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Thrones, Dominations (Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane #1)

Dorothy L. Sayers,

Jill Paton Walsh

Start date: January 9, 2017

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Nov 15, 2011 Tracey rated it liked it

Shelves: mystery, another-author-s-characters, completed-posthumously, hist-myst

This is going to be long. I read Thrones, Dominations not too long after it first came out; this is a second reading, and first review.

Of Thrones, Dominations, Dorothy L. Sayers "had written six rough chapters, and devised a plot diagram in coloured inks. When sixty years later a brown paper parcel containing a copy of the manuscript turned up in her agent's safe in London, her literary trustees commissioned Jill Paton Walsh to complete it."

I don't know.

No, that's not true – I do. This is no ...more

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Sep 06, 2019 Zander rated it liked it

While most people will probably read this book because they are fans of Wimsey and be disappointed I found the changes made in Wimsey to make it more enjoyable to read. The Peter and Harriet of these books are not really either soley Sayers or new authors. They are an extension of the married couple of Busman's holiday which Sayers saw as the happily-ever-after and the end of Harriet's story but of course marriage is only the beginning of the three relationships, the couple together and them as While most people will probably read this book because they are fans of Wimsey and be disappointed I found the changes made in Wimsey to make it more enjoyable to read. The Peter and Harriet of these books are not really either soley Sayers or new authors. They are an extension of the married couple of Busman's holiday which Sayers saw as the happily-ever-after and the end of Harriet's story but of course marriage is only the beginning of the three relationships, the couple together and them as individuals now leading that dual existence. So I don't mind the change of in their attitudes especially Peter. If this had actually been finished in 1938 I don't think Peter would be that much changed in his views in proper behaviour of the servant class or of his new wife keeping her professional independence.
It's reported the first six chapters are all Sayers and I have to say they dragged on for me as they often do with actual mysteries written by the greats in the 1930's with all the set up. I felt knocked off the head with how much the other couple loved each other and was not surprised at all by who the murderer was or how it happened. I was more surprised by ignorant of criminal mind they were but then again that was a novel thing even then.
It's pretty clear the plot introduced to by the contemporary writer. There is no way there would have been any plot about Edward and Simpson, the upcoming war nor even the casual reference to the King's death as all of that would not be considered appropriate or publishable at that time.

Any book written in the present about these characters will not be written with the mindset of someone who was actually a contemporary but someone looking back with hindsight even if they are trying to keep the tone and characters.

I quite liked the new characters of Mango and Bunter's wife but it was odd to see Bunter off stage as if the author didn't know how to write him at all. I always understand why Peter was the way he was and how even Sayers knew that he was a dying breed she didn't know just how true that was. Any books now will have that knowledge and there is no way it wouldn't seep it's way into the writing.

The writing was decent although the self referential bits about how things would be in a novel compared to reality and other winks to the reader got annoying.

All in all it's not a bad book just rather forgettable. ...more

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