A review by sarahmatthews
Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers

mysterious medium-paced

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L Sayers

Read on audio

Narrator: Jane McDowell

Pub. 1935, 464pp

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This book is the third in the ongoing saga of Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane that I’ve been working my way through this year. It starts with Harriet returning to Oxford University for “Gaudy Night”, an annual chance to meet up with past students, where they indulge in some nostalgia. Harriet hasn’t attended before and is persuaded by her old friend Mary to go along. As a famous novelist (and a notorious person due to events that took place in previous books strong Poison and Have his Carcase), Harriet spends the evening chatting to women she bearly remembers and makes judgements and observations about them, and they’re doing the same to her. Right from the beginning this feels like a different type of mystery, as we spend time with female Oxford Dons, Bursars, research fellows, librarians and other academics. They enjoy pondering each other’s life choices, discussing the role of women in the workplace and the tension felt by many between striving for a fulfilled intellectual life and a content married one. here’s an example of one of these heated exchanges:

“‘The fact is, though you’d never admit it, that everybody in this place has an inferiority complex about married women and children. For all your talk about careers and independence you all believe in your hearts that we ought to abase ourselves before any woman who has fulfilled her animal functions.’

‘That is absolute nonsense!’ Said the Bursar 

‘It is natural I suppose, to feel that marrried women lead a fuller life’ began Miss Lydgate. 

‘And a more useful one’ retorted Miss Hillyard ‘look at the fuss that’s made over Shrewsbury grandchildren look how delighted you all are when old students get married, as if you were saying ‘ah ha, education doesn’t unfit us for real life after all’ And when a really brilliant scholar throws away all her prospects to marry a curate, you say perfunctorily, ‘what a pity, but of course her own life must come first’”

Strange, abusive letters start to appear in Shrewsbury College and other odd stunts. The existance of the women’s college at Oxford still feels very fragile so the Dean is understandably anxious for these incidents to be dealt with quietly, described as “A cross between a poltergeist and a poison pen”, without involving any official outside channels that might draw attention and risk parents refusing to send their cherished offspring to the university.

Harriet receives a heartfelt letter from the Dean for help and takes on the task to investigate, and she’s soon perplexed :

“Crime was too easy in a place like this, the college was too big, too open. Even if a form had been seen crossing the quad with a bolster, or indeed for that matter a complete set of bedding and a mattress  nobody would think anything of it. Some hardy, fresh air fiend sleeping out. That would be the natural conclusion. Harriet, exasperated, went over to Bodley and plunged into her researches upon Le Fanu. There, at least, one did know what one was investigating.”

I had suspicions of who the culprit was but didn’t have it all right. The mystery was almost in the background for me as I was so fascinated by everything else going on; this book was written in 1935 and brings into focus some of the attitudes of the time around class, and the role of women. Eugenics is discussed and Hitler’s Germany is referred to several times. I really enjoy Dorothy L Sayers’ writing and found this one surprising, complex and unusual. Lord Peter is drafted in when Harriet’s worried things are escalating and their scenes together are always brilliant, especially one which takes place on the river and another involving a very strange self defence lesson! Highly recommended.