I Love the '90s... Maybe.
Last catch-up review - this time it's Nora Kelly's My Sister's Keeper. I needed something relatively short after my honeymoon reading, and this one fit the bill quite nicely.
Gillian Adams, head of the history department at the University of the Pacific Northwest in Canada, is once again separated from her Scotland Yard investigator boyfriend Edward as she starts her fifth term as head. As she falls into her usual patterns, an old UPNW tradition rises again: the annual engineers' Triumph Day parade, complete with prostitutes hired to ride as female slaves in a cart. This time, however, it's different. Feminist sentiment has been brewing on campus and the newly-formed Feminist Union (derisively known as the Eff Yous) stages a protest of the parade, and the clash between feminists and engineers turns aggressive. Almost immediately a tape of the incident is released to the local media, and the war of sexual politics is on.
Gillian is reluctant to get involved in spite of her support for the feminist cause, but when Feminist Union leader Rita asks for her help in winning an endowment for a new women's studies department using money that would traditionally be bestowed on the engineers, Gillian can't stay on the sidelines. However, it quickly becomes clear that someone is dead-set against allowing that to happen. What starts as pranks like smashed pumpkins and mooning quickly escalates to murder, and against her better judgment Gillian draws on all her resources to find out who's responsible.
My Sister's Keeper was originally published in the early 1990's, and the theme and force of the story reflects that. The fight for women's equality in academia seems almost quaint now, and the idea of such blatant sexism appears unreal. Not to say that it doesn't still happen, it's just a lot more subtle these days. The book makes for an interesting 'time capsule' sort of a read, and it's edifying just for that. It also happens to be well-plotted and smartly written, always useful pluses. Nora Kelly's created a winning character in Gillian Adams - she's likeable without seeming artificial, and the frank treatment of her flaws helps make her imminently believeable. Overall, well-done and a quick treat for fans of British mystery.
Gillian Adams, head of the history department at the University of the Pacific Northwest in Canada, is once again separated from her Scotland Yard investigator boyfriend Edward as she starts her fifth term as head. As she falls into her usual patterns, an old UPNW tradition rises again: the annual engineers' Triumph Day parade, complete with prostitutes hired to ride as female slaves in a cart. This time, however, it's different. Feminist sentiment has been brewing on campus and the newly-formed Feminist Union (derisively known as the Eff Yous) stages a protest of the parade, and the clash between feminists and engineers turns aggressive. Almost immediately a tape of the incident is released to the local media, and the war of sexual politics is on.
Gillian is reluctant to get involved in spite of her support for the feminist cause, but when Feminist Union leader Rita asks for her help in winning an endowment for a new women's studies department using money that would traditionally be bestowed on the engineers, Gillian can't stay on the sidelines. However, it quickly becomes clear that someone is dead-set against allowing that to happen. What starts as pranks like smashed pumpkins and mooning quickly escalates to murder, and against her better judgment Gillian draws on all her resources to find out who's responsible.
My Sister's Keeper was originally published in the early 1990's, and the theme and force of the story reflects that. The fight for women's equality in academia seems almost quaint now, and the idea of such blatant sexism appears unreal. Not to say that it doesn't still happen, it's just a lot more subtle these days. The book makes for an interesting 'time capsule' sort of a read, and it's edifying just for that. It also happens to be well-plotted and smartly written, always useful pluses. Nora Kelly's created a winning character in Gillian Adams - she's likeable without seeming artificial, and the frank treatment of her flaws helps make her imminently believeable. Overall, well-done and a quick treat for fans of British mystery.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home