WILL UNWOUND #147: “Will’s Mystery Project: Book 5 – ‘Maisie Dobbs’ by Jacqueline Winspear”
June 19, 2010How do you make sense of war?
There are basically two ways that authors look at war – as a strategic struggle between opposing military forces or as a personal struggle involving human beings. The very first book in the classical Western Canon, The Iliad, personalizes war. It’s a saga about the daring exploits of Agamemnon, Achilles, Ajax, and cohorts. Homer’s genius lies in his ability to capture the sadness of war along with its glories. A few books later in the canon, however, Herodotus and Thucydides present war as a struggle not between people but between countries and city states.
In college, how is war presented? In history classes it is looked at strategically, and in literature classes it is presented personally. Both traditions are important and both traditions need to be considered. If you want to understand the military and political aspects of World War I, try Winston Churchill’s monumental 6 volume history of the Great War, but if you want to know how that titanic struggle impacted individual lives I would recommend two novels by Ernest Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms.
In reflecting on the great classic novels of war it is striking how many of them emerged from World War I. The list is truly impressive: Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak; All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque; The Good Soldier Svejk by Jaroslav Hasek; Three Soldiers by John Dos Passos; and Le Feu by Henri Barbusse.
Why was World War I such a fertile ground for great novels? First, a serious literary culture existed in the first half of the 20th century. Books reigned supreme, and great authors were cultural heroes. Second, the world had never seen death and destruction on the scale of World War I. Could writers make sense of the carnage? Third, the war created an apocalyptic sense of political and social nihilism, a void that was filled by the emerging dictatorships in Russia, Germany, and Italy. Great literature thrives in a climate of searching and unrest.
Today, World War I has taken a back seat to World War II. The Great War is no longer so great. Look at the 20th century history shelves in your library. They are dominated by narratives, encyclopedias, atlases, histories, and memoirs about World War II. The World War I books merit maybe a mere shelf or two, and if you were to ask a random group of 100 library patrons to name the two sides in World War I you would come up empty 97% of the time.
This is one of the reasons I give special value to Jacqueline Winspear’s superb mystery, Maisie Dobbs. It is a compelling literary recreation of the World War I era and its aftermath, one that is much needed as we approach the 100th anniversary of the war. Actually to call this book a mystery is to limit its appeal. Winspear’s narrative weaves together elements of historical fiction, suspense, and romance into a whodunit plot that results in a resolution that draws you deeper into the unique atmosphere of the damaged souls who survived the Great War. This is a book that stays with you far longer than the average mystery.
Of all the five mysteries I have read so far this is the first one that has really touched my heart. Maisie Dobbs is a strong, bright, and competent Englishwoman, but as a battle front nurse who saw first hand the daily carnage of trench warfare, she is just one of several key characters whose soul bears the permanent scars of the horrific suffering that was World War I.
The book opens in London 11 years after the end of the war in 1929. Maisie is poised to take over the “Discreet Investigations” Agency, founded by her formidable mentor, Maurice Blanche, p.i. extraordinaire who in his heyday catered to the elite of Europe before retiring and handing the business over to Maisie.
Her first case is a tough one as a mystery that she needs to solve and as a personal tragedy that she is finally compelled to confront. Several facially scared veterans from the Great War are dying unexpectedly at a collective farm that serves as a much needed therapy retreat for them. Maisie’s job is to penetrate the veil of benevolence that shrouds the farm and uncover the evil that lurks within.
In a sad lesson of war, we learn that the murderer is as much a victim as a perpetrator. The lesson learned in this painfully revealing book is that wars never really end on the dates that the history books put forth.
I give Maisie Dobbs a four star salute **** and look forward to reading the next six books in the series.
QUESTION FOR THE UNWINDERS: The literature of war is extensive and diverse. It ranges in time from the Iliad in the 8th century BC to Gone With the Wind and beyond. What is the most memorable war book that you have read? Feel free to discuss mysteries set in wartime periods and feel free to transcend the mystery genre.
Thirty Seconds over Tokyo. I still remember scenes from that book, such as the bad smell in all the Chinese villages. It was the gangrene in how own leg, which had to be amputated. This was the first book I ever put on hold. I was in grade school. It cost me a dime at Tacoma Public in the pre Kevin Hegarty days. I still have a hard time believing he is gone. He was a great man.
Mick, this book brings back memories for me too. My school librarian recommended it to me in 7th grade and I too was touched by the vived scenes portrayed. Kevin Hegarty…rings a bell, but I can’t quite place him. Was he an Irishman with a larger than life personality? If he’s the person I recall, I can remember hearing a funny story about him using some very salty language at a Data Phase rep. Could he be the same guy? Wish I could give the exact quote but this is a family blog.
