The Mystery of Edwin Drood: A Review

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The North Carolina Ice Storm—which I’ve heard called Icetastophy—came through the South this week. And I can tell you this California girl was FREEZING! Thank goodness I didn’t have to leave the house. It gave me the chance to catch up on things like housework, schoolwork and, oh yeah, writing. I also had a chance to finally finish the BBC miniseries The Mystery of Edwin Drood (2012).

My older son and I sat down and watched part one months ago. Maybe even six months ago. For some reason, we never took the time to finish it. Can you tell we were riveted? So yesterday I remedied that problem.

For those of you who don’t know, The Mystery of Edwin Drood is adapted from the Charles Dickens novel of the same name. The thing about this novel is that it was unfinished at the time of Dickens’ death so there have been speculations ever since that time as to how the master would have concluded the story. Imagine reading this story in installments and in 1870 it just stops after twenty-something chapters due to the author’s death. And no ending?! Can you imagine the fan-fiction we’d have today?

A summary of the plot: An opium-addicted man, John Jasper, envisions murdering his nephew (Edwin Drood) who is engaged to Rosa whom Jasper is secretly in love with.  Edwin disappears and the rest of the story concerns discovering his whereabouts or his body.

You can see how an unfinished story of this kind would baffle readers for generations. In fact, it has been nearly 150 years and academics are still trying to figure out this mystery. The University of Buckingham has launched a project to have the average reader help solve the mystery. Here is a recent article on the project.

Even though the book lacked a denouement that didn’t mean it didn’t excite the imaginations of readers and movie watchers everywhere. Authors have been trying to conclude it since 1870. And film adaptations began as early as 1935. Even Doctor Who included an episode in which Dickens made an appearance and at the end he had come up with a finale to his book, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, giving a supernatural explanation to Edwin’s death.

The most obvious conclusion is that Jasper killed him and hid him in the family crypt. It’s the conclusion that has been drawn most frequently. There is evidence to support this conclusion. But I wonder even if Dickens began his story by telling a friend, “The story ... was to be that of the murder of a nephew by his uncle,” perhaps he changed his mind and came up with an ending that would surprise us all. He wouldn’t be the first author to do such a thing.

So, what of this latest adaptation (2012)? I liked the way they ended it because it gave it more of a happy ending. And I do love an HEA. I don’t want to spoil you, but it was a cleverly devised  plot that worked for the character of all concerned. It’s hard to say how Dickens would have concluded his final work. It was only half finished. And if you have any experience with a Dickens novel, the middle of the book is only the beginning of the ride on which he intends to take you.

Watch the 2-part miniseries. I enjoyed it. It’s free on Amazon Prime. 

Agatha Christie Project: Murder at the Vicarage

Blurb: "Anyone who murdered Colonel Protheroe would be doing the world at large a service.” --Reverend Clement

The tranquillity of St Mary Mead is shattered when Lucius Protheroe is found dead. A thoroughly unpleasant character, there is no shortage of suspects with a motive for murder. Could it have been his unfaithful wife?  Her artist lover? The daughter, set to inherit?  Or even the mild-mannered vicar? Inspector Slack is at a loss. Perhaps Miss Jane Marple, the local village busybody, can help...

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I just finished reading the novel about a week ago, and it was just as enjoyable as I had imagined. With my busy schedule, I have had very little time for reading purely for enjoyment. This Agatha Christie project to compare the books with the British ITV television series has been great fun! 

This is the first Miss Marple novel and it was written in first person from the perspective of the Vicar. I enjoyed the prose and style of the novel and found the need to keep reading at each sitting longer than I had planned. Finishing a whole novel in 2 days is quite a feat for me these days, but that just goes back to the splendid writing of this author. I haven't had a chance to read a Christie mystery in a couple years so this was pure pleasure for me. 

When ITV decided to reboot Miss Marple back in 2004, this was the first book they revisited in film which makes sense as it is the first Marple novel. I must say that the screenplay was overall quite faithful to the text. Sure, they gave more screen time to Miss Marple than is given to her in the book. In the book, as the point of view character is the vicar, everything is experienced through his eyes and so Miss Marple in many ways seems more like a secondary character. The plot carries through much as the book did and the guilty parties were the same as in the novel. Overall, I was pleased with the film adaptation and Geraldine McEwan's performance as Miss Marple.

An audio introduction to the novel:

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Classic Friday: The Interitance by Louisa May Alcott

I loved re-reading this book! I believe I read it for the first time back in 1997 when it first came out. (Yes, an Alcott novel releasing over a hundred years after her death.) The Inheritance was her first novel. She even made a notation on it that it was her first novel written at the age of 17 which she never attempted to get published. Now, it’s not one of those thrilling, sensational stories as Jo March liked to write. Instead, it is a quaint, sweet, English novel about an orphaned girl and her future inheritance. The manuscript was discovered among Miss Alcott’s papers and cataloged along with her other writings. Eventually, it too was brought to print.

It’s interesting because I recently purchased the movie version of the book. It was also made in 1997 and so it had been a long time since I watched it. Something seemed odd about the movie from what I remembered about the book. ‘Wasn’t this supposed to be set in England in the early 19th century?’ I asked myself. The movie set the story near Concord (L.M. Alcott’s home) in the 1870's. And the characters are Americans not English. They added a new dimension to the heroine, Edith. They took away one character and added another while also including a variation on the plot. In many ways, it is a totally different story while still being essentially Miss Alcott’s fond tale. I enjoyed the movie, but the changes do take away from the style and tone that Louisa probably intended for her story.

The writing style of the novel is quite different than say…Little Women. You can sense the naivety of the young woman penning this story. She isn't yet the author she will become. And yet it is lyrical and lovely. In fact, I read many of the passages out loud just to hear how they sounded. It’s a sweet, poignant story and I enjoyed it completely. I only wish I could have written such a splendid novel at that same tender age.

A vignette for your edification. (pg 90)

The heart he studied the most earnestly and that each day grew more beautiful to him was Edith’s. Amid the trials she so silently was bearing still grew the gratitude and love she bore to those around her and still lay the deep, longing wish for tenderness and true affection which none ever guessed and none ever sought to give.

Yet he who was daily near her and who so often found a place within her thoughts now became her friend, seeking by unseen acts of silent kindness to make life more pleasant to her. While thus employed, the friendship and generous pity were fast deepening into the truest reverence and most holy love for one who bore so meekly the sorrows that must try a gentle heart and was so rich in pure and sinless feelings and so beautiful in all woman’s noblest gifts.

Classic Fridays

Most people who know me know I love classic literature--that I am a certified Jane Austen fan or JaneJunkie as I like to call them. So, I thought it might be fun to start posting on classic literature on Fridays. I won't promise to do it every Friday but most Fridays at any rate.



I try to read several classic novels every year. Most of the time I'm reading a...that's right a Jane Austen novel. At the moment though I'm reading North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. Many Americans think of the North and South from our Civil War but Gaskell's North and South takes place in England. It is about the a Northern manufacturer, John Thornton and a middle class Southern woman, Margaret Hale. The North was very much turning to manufacturing at this time and the South is where you had more of the landed gentry and agriculture. These two just clash when they meet with their differences of opinion. It's a very romantic book. The author really gets into the head of the John Thornton character more than was usual in those days. But it is also a social commentary of workers and owners (or masters as they call them), unions and rights, and the plight of the poor . This is the second time I am reading this book. It's a good one not to be missed. I'll talk about it more in the future.


Until next Friday, keep reading those classics,
Cindy