was ecstatic about because I am an honorary member of the Cult of Wilkie, having read and loved The Woman in White. This dude writes THE SHIT out of some campy Victorian mysteries.
So! The Moonstone is a Very Large Yellow Diamond stolen from the head of the statute of a Hindu moon god in India by a Very Nasty Englishman. The diamond makes its way back to England, where it ends up in the house of a posh, respectable family who do posh, respectable things. NATCH, the rock is cursed (ish) and all sorts of icky badness RAINS DOWN on the heads of our saucy heroine and her noble love interest. There is also a butler who opens to random pages of Robinson Crusoe when he needs wisdom (kinda like my grandma used to do with the Bible), and a clinically depressed reformed thief/wannabe temptress with a wonky shoulder, AND AND AND a band of ROVING ORIENTALS (Wilkie's word, that one) out to return the diamond to its rightful place at all costs. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT, PEOPLE?
Predictably, there is a good bit of ZEE ROMANCE a la Victoriana- you know what I mean, lots of tension that happens whilst doing something harmless like drinking tea or taking a walk. Lots of DECLARING OF LOVE at inopportune moments, lots of pining, lots of waiting hopelessly for years for your beloved, lots of self-sacrifice, etc., etc.
Impressively, the story is told from several first person points of view, so you get the history of the diamond from eye witnesses. Now, I knew Mr. Wilkie was the master of the sorta-tawdry-and-therefore-awesome mystery, but I did NOT know the man could write such distinct voices so well. We move from an aging butler to a religious fanatic spinster to a respectable lawyer to a charming rogue-hero type, and each character is completely distinguishable from the next. Whattaya know- you come for the murder/mayhem and you stay for the impressive literary skillz.
So, if you're ever in the market for a Charles Dickens-meets-Agatha-Christie-meets-melodramatic-gothic-novelist, Wilkie's your guy.
Four stars out of your mom, mostly because of the butler and the funny things he says about marriage.
So! The Moonstone is a Very Large Yellow Diamond stolen from the head of the statute of a Hindu moon god in India by a Very Nasty Englishman. The diamond makes its way back to England, where it ends up in the house of a posh, respectable family who do posh, respectable things. NATCH, the rock is cursed (ish) and all sorts of icky badness RAINS DOWN on the heads of our saucy heroine and her noble love interest. There is also a butler who opens to random pages of Robinson Crusoe when he needs wisdom (kinda like my grandma used to do with the Bible), and a clinically depressed reformed thief/wannabe temptress with a wonky shoulder, AND AND AND a band of ROVING ORIENTALS (Wilkie's word, that one) out to return the diamond to its rightful place at all costs. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT, PEOPLE?
Predictably, there is a good bit of ZEE ROMANCE a la Victoriana- you know what I mean, lots of tension that happens whilst doing something harmless like drinking tea or taking a walk. Lots of DECLARING OF LOVE at inopportune moments, lots of pining, lots of waiting hopelessly for years for your beloved, lots of self-sacrifice, etc., etc.
Impressively, the story is told from several first person points of view, so you get the history of the diamond from eye witnesses. Now, I knew Mr. Wilkie was the master of the sorta-tawdry-and-therefore-awesome mystery, but I did NOT know the man could write such distinct voices so well. We move from an aging butler to a religious fanatic spinster to a respectable lawyer to a charming rogue-hero type, and each character is completely distinguishable from the next. Whattaya know- you come for the murder/mayhem and you stay for the impressive literary skillz.
So, if you're ever in the market for a Charles Dickens-meets-Agatha-Christie-meets-melodramatic-gothic-novelist, Wilkie's your guy.
Four stars out of your mom, mostly because of the butler and the funny things he says about marriage.