After seeing the BBC series of Inspector Lynley novels, I decided to download one to my Kindle and see how the novel differs from the series. A Great Deliverance is the second novel of George's I've read, though it's the first she had published.
I find it interesting that this novel became a best seller and launched George's career. The first half is well-written with Lynley and Havers well realized for the most part. If the first half had the problems the second half had, however, I don't think I would have finished it, and I suspect I wouldn't have read another one of her novels.
One problem I have with this and other eBooks is that publishers seem to have forgotten to edit them. If I download a novel for a dollar, or especially a free novel, then I overlook typos. George's novels aren't free and, in fact, aren't particularly inexpensive for older novels. A Great Deliverance was first published in 1988, for example. The editors have had 22 years to put apostrophes in contractions and to put spaces when scenes shift dramatically so that the reader isn't left thinking, "He said what?!" If publishers refuse to sell older novels of popular writers for less, then their quality should remain first rate.
That said, my real problems with the novel are these: George has too many story lines going, some of which add nothing to the overall novel and even detract from it. The whole Stepha plot adds nothing that her role as hostess did not fill. I don't see any reason for the melodramatic night with Lynley or the Ezra story. Worse, I wasn't convinced enough to suspend disbelief when she showed up at Lynley's door or when he opened the door to her room later and caught her with yet another man. He doesn't strike me as the kind of man who opens other people's bedroom doors without permission. Both of these scenes strike me as OSS (obligatory sex scenes), which publishers used to require. I'll give George the benefit of the doubt and blame that one on her publisher. Still, both scenes seem out of place and tacked on to the main story. The Ezra plot is also unnecessary and distracting, though it meshes with Stepha's story.
Which brings me to my second point: George relies too much on standard cliches. The American dentist is straight from a really bad sitcom, gold chain and all, and the horrendous crime itself seems to spring, like Venus, fully formed from a Law and Order rerun. He reads the Bible; therefore, he must molest children. I won't give the entire ending away. I'll only say that by the time George has revealed the depth of the crime, I found myself wondering how beyond the pale she would go. Interestingly, the BBC did not follow her either, perhaps because the producers feared audience backlash. Mystery is pretty tame by modern standards.
The final problem I have with this novel is that George hadn't figured Lynley out at this point. I don't think she could write well enough to show the complexity she wanted to give him, but I also think she didn't know him well enough in all of his complexity. She relies on the standard cliche of the Scarlet Pimpernel: a rich man who seems like a fop while in reality being a compassionate, intelligent man readers and other characters come to admire. Why not skip the fop part altogether?
Having said all of the above, I will also say that the seeds that flowered so well in her later novels--at least the ones I've read--are here: Havers is already fully realized, though her story isn't as believable as it could be either, and her relationship with Lynley starts to build nicely. George's portrayal of Bridie, a young girl, is wonderful, as is Bridie's conversation with Lynley.
I would advise people to read this one only if they want to read George's entire oeuvre. Otherwise, watch the BBC version and read the second novel.
No comments:
Post a Comment