Oh, yeah! That’s him. Tacoma Public was one of the first libraries to automate. Kevin always like to be on the bleeding edge of technology. The transition process to Dataphase was not a smooth one. Kevin actually studied for the priesthood and walked a couple of weeks before taking vows. He always had rosary beads in his pocket. But he could use extremely colorful language. You did NOT want to be on the wrong side of him.
Good. I thought we were talking about the same guy. What’s he doing now…pushing daisies or retired?
Daisies, I’m afraid. He passed away almost a decade ago, left a seven year old son. He was one of those classic mentors to me. We shared a mutual fascination about computers in libraries. I never actually worked for him, but he managed to push me anyway.
Will, I tore through Winspear’s books. Wonderful and compelling reads. I predict you will enjoy Louise Penny as well. Have fun!
Tell me more about Louise Penny. Not familiar with her.
The Brutal Telling (on your list); A Rule Against Murder; The Cruelist Month; A Fatal Grace; Still Life are her books in chronological order. Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is the central character of each mystery.
Penny, a Canadian, is a former journalist. She makes me think of Christie’s more cerebral approach to writing. Her style is quiet and thoughtful, but like Christie, she can make you hold your breath with moments of nail-biting suspense. I like puzzles, and she has created some lovely doozies.
This one’s rises on my to read list. Thanks for the tip.
WWI is the forgotten war of the 20th century among Americans. It didn’t have the horrific impact upon us, both in terms of casualties and psychologically, as it did to Europeans, or leave a large number of young women of a generation unmarried due to the large numbers of men killed in the war. Tangible reminders remain in the cemetaries on the western front, the battlefield and cemetery tours that are a specialty of British tour companies, and the monuments to the dead, not only in communities all over Europe, but to employees of busineses and railroad stations.
Considering that she did not live through it, Jacqueline Winspear captures the aftermath of the war in Britain about as well as I’ve ever read it in any historical account. I’ve followed the series since the first book and it is not only one of the two series that I purchase in hardcover (the other is Peter Robinson’s Inspector Banks series), but I have also recommended it to friends.
Thanks, Denise. I believe that Winspear’s grandparents may have been WWI vets. She writes beautifully. I have always been interested in WWI because of a great aunt who was a nurse in France. Her stories intrigued me as a little boy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien
Good point, Dan. World War I had a big impact on Tolkien and his creation of the Middle Earth wars.
Onto the reading list it goes! I do hope you wind up disliking some of these books, Will, otherwise I’ll never get anywhere on my stacks of books to read! They’ll just keep growing and growing.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post. It’s a one star. Bet you can’t guess the author. You will definitely love Maisie Dobbs.
My favorite war story is definitely ENDER’S GAME, but that has absolutely nothing to do with WWI. I’ve read lots of memorable war stories, though. I guess war stories are often memorable. Great review, Will!
Elissa, good to hear from you. Hope things are shaping up. The question of the day can relate to any war even future wars. Ender’s Game is a great selection. Take care.
Cold War: John le Carre’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
The characters, the plotting, the tension capture the essence of this particular war. This story was written while the Cold War was still being played out and holds up incredibly well today. -Mary
Mary, it’s truly a classic. What a spellbinder. Great choice.
It isn’t a mystery, but Mark Twain’s The War Prayer is the most compelling work I’ve read about war. Twain economically described the toll faced by the losing side. He didn’t address the psychological and physical cost faced by the victors. Twain realized he could not publish War Prayer until after his death because “only dead men can tell the truth in this world.”
Hiroshima by John Hersey is a close second. I read both as a young person, which probably explains my long-held belief that war can’t be viewed as a viable solution.
Tangent: Recently I watched Standard Operating Procedure, a documentary about Abu Ghraib by Errol Morris. It may be flawed but no one is contending the chilling photos are bogus. I revisited Twain’s War Prayer at the end of the film.
Islibn…Twain’s War Prayer is one of the most powerful pieces of prose I’ve read. I read Hiroshima probably 45 years ago and it still haunts me.
Several books come to mind. Gone to Soldiers by Marge Piercy follows a large cast of characters through WWII. The book absolutely astonished me. Some characters only appeared for 3 or 4 pages, but were indelibly sketched. Years after reading it, there are scenes that are utterly clear in my mind. One character is a Marine who served in the Pacific, and I felt like I was right there with him in the jungle experiencing the horrors he went through. This book got mixed reviews, but I thought it was a masterpiece.
