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A review by alesia_charles
The Players Come Again by Carolyn G. Heilbrun, Amanda Cross
5.0
Like some other readers, I spent much of this novel wondering where the mystery was - the mystery aspect only turned up in the last chapter - while nonetheless absorbed in the story of Kate's quest for knowledge about the long-deceased wife of an even more long-deceased famous writer.
Or, alternatively, one could consider the whole thing as a kind of meditation on several deep mysteries: youth and aging, the roles of women, change over time, the value of literature, the problems of fame.
I looked it up: Cross's first Kate Fansler mystery was published in 1964; this one, in 1990. The author herself was 64 in 1990, roughly the age of the three women at the novel's heart. In 1964, she was 38 - in fact, she was born in 1926 and would have been 16 in 1942.
And friends, unless you've lived through a similar time period or have read a lot about it, you have no fucking idea how much things have changed since 1942 or even 1964. Or since 1990, for that matter. That's what the novel is about; the mystery thing was just an excuse. Read it and learn.
Or, alternatively, one could consider the whole thing as a kind of meditation on several deep mysteries: youth and aging, the roles of women, change over time, the value of literature, the problems of fame.
I looked it up: Cross's first Kate Fansler mystery was published in 1964; this one, in 1990. The author herself was 64 in 1990, roughly the age of the three women at the novel's heart. In 1964, she was 38 - in fact, she was born in 1926 and would have been 16 in 1942.
And friends, unless you've lived through a similar time period or have read a lot about it, you have no fucking idea how much things have changed since 1942 or even 1964. Or since 1990, for that matter. That's what the novel is about; the mystery thing was just an excuse. Read it and learn.