I recently read, with great pleasure, Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers. I knew when I picked it up that it was part of a series – and I was pretty sure I had read at least one other Lord Peter Wimsey mystery, though now I just think that I have seen them discussed and meant to read at least one often enough that I fooled myself. The point is, I knew it wasn’t the first in the series, but that was fine, as mysteries tend to be reasonably episodic, even when they have continuing characters. This one was highly recommended by a bookseller I trust at a
So up until about a year ago I would have agreed with you wholeheartedly. Gaudy Night is definitely the peak of the romance. However, rereading Busman’s Honeymoon was a surprisingly moving experience now that I’m a 40-something in a long-term relationship. What had struck me as annoying in my teens and twenties became a sympathetic portrait of trying to maintain your identity in a highly constricted social role, and I could finally read some of Peter’s behavior for what it is - not glib eccentricity but PTSD and all that it produces. It’s almost uncomfortable reading at times, but it feels personal to Sayers and thus very human.
So up until about a year ago I would have agreed with you wholeheartedly. Gaudy Night is definitely the peak of the romance. However, rereading Busman’s Honeymoon was a surprisingly moving experience now that I’m a 40-something in a long-term relationship. What had struck me as annoying in my teens and twenties became a sympathetic portrait of trying to maintain your identity in a highly constricted social role, and I could finally read some of Peter’s behavior for what it is - not glib eccentricity but PTSD and all that it produces. It’s almost uncomfortable reading at times, but it feels personal to Sayers and thus very human.
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