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A review by christinecc
Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Gosh this book was better than it had any right to be, and so casually! It's infuriating. Tey is so good at writing a large cast of characters in few pages without sacrificing their individuality.
Lucy Pym is a woman isolated in her London routine. Having once been a teacher and since fallen, by accident, into best-selling authorship, she's keen to get out of her comfort zone when one of her former schoolmates, Henrietta, invites her to lecture at the girls' school where Henriette serves as headmistress. Pym is initially put off by the new environment with its loud, lively, and dramatic students who idolize Miss Pym (while also intimidating her with their youth), but soon Miss Pym is convinced to extend her stay. And that is when the story delves into the human complications of a school where the girls all compete for rare employment positions after graduation. Will some bear the pressure of exams better than others? Will their superiors find them lacking in character if not in grades? And what of the former student who left after suffering a nervous breakdown? The girls may seem angelic here but they are hard and determined and this is certainly not the paradise it may seem to be, buried in the gorgeous English countryside...
First, may I just note the sheer GALL of writing a mystery book the way Tey writes this one. I could not stop asking myself: "This is a lovely campus novel with well-developed and compelling teachers and students, but... when is the mystery going to start?" And honestly I was shocked (and devastated) when the mystery reared its head. By the time you sense the mystery coming, you do NOT want it to happen. It's horrific and telegraphed, and Miss Pym carries us through the ethical complications in her startled reaction.
Apart from a few unfortunate mentions of dated idioms (with racial stereotypes), Tey's novel reads very easily and is one of the most relaxing thrillers I've ever read. I was on the edge of my seat wondering when something would happen to shatter the tension at this competitive school and its amazing girls. If anything, I wish we had seen more of the girls, especially the girl named Rouse. I just couldn't see why the others disliked her so much. Maybe that says something about me... oh dear.
Recommended for fans of the Golden Age Queens of Crime (with Tey being the unofficial fifth), campus novels with drama at the student and teacher levels, British mid-century fiction, and detectives who wrestle with the ethical implications of handing a murderer over to the hangman.
Lucy Pym is a woman isolated in her London routine. Having once been a teacher and since fallen, by accident, into best-selling authorship, she's keen to get out of her comfort zone when one of her former schoolmates, Henrietta, invites her to lecture at the girls' school where Henriette serves as headmistress. Pym is initially put off by the new environment with its loud, lively, and dramatic students who idolize Miss Pym (while also intimidating her with their youth), but soon Miss Pym is convinced to extend her stay. And that is when the story delves into the human complications of a school where the girls all compete for rare employment positions after graduation. Will some bear the pressure of exams better than others? Will their superiors find them lacking in character if not in grades? And what of the former student who left after suffering a nervous breakdown? The girls may seem angelic here but they are hard and determined and this is certainly not the paradise it may seem to be, buried in the gorgeous English countryside...
First, may I just note the sheer GALL of writing a mystery book the way Tey writes this one. I could not stop asking myself: "This is a lovely campus novel with well-developed and compelling teachers and students, but... when is the mystery going to start?" And honestly I was shocked (and devastated) when the mystery reared its head. By the time you sense the mystery coming, you do NOT want it to happen. It's horrific and telegraphed, and Miss Pym carries us through the ethical complications in her startled reaction.
Apart from a few unfortunate mentions of dated idioms (with racial stereotypes), Tey's novel reads very easily and is one of the most relaxing thrillers I've ever read. I was on the edge of my seat wondering when something would happen to shatter the tension at this competitive school and its amazing girls. If anything, I wish we had seen more of the girls, especially the girl named Rouse. I just couldn't see why the others disliked her so much. Maybe that says something about me... oh dear.
Recommended for fans of the Golden Age Queens of Crime (with Tey being the unofficial fifth), campus novels with drama at the student and teacher levels, British mid-century fiction, and detectives who wrestle with the ethical implications of handing a murderer over to the hangman.