Those who enjoy novels by Agatha Christie, Jane Austen, Dorothy Sayers, Barbara Pym, and other English authors of a certain ilk are bound to love the Maisie Dobbs series by Jacqueline Winspear. The charm of these books is as much in the historical setting, manners, and the atmosphere as in the plot. Although they have drama, these books are free of cheap, tawdry thrills, sexploitation, vulgarity, or (to be fair) edginess of any kind. They are beloved by anglophiles (and presumably by the English themselves!) in part because they are genteel, civilized, and respectful of their subjects and the eras in which they live. The wonderful thing about the Maisie Dobbs series is that, unlike the others listed above, it is still being written and we have new episodes to anticipate.
Maisie’s Backstory
Among the Mad, Ms. Winspear’s latest and sixth novel in the series, is set in 1931, and continues the story of a youngish unmarried woman living in London between the wars, earning her own living as a private detective. Is this an unlikely profession for a respectable young woman on her own? It certainly is, but the novels do not gloss over that fact but explain fully how this particular woman finds herself in this situation.
Maisie was born as the daughter of a costermonger, lost her mother at an early age, went to work in a wealthy family’s Belgravia home as a maid and was discovered to have intellectual gifts. Her forays into the family’s library resulted in a close friendship with the “upstairs” part of the household, especially Lady Rowan Compton and close family friend Dr. Maurice Blanche. Her sponsors arrange for her to attend Girton College (for women) at Cambridge University, but Maisie soon signs on as a nurse and serves in France during the Great War.
The earlier novels explored Maisie’s apprenticeship with Dr. Blanche, who is a “psychologist and private investigator” with many important clients. Readers also learn about Maisie’s romance with a physician she worked with in France, who is unfortunately severely injured in an attack on the field hospital-an attack which also injures Maisie. Later we learn that Simon (Maisie’s fiancé) died in a long-term care facility without ever regaining his mental faculties, freeing her to at least contemplate other potential attachments.
Maisie in 1931
As Among the Mad opens, Maisie is well-established as a “psychologist and private investigator” in London, working on her own with a loyal working class assistant, Billy Beale. On Christmas Eve, 1931, Maisie and Billy through happenstance witness a suicide by a despondent veteran, which also injures quite a few others nearby. The case is taken up by Scotland Yard’s Special Branch, which views it as a probable act of terrorism by a larger set of disaffected people. Maisie is drawn in first as a witness, and then as an active participant in the investigation.
In fact, other acts of violence ensue, first against dogs and then birds, and ultimately against a government minister. Maisie uses her enormous capacity for empathy and ability to intuit the circumstances and motivations of the perpetrator to track him down. In the book’s climactic scene she confronts him on her own in one of the most tense moments ever described in the Maisie Dobbs series to date:
“They stood facing each other, and Maisie wondered what words, what actions might placate a man for whom all accepted modes of human communication seemed to mean nothing. Even as he was facing her, his eyes rolled back in his head and saliva issued from his mouth.
‘You have committed murder and I believe you intend to murder again, only this time you plan to take the lives of many more innocent victims.’
‘Innocent? Innocent? Innocent of what? Innocent of being blind toward the plight of other people…'” (pp. 244-5)
In addition to this primary plot, the novel has an interesting subplot relating to Billy Beale’s difficulties with near-poverty and a wife unable to cope with the death of their young daughter from an infectious disease. There are also subplots about Maisie’s potential romantic life and her friendship with Priscilla, a Cambridge friend who has much wealth but is haunted by the memories of her brothers killed in the war.
Tragedy and Hardship in England Between the Wars
Throughout the entire Maisie Dobbs series, Winspear faces up to the searing sadness of England’s losses in World War I (which of course was not so designated until years later). Those who survived the war and the influenza epidemic of 1918 were beset with survivor’s guilt, economic hardship, and a shortage of men relative to women of marrying age (relevant to Maisie’s story). Veterans who were wounded in body and spirit were ever-present and the difficulties encountered by those returned veterans are at the heart of this novel Among the Mad.
Although it sounds like an unrelentingly grim subject, in fact Maisie herself is in good shape and able to provide help to many of the suffering. During the previous novels she made progress in coming to terms with the war and its aftermath, allowing her a certain new strength and resiliency in this novel. Her support for Billy and his family is crucial and heartwarming and her relationships with the other investigators involved in the case are intriguing. At one point, her involvement with the elite of Scotland Yard results in her participating in a meeting with the Prime Minister (PM) at 10 Downing Street-Ramsay MacDonald. These are some of the brighter notes that offset the gloomy scenarios.
Winspear’s Passion for Historical Detail
Jacqueline Winspear is an English woman who emigrated to California in the U.S. (a well-trodden path!). It is clear that she is fascinated by the historical details of life in England between the wars and has done meticulous research to maximize the authenticity of her novels. She has taken pains to describe the forensic methods used, the “therapy” administered in the asylum where Billy’s wife has been committed, the means of transportation and communication, and other technological aspects of life in 1931 as accurately as possible. Although Maisie is progressive in many ways (including her choice of profession), she does live in an earlier era and experiences its technological limitations.
Indeed, one of the aspects of these novels that I enjoy the most is observing a very intelligent and well-trained detective operate without the benefit of cell phones, DNA testing, or computerized analysis of data! Handwritten notes, a handwritten “case map,” letters sent by post, and rudimentary telephone service were the order of the day. Maisie has a car (a sporty MG), but this is clearly a great luxury and it is used sparingly.
The Bottom Line: Read this Book! (But First Read the Others)
Maisie Dobbs is a very interesting and well-developed central character, vulnerable but never hysterical. She is almost but not quite prim; we prefer to think of her as orderly and self-possessed. She is concerned with being appropriately and smartly dressed, but is no clotheshorse like her friend Priscilla. Her origins in the lower classes are an important part of her psychological makeup and at times provide ways for her to connect with individuals that would not be available to her otherwise.
Readers will be proud of Maisie for functioning so well as a professional woman in a man’s world, and yet we sense that she is lonely and will eventually want to marry someone who is respectful of her independence and her accomplishments. Or not! Winspear leaves this an open question, which is to her credit. The appeal of these novels does not hinge on a large dose of romantic longing or a sense that Maisie is incomplete without a man. There are eligible men around, but Maisie has so far been able to resist them.
All in all, the Maisie Dobbs books are very engaging and the series has grown in popularity over time as more complex and nuanced stories have emerged from the pen of Ms. Winspear. For the reader who values this type of fiction, the series will be a treat. I do recommend that readers new to the series begin at the beginning if at all possible. Here is a list of the novels so far, all of which have been published by Henry Holt and Company:
The first six Maisie Dobbs novels are available in paperback from Amazon.com for about $10 (or less). The Mapping of Love and Death is available for preorder, expected to ship in April 2010. For more information, click here.
Some of the novels are available in other formats, including electronic editions, audio editions, and foreign language editions.
For information about available editions and prices from Barnes and Noble (bn.com) click here.
Sources:
The Maisie Dobbs novels by Jacqueline Winspear listed above
