"The Private Patient" by P. D. James

[lizbee]

A few people asked about this: the new P. D. James is already out in England, and will have a November release in Australia and the US.  I got a reading copy from work, which I finished last night.  It was quite magnificent.  In some ways, I think James is wearing her Sayers-loving heart on her sleeve more than ever, but this isn't a bad thing.  Even if that was a terrible sentence.  Like Harriet, Emma's best friends are stout, practical lesbians.  I lolled.

Some random links, because I need to clear out my bookmarks:

Stitch: a free program for making cross stitch designs.  I haven't tried it out yet, but it's received good reviews.

cesario made this for me when I was feeling emo about the elitist thing.  I really don't know what she's trying to say...

It's Lovely!  I'll Take It!  I'm addicted to this blog, which features highly inappropriate photos from real estate listings.  piecesofalice and suburbannoir hate it, because I laugh really loudly whenever I browse it.

FlickFilosopher takes a closer look at Derek Jacobi's Hamlet.

Comments

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Sayers was pretty damned homophobic; there's an entire mystery that is resolved by the murderess's being a Sekrit Lesbian.

[melengro.livejournal.com]

I read a book about that. The question of whether she was or wasn't is...interesting, to say the least. And really freaking complicated.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Sayers herself, or the character in her book?

[melengro.livejournal.com]

Whether Sayers was gay/bi, homophobic, and, in the latter case, in what way if she was. The usual answer is 'neither' but there are actually more scholars than one might think who say 'both.'

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I need to look up the book! Could I have an author/title? ("Both" would certainly explain a lot.)

[melengro.livejournal.com]

Biographies by James Brabazon, Carolyn Heilbrun, Barbara Reynolds, and others touch on it, but they don't focus on it. I read a monograph about it about a year ago but I don't remember who it's by. (something beginning with an M?)
My suspicion is that she was (at least a little) bisexual and more gay-friendly than most people of the time, but somewhat uncomfortable with this.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Ah. I've read at least three of the biographies and a volume of the letters, but I didn't remember details.