King Rat by James Clavell tells the story of American, Australian, & English soldiers in a Japanese concentration camp. Clavell based his novel on his own experiences as a POW during WWII. In addition to telling the men’s stories, he follows several of their wives & girlfriends during the years their men are imprisoned. Absolutely riveting.
If you haven’t read The Book Thief by Mark Zusak, you’ve missed a gem. Narrated by Death, this is the tale of a young girl in Nazi Germany sent to live with foster parents who end up hiding a Jew in their basement. The father, Hans Hubermann, is now one of my all-time favorite characters in fiction. The audio book version is stunning.
As you can tell, I love historical fiction set during WW II, but one of the most devastating short stories I ever read was about WWI. It’s a story in Had a Good Time by Olen Butler about an American mother who goes to the trenches in France to find her son. I read it on a plane and must have horrified my seatmate because the tears were just running down my face. It probably affected me so strongly because I have a son and could put myself in her place.
Anyway, back to mysteries. I think you’ll probably find some others that move you. Elizabeth George does that to me.
Karen…thank you so much for a wonderful comment with many good suggestions. Plus you have given me two topics to write about for the future: 1)books that stuck with you over many years, and 2) books that made you cry. You get a double shout-out. Thanks.
Thank you for verbalizing Maisie Dobb’s impact so well. I’ve thought this book and series phenomenal since I read the first one. The one that just came out is sitting on Mt. Bookpile calling my name. When you get to the rest, you might want to couple them with Anne Perry’s World War I series. It starts at the spark off of the war and continues on through the battles both on land and sea. There is an over arcing story in the five books as well as an intriguing mystery in each. Reading both series together gives an even better picture of that war.
One of the best war novels I have read is Gone With the Wind. Even though we don’t see much fighting (as we don’t in Maisie Dobbs) the American Civil War shapes that epic novel. Of course at more than 1,000 pages in size 8 font, the modern reader may shy away from this. But I re-read it last year, and it’s as good as ever.(It also is the book featured in this week’s Unshelved book review.)
Oh, yeah, I noticed another Vicki on Fantasy Friday, so I guess it’s time to separate our personas.
Vicki, thanks for the tip on Anne Perry. She moves up the list.
I read mostly about what was happening in the lives of the home folk especially during WWII. Most recently Joanne Harris’ FIVE QUARTERS OF THE ORANGE. Set in the Loire region of France during the German occupation. Also the THE GUERNSEY LITERARY & POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY by
Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows set in occupied UK Guernsey Island. Funny title but touching book. You didn’t ask for movies/TV series, but I have to also plug “Foyle’s War”(written by Anthony Horowitz) a multi-season PBS offering featuring the war time doings of Detective Chief Inspector Christopher Foyle (Michael Kitchen) fighting ordinary crime during an unordinary time—and always the impact of war present.
Recently for book group read RED BADGE OF COURAGE and found it quite moving. Stunning in its depiction of the total confusion and bewilderment that ensues during face to face combat. Also the heartbreak of mothers sending sons—Henry’s mother begs him to send her his socks when they need mending so he won’t have to wear socks with holes in them. Such a small and futile worry—-but what else could she verbalize?
Wynette, speaking of video productions, I believe PBS did a wonderful mini series on the occupation of the Channel Islands entitled “Island at War.”
I will look for that one! Thanks! Just got home from our family Father’s Day celebration—-so remembering to wish YOU and all the Dad-types on the Unwinders a HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!
Thanks, Wynette. If you haven’t seen Island at War, you have a real treat coming. If your library doesn’t have it, I’m sure Netflix does.
So glad you liked Maisie Dobbs. Your review is amazing. And what a great car she drives!
Most memorable war books:
Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo. I had disturbing dreams for months. I read it in high school during the Vietnam War, before I saw the movie.
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.
Jane, thanks for the nice compliment. Too bad about Dalton Trumbo getting blacklisted for alleged communist leanings…one of the great disgraces in American history.
Thanks for this interesting thread of discussion.
I would say Remarque’s “A Time to Love and a Time to Die” and “All Quiet on the Western Front” are the most memorable war novels I personally have read. They are so horribly vivid that horrible scenes he wrote of appear in my head while I write this. He covered what happened to those who lived too, often in misery from war wounds or poverty. Everyone should HAVE to read them BEFORE going to war & all presidents should have to read them before being elected.
Thanks, Brenda. “All Quiet” may be the greatest war novel of all time.
I strike out on this one. I was trying to remember the name Johnny got his gun. I’m glad Jane has a better memory than me! How about Catch 22? I think I only skimmed it (and the skimming was real fast) but it seems to describe the absurd horror of war. I guess it doesn’t exactly apply, but Diary of Anne Frank covers the Dutch experience of WWII at least some. And certainly Anne’s own experiences were directly from war.
