The regal pedigree of Lady Georgiana Rannoch plays out in many ways in this delightful series set in England and other fun destinations during the 1930s-usually serving to help Lady Georgie get either in or out of sticky situations, and definitely complicating her love life. Royal Flush (Her Royal Spyness Series) by Rhys Bowen While the first book delves the deepest into her background, the theme of Veronica’s genealogy continues to course through the series on different levels. With the help of a natural historian named Stoker who keeps his past secretive as well, Veronica works to evade her abductors and come to grips with her lineage on her own terms. The first book of this series set in Victorian England and featuring strong-willed, self-sufficient lepidopterist Veronica Speedwell finds her attempting to thwart those who want to keep her from discovering her true ancestry, and those who want her to know so they can exploit it. Who are the character’s people? Their relatives, their kin? What leaf are they on the family tree, and why does that become important? Why is their bloodline or pedigree so all-consuming, either to the character themselves, or to those people whose opinions and actions affect the character? As in the seven books I’m highlighting here, the answers to these genealogical questions are what serve as the roots of the plot and make the dirt that gets thrown (or dished) that much darker. Though as much as we might use the term “familial relationships,” in effect we’re talking genealogy. These ties serve to make for some of the story’s most complex interactions, and hence, some of the tautest situations and dialogue. Be it your classic sibling rivalry, a character acting out to get their parent’s attention, or in-fighting between family members or amongst cousins to inherit money, land, a title, or a company, the notion of familial links is strong. No matter the type of crime fiction, familial relationships are often the key factor in understanding why a bad deed is committed. Every book is a quotation and every house is a quotation out of all forests, and mines, and stone quarries and every man is a quotation from all his ancestors.
0 kommentar(er)
