The Leavenworth Case, Week 3 Book III - Hannah

[☯Emily , The First]

We discuss Book 3, Hannah, in this section. There is only 7 chapters, so it should be an easy read.

[☯Emily , The First]

Amy Belden stated that Hannah could not read. How then could Hannah write a note? The narrator is not too swift upstairs.

[Sara]

Raymond is obviously a man driven by his emotions and not his acumen. He swallows any line that might incriminate someone other than the Leavenworth cousins, regardless of how far-flown.

I was not expecting the murder of Hannah and rather thought that she was going to show up at the end to explain things, so my hat was off to Green for adding this interesting twist to the tale.

If you read this work without letting go of the knowledge that this was among the first detective novels ever written, it seems a lot less cliche and a great deal more exciting. She had a vivid imagination and a great mind for developing her red herrings. You can surely see a lot of her in the later writers of detective stories like Christie.

[☯Emily , The First]

Sara, you are absolutely right. We have to remember when she wrote when evaluating the book. Those cliches we see were not cliches when she wrote the book. Instead, they were seen as new and exciting. In 1878, the detective fiction was still a young genre.

My book has an introduction by Michael Sims. He says this about Agatha Christie: "Christie adopted Green's habit of telling a story mostly in dialogue and even her gimmick of having characters misconstrue what they overhear. Christie, Conan Doyle, and others also followed Green's example in employing what would later be called a multimedia text." (Examples would be using diagrams and handwriting samples.)

[Anastasia Kinderman, The Only]

☯Emily wrote: "Amy Belden stated that Hannah could not read. How then could Hannah write a note? The narrator is not too swift upstairs."

That's what I was wondering while reading that part lol

[Anastasia Kinderman, The Only]

What does everyone else think about Mary?

My impression is that she's very spoiled.

[☯Emily , The First]

She is spoiled and arrogant, but she realizes she is that way. Perhaps that will help her become more likable and humble.

[Sara]

Anastasia wrote: "What does everyone else think about Mary?

My impression is that she's very spoiled."

Yes, very spoiled because of her promised inheritance and also because of her beauty. Sad to say, but people do treat the beautiful as if they are better, regardless of whether their personalities merit it. I personally have never had to struggle with either of these problems, lol.

[Sara]

☯Emily wrote: "She is spoiled and arrogant, but she realizes she is that way. Perhaps that will help her become more likable and humble."

I do think we are meant to see her as sincerely contrite and ashamed of herself in the end.

[Anastasia Kinderman, The Only]

Sara wrote: "Anastasia wrote: "What does everyone else think about Mary?

My impression is that she's very spoiled."

Yes, very spoiled because of her promised inheritance and also because of her beauty. Sad to..."

There were several times where, if she'd been ugly, I felt like people would have had different reactions to her.

[Anastasia Kinderman, The Only]

Sara wrote: "☯Emily wrote: "She is spoiled and arrogant, but she realizes she is that way. Perhaps that will help her become more likable and humble."

I do think we are meant to see her as sincerely contrite a..."

I agree :)