Joan …Diary of Anne Frank is one of the most important documents to come out of WWII. Thanks for mentioning Catch 22. It was about WWII but spoke most directly to Vietnam.
Catch 22 did sound more Vietnam, didn’t it? I have a feeling that a lot of our newly made Vets might find it meaningful to them as well. If I were the publisher, I’d update the cover and reprint it. And BTW Tim, I never made my way through Catch 22 either. But I think the whole maddening aspect of it was the theme of the book.
I re-read Anne a ton as a teenager and then went on to read many other books about her life. I have often seen teen girls reaching for Anne and comments from them make it pretty clear it isn’t their first time with Anne. It is trite in a way, but I think the 13 yr olds are identifying more with Anne’s troubles with her Mom. Now that I think about it, I don’t think I remember seeing teen boys reach for the diary. Too bad.
BTW there is plenty of fighting in some of the Falco mysteries if I recall correctly. I mean professional fighting, not merely street brawls which are fairly common in Falco’s world too. Oops, I don’t mean WWF type professional! I mean fighting with armed forces. It has been a day and I give up. I think my meaning can be untangled and if not dear Unwinders just skip and give me another chance another day to show I belong in this august group and can communicate somewhat adequately.
Jess, I sometimes find Google downright impertinent in some of the assumptions it tries to make! Chalk up WWI discrimination to that as well!
I always come late to these discussions, but I wanted to mention Anne Frank. It made an indelible impression on me and though I tried I couldn’t get my sons to read it. I guess it appeals to girls only. I think it should be required reading for all teenagers (and adults if they haven’t already read it.)
I was unimpressed with Maisie, but after everyone’s wonderful comments, I’m going to get the next one. Maybe like Elizabeth Peters she’ll grow on me.
Norman Mailer’s The Naked and the Dead was the first book about war I had to read in high school. That I actually enjoyed it surprised me. It vividly illustrated the ugliness of war. It is not a book for those who love a heartwarming story filled with heroes. I credit it with helping to form my peacenik psyche. It is still the first recommendation that comes to my mind when a patron asks for a good WWII novel. 2nd is Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.
Leigh…great choices. The Naked and the Dead is in my war top 3.
Aw, man. I Googled “two sides in wwi” and the first thing Google asks me is, “Did you mean ‘two sides in wwii?’” Poor WWI just can’t get a break.
“Slaughterhouse Five” is the war novel that made the deepest impact on me. I got about 2/3rds of the way through and had to stop; it was too intense (and I am, uh, slightly more intense than the average person. *ahem*)
Poetry-wise, Galway Kinnell’s “The Book of Nightmares” made an indelible impression. “Lieutenant! This corpse will not stop burning!”… it’s powerful stuff from a powerful poet.
Jess, ya gotta love a search engine that initiates a dialog. Who needs reference librarians? Slaughterhouse 5 was an important book for me because it led me to do a lot of research into the fierce Allied firebombings of Germany and Japan. These bombings were far worse than the London blitz of 40 and 41. Speaking of war poetry did you ever read any of Dylan Thomas’ poems from WWII?
Huh. Weirdly, no. I’ve read some Thomas, but not those; I’ll check them out. Thanks for the heads-up!
I love Maisie Dobbs & push the series to patrons a lot. I’m interested to see how Winspear will approach WW II as the series progresses (she tackles the post WW I years very well).
“Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society” told history in a very approachable manner, which as a history major I appreciated since textbooks–and some historians!–tend to make it a dry subject. As far as war-related novels go, Herman Wouk’s “Winds of War” and “War & Remembrance” quickly come to mind as two of the earliest I read (before the not nearly as good mini-series) but I also liked Nevil Shute’s “The Pied Piper”. Hmm, may have to see if I can ILL from somewhere to see if I still feel the same way about it.
CarolAnn…Thanks for bringing up Wouk. His WWII novels are excellent. I read them both.
Too many!
Growing up, I thought the book The Upstairs Room by Johanna Reiss was a fantastic book. Catch-22 and Slaughterhouse Five, of course, are not just two of the best books written around war but in the top lists of best books ever written. People here have heard me gush about The Kindly Ones, but it still is the best Historical Fiction book I’ve ever read.
