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Gaudy Night - Dorothy L. Sayers
Harper Torch (Reissue edition), 1995. 512 pp.
Reviewed by Alison Andrews
December 19, 2005

Many writers of mystery novels prefer to write series rather than stand-alone books. I can’t offer a definitive explanation, but it has something to do with economics—once a reader gets “hooked” on a series, he or she is more likely to keep buying books. The more high-minded explanation is that once the writer has developed an interesting detective, it’s more compelling to pick up the next book in the series to find out not just what happened in the mystery, but also what happens next in the detective’s life. The best mystery writers are able to create characters who capture their audience’s imagination long after the book is finished; Sherlock Holmes is the best example, of course, but who could forget Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot or Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade? Or what about Dorothy L. Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey?

“Lord who?” you may ask. Dorothy Sayers’ first novel to feature Wimsey, Whose Body?, appeared in 1923, and it continued from there. Lord Peter is an unusual detective: young, titled, and rich, he only seems frivolous—he actually takes the work of solving crimes quite seriously. Mystery fans who have not encountered Sayers before would do well to sample her work. In an era when mystery novels were not considered the highest form of literature (much the same as today, unfortunately), Sayers raised the genre to a new literary level. Her novels are not just about dead bodies—she is much more concerned with the people who remain alive as the novel progresses.

For Instance…
Gaudy Night is a perfect example of Sayers’ insistence on the character-driven plot. As the novel opens, Harriet Vane is contemplating her return to Oxford to take part in the annual Gaudy (something like an American class reunion). Harriet has not had contact with her fellow students and instructors for years, and she is uneasy at returning because of the unwanted notoriety she’d received some years earlier when she was accused of poisoning her lover. Lord Peter exonerated her in Strong Poison (1930) and fell in love with her in the process; however, Harriet’s pride prevents her from considering pursuing a relationship with him, much less accepting his annual marriage proposals.

While socializing at the Gaudy, Harriet learns of a series of unpleasant incidents directed against the students and instructors at Shrewsbury College. Hate-filled letters and vandalism against the college threaten to turn the members of the Senior Common Room against each other, because all of the instructors are suspects. Harriet accepts the Warden’s request to investigate; as the threats of physical danger to the scholars and Harriet herself increase, she calls upon Wimsey for assistance. Although this is not a murder mystery, Sayers does an admirable job creating narrative tension to keep us wondering what the unknown assailant will do next. One of Sayers’ intentions was to create a portrait of a mind twisted by hate to the brink of insanity, and she succeeded.

Gaudy Night offers another point of interest besides its plot, however. It is a thoroughly accurate depiction of a women’s college in Oxford at a time when higher education for women was the exception rather than the norm. Like Harriet Vane, Sayers was one of the first women to receive her degree from Oxford. She was ever a scholar, first and foremost, and Gaudy Night shows her deep familiarity with the academic world of the time.

Same Struggles Today
Many of the social questions Sayers has Harriet ponder are still relevant almost 70 years later (although the value of higher education for women is thankfully a moot point). Harriet must choose between remaining in the life of the mind, or allowing herself to listen to her heart and fall in love with Peter. She is terribly afraid of losing her intellect and her independence to marriage. Although the choices may have widened in the second half of the twentieth century, there are still plenty of women who struggle with similar choices. Harriet must dare to ask herself if, with the right partner, it might be possible to have a relationship in which head and heart can coexist equally.

Dorothy Sayers was a Christian. This fact may not be immediately obvious to the casual reader, because she did not write her books to convert anyone. Yet her preoccupation with moral choice is evident. She asks what makes some people choose evil and others choose to fight it. With the ruthless clarity of her prose, Sayers has fulfilled her motto: “The only Christian work is good work, well done.”

ninetyandnine.com

© 2005, Alison Andrews

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Alison Andrews lives near Fort Worth, Texas, with her husband and daughter. She and her husband lead the small group ministry for their church. At any given moment, she's either reading a classic novel or singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" over and over...and over.

[1] The Dorothy L. Sayers Society,  http://www.sayers.org.uk/Dorothy.html