Smith, Sarah - The Vanished Child

[oyceter]

(I think coffeeandink recced this two Thanksgivings ago. Look! I do remember recs; it just takes me a while to get to them?)

Eighteen years ago, wealthy William Knight was killed and his heir and possible witness to the murder, ten-year-old Richard Knight disappeared. His murder and Richard's disappearance were never solved. Later, for rather complicated reasons, Alexander von Reisden agrees to be introduced as the long-lost Richard and is thrust into the confusing family politics of the Knights.

The beginning of this book reminded me of Dickinson's Sleep and His Brother for some reason; either a) I have read so few mysteries that they all feel alike or b) there is some actual similarity in the feeling of oppressive secrecy and things unsaid. It really could be either. But the claustrophobic nature opens up slightly as Reisden gets more involved with elderly Gilbert Knight, who desperately wants him to be Richard; Gilbert's adopted heir Harry, who stands to inherit a lot if only Richard is finally declared dead; Richard's old doctor Charlie Adair; and Perdita Halley, Harry's fiancee, Charlie's niece, and Gilbert's daughter of the heart.

I generally don't read many mysteries because I tend to be far more interested in character than plot; what I love about this book is how it uses the mystery of Richard's disppearance and William's murder to reveal things about the characters. Reisden's presence unravels everything, even his own sense of identity, and he soon finds himself in much deeper than he expected. I also love the quiet way Perdita begins to grow and realize that maybe there are things about herself that she does not want to give up for marriage, even if Harry wants her to.

Spoilers

I did end up guessing the murderer once Charlie revealed information about Richard being beaten and the fate of the dog. Oh man, the dog. Evil bastard. But the nice thing about the book is that it continues after the big reveal, and the big reveal is far less important than the effect it has on all the people we've grown to care about.

Very good book full of lovely and quiet prose and things not mentioned in the open but explode anyway.

Links:
- rilina's review
- ginny_t's review

Comments

[riemannia.livejournal.com]

I was totally captivated by this book.

[oyceter]

Me too; I love the atmosphere and the characters and all the period details.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

I loved that book; the sequels not quite as much, but they're still good.

[oyceter]

Now that I know who's in the sequels, I am definitely picking them up! I've heard they're not as good, but would love more about the characters.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I loved this. The characters, the angst, the relationships, the details about being blind in that period (my Dad used to teach blind kids, so I know a bit about the history of that), the music, the understatement.

Unfortunately, I did not like the sequel very much at all, despite a lot of thematic and setting elements that I would have expected to like. I have the third book but haven't read it yet.

[oyceter]

Yes! I loved the details about being blind! Particularly because I used to obsessively read about Helen Keller when I was a kid; all the notes about Perkins and Braille and the placement of things was awesome.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Oh, and an interesting companion piece might be an older book, Josephine Tey's Brat Farrar, which has a very similar plot. Smith's is better, though, and honestly if I were to recommend a Tey to you I'd go with To Love and Be Wise.

[oyceter]

Oh huh! I didn't realize Tey was a mystery writer. What's To Love and Be Wise about?

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Yes, Tey is a mystery writer, but an unconventional one. To Love and Be Wise... um. What I think you'll like about it is completely spoilery; I would avoid reading reviews of it for that reason. But I think you'd get a kick out of it.

To Love and Be Wise

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Excerpted from my [very spoilery] review:

Tey is best-known for The Daughter of Time, in which her detective hero, Inspector Alan Grant, investigates the case of Richard III by reading history books while flat on his back in a hospital bed. Brat Farrar, an impersonation novel, is also quite good; and The Singing sands, starring Alan Grant again, is very atmospheric.

All of those have the feeling of traditional English murder mysteries, but not the basic "someone gets murdered in a country house" plot. Same with To Love and Be Wise, which was written in 1951: a time which overlaps with Agatha Christie, another classic English mystery writer.

Grant goes to a party, and spots a strikingly handsome young man, an American photographer named Leslie Searle. I cannot but read his policeman's observations as incredibly slashy:

Was it possible, Grant wondered, that those cheekbones were being wasted in a stockbroker's office? Or was it perhaps that the soft light of Messrs Ross and Cromarty's expensive lamps flattered that nice straight nose and the straight blonde hair and that the young man was less beautiful in the daylight?

Re: To Love and Be Wise

[oyceter]

Hee! That is great! I'll have to check for it at the library.

Re: To Love and Be Wise

[sarahtales.livejournal.com]

Go for Brat Farrar as well: the Vanished Child plot summary made me think of Brat - an awesome hero. Morally reprehensible and more or less incapable of facial expressions, and yet irresistibly dear to my heart.

Re: To Love and Be Wise

[oyceter]

Gotcha, thanks for the rec!

[jinian.livejournal.com]

I loved Perdita too. Very good book.

[oyceter]

I adore Perdita and am so glad that she didn't end up giving up piano.

[oracne.livejournal.com]

This is one of my favorite mysteries ever.

[oyceter]

It is really great! I love it a lot.