For nonfiction, I’ve read too many (History background) to casually think back and recommend the very very best. Off the top of my head, The Great War and Modern Memory by Paul Fussell is a phenomenal book examining literature, correspondence, movies, etc. on war during the war and what it represented as both an individual and social commentary on war. Saul Friedlander’s opus broken up into two volumes, Nazi Germany and the Jews vol. 1 & 2, is the one of the first books to combine first-hand correspondence of both the Nazis and the Jewish citizens, allowing the reader to see the breakdown from both perspectives. The last one I’ll recommend (for today) is The Struggle for Mastery Over Europe: 1848-1918 by A.J.P. Taylor. His writing style is fluid and electric, making the complexities and complications of late 19th century Europe actually understandable!
ry…this truly is an impressive list. BTW, Paul Fussell was a very interesting narrative character on Ric Burns’ documentary, The War.
thanks for the info! Now I have to see it!
Journey to Topaz by Yushiko Uchida – read this book when I was middle school age and was completely shocked. It was the first time I had heard anything of the Japanese Internment camps in the US. I hope Social Studies curricula have been improved since then.
I was one of those kids that read lots of WWII novels. My favorites were When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and Fly Away Home (There are lots of books with this name. The WWII one was written by Christine Nostlinger.)
As an adult, I was unexpectedly moved by March by Geraldine Brooks. It really explored the complexities of war. I also like (well, like isn’t really the correct word since reading them is painful)war books of hope, such as The Bite of the Mango and Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust, both written by survivors of genocide in Africa who have still managed to have hope for the future. These two books aren’t novels, though.
Susan, thanks for mentioning so many richly textured books about man’s inhumanity to man. I am impressed with the range of your reading. Hope you stick with the blog. You are a definite resource.
I loved Maisie Dobbs and enjoy suggesting it to others. Anne Perry’s WWI 5-volume series I thought gave a good feeling for life in the trenches. Horrifying! (though I think her other series are better as examples of the mystery genre)
My favorite war fiction is “The Killer Angels” which focuses on the battle of Gettysburg. My favorite war nonfiction is “The Guns of August” which really explains the “inevitability” of WWI.
Donna…thanks for mentioning Guns of August. It truly is one of the great war books of all time. Should be required reading for all presidents and prime ministers.
I’ve been reading this blog since almost day one — always a “lurker”, but I just couldn’t pass up the chance to jump in with some of my favorite titles that invoke the horrendous effects of war. Interestingly, many of them are older titles that I read when I was much younger and they still resonant with me. Jacqueline Winspear’s books and Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell book, Justice Hall, are just the newest on the list:
Silver Sword by Ian Serraillier, also called Escape from Warsaw, was probably the first war story I read as a child (says something about how old I am, I guess)
Wild Place by Kathryn Hulme (author of The Nun’s Story) that is about the displacement camps in Europe after the war ended
Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom that shows there were Christians dying for their beliefs
Hiroshima by John Hersey, as mentioned in an earlier post
Righteous Gentile: the story of Raoul Wallenberg -before there was Schindler’s List
Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain
and, of course, James Hilton’s Mrs. Miniver and Random Harvest (both the books and the movies)
Thanks for the excellent blog and facinating comments. I enjoy them greatly.
I remember my mom talking about “The Hiding Place” when I was a kid. I’ll have to seek it out.
I am embarrassed to admit this but I had not actually read Angel by Elizabeth Taylor when I recommended it, I was simply trying to fill in your list and I looked up her books on Amazon and it sounded good. I checked it out from my public library and read it all the way through. It is a DRAG!!! THERE IS NO MYSTERY! (unless the mystery is how it got published in the first place). I was bummed. If you want I’ll give a summary but I don’t wanna ruin it in case you’re stubborn and wanna leave it on there if your list is now ‘written in stone’ and you wanna give it the “old college try”. Hope you’re enjoying your current book.
Belatedly, since I was on vacation and don’t read e-mail when out of the office. Full Stop.
Level 7 – the most impact for the least amount of pages as commentary on MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) and/or the Cold War that I’ve ever read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Level_7
Also, only if you take it as a sub-text on Bio-war; Earth Abides. Regardless, one of the best of all time in the genre.
John B
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_Abides
If you like Maisie Dobbs you should try The Crimson Rooms by Katharine McMahon set in 1924 and Touchstone by Laurie R. King set in 1926. Both examine the aftermath of the war around a mystery plot. Another favorite author of historical set mysteries is Marjorie Eccles. Shadows and Lies is a great mystery set around the Boer War in 1896 and The Shape of Sand is set in the early days of the 20th century and 30 years later. Another great one is A Beautiful Place to Die set in South Africa in 1952. The writing on effects of Apartheid on a rural community is exceptional.
Just finished the first of the Maisie Dobbs books! Thanks to all of you who suggested this series. I am hooked!