SOLVED. Lord Peter Wimsey & Uncle Paul Delagardie conversation. [s]

[Estencele]

I'm trying to remember a Lord Peter Wimsey novel by Dorothy Sayers. I thought the opening scene was a multiple-page conversation over (lunch?) with his Uncle Paul Delagardie. Perhaps the conversation was set in Paris? One of the subjects was Peter's love life, so it would have been set pre-Busman's Honeymoon.

I was wanting to re-read that specific story... but all the Sayers books I'm pulling off my own shelf have no Paul Delagardie opening scene.

What book am I thinking of? Clouds of Witness opens in Paris, but they almost instantly return home because of Gerald. I think I've checked all the Peter/Harriet books where their love life is a major theme. I've tried a few others, and no luck.

Thanks for the help!

[SamSpayedPI]

The only novel I remember with Uncle Paul in an opening scene is Thrones, Dominations, and he talking with other people, not Lord Peter.

Perhaps you're remembering the letters Uncle Paul wrote to Harriet and Peter (in French) in Busman's Honeymoon?

Or perhaps you're thinking about a short story?

[Estencele]

I was thinking part of their discussion touched on Peter's opera-singer mistress who had been discarded because of her cruelty to her maid, and whether he had plans to replace her because he hadn't yet, but I couldn't remember exactly.

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

And as a reminder, you're looking for another Peter Wimsey story here:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Estencele]

Yes, I never did find that one... :)

I need to start writing down my own plot summaries of all the books I read that I want to re-read scenes from... :)

[Estencele]

And I do want to say, my impression was that the story was set after he met Harriet (post-Strong Poison), but before she had warmed up to him sufficiently to accept his proposal (pre-Gaudy Night). And also that the story itself didn't really deal with Harriet or Peter's love life at all--- just the conversation was the only bit that anchored it in that time period when Peter was giving Harriet the space she wanted. But I could very much be wrong on both those points.

[SamSpayedPI]

Maybe you're thinking of the "Biographical Note, communicated by Paul Austin Delagardie"? It's not a conversation with Lord Peter, though, just a sort of a "letter to the reader."

It appears as a preface in some editions of some novels, so you might be remembering it as a first chapter. Unfortunately, it's often included in reissues of early novels, in which it would contain a number of spoilers.

Here's a copy: http://detective.gumer.info/anto/saye...

Or if the moderators erase that one, here's one from the internet archive. This is from a copy of Unnatural Death, in which it appears as an afterword (p. 246): https://archive.org/details/unnatural... .

You need to be a member of the Internet Archives to borrow books, but membership is free; you only need to give them an e-mail address. Also, if it's in the Internet Archive, it's likely in Open Library as well.

[Estencele]

SamSpayedPI, that might actually be it. When I first started reading it, I thought, "Nahhhh." But when I got deeper into it, I wasn't so sure. It's the right time period and hits on a lot of the conversational topics that I was remembering--- but couldn't remember how the conversation itself had been structured to make such an open conversation about his previous affairs make sense. But... if it wasn't a conversation in the first place, and was instead a quick sketch in a letter to the reader... that was how she pulled it off!

I'll call it solved and close the thread! Thanks! I really appreciate it!

[Kris]

Glad you found your book, Estencele. Which book on Goodreads should we add to the header? Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers?

[SamSpayedPI]

Estencele wrote: "Thanks! I really appreciate it!"

You're welcome -- glad you found your book!

Kris wrote: "Which book on Goodreads should we add to the header? Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers?"

The bio was written in 1935, but appears as an afterword or a foreword in later editions of several previously published novels. I'd say Unnatural Death is as good as any, since it's in my public library's e-book edition of it, as well as the Internet Archive copy listed above. But it won't be included in every edition of Unnatural Death.

[Estencele]

Was it originally written for Clouds of Witness by Dorothy Sayers?

http://thepeterwimseyreader.blogspot....

But that was originally written in 1926?

I don't think I have a personal copy of that one to check.

==edit==
You're totally right (of course)! :)

And re-looking at the timeline with my brain plugged in, 1935 would make sense, since it totally spoilers how Strong Poison (1930) leaves them, but before how they've evolved by the end of Gaudy Night (1935). I just read the snippet and my brain stopped thinking. :) Thanks!

[SamSpayedPI]

Estencele wrote: "Was it originally written for Clouds of Witness by Dorothy Sayers?"

No. It wasn't written until 1935, but publishers included as an afterword or a foreword in later editions of several previously published novels (as a spoiler in many of them, since Lord Peter hadn't even met Harriet yet).

Kris: do you need to post the default edition in the header? If you post Unnatural Death (New English Library 1972), I know that edition contains the note.

[Kris]

I just checked and the same default version of Unnatural Death by Dorothy L. Sayers appears for me. (Btw, I removed the series reference which sometimes helps to avoid duplicates in the group bookshelf. Of course, Goodreads may change the default version in the future.) I think having a link back to this thread is sufficient.