Jane Austen is everywhere

Do you do challenges? I have been intrigued by some of the challenges that have floated around the blogosphere, but have always felt too undisciplined and chaotic in my approach to reading to tie myself down to a challenge, reading specific titles in a specific time frame, but I have been tempted recently. A couple of blogs I read have taken up the Everything Austen Challenge, which have to admit I was tempted to take up, as it has very flexible terms, you don't have to necessarily read Austen's novels, you can read anything that is connected with Austen or even just view the film or television adaptations, so I am following with interest the selections of other bloggers, Susan at You can never have too many books, has an interesting selection including the Jane Austen cookbook. Erin at The courtier's book is also participating and has reviewed a really interesting story I had not previously heard of but which sounds fascinating, called Pride and Prometheus, Erin has put a link to a free download, check it out.

And this brings me to my recent reading, what with all the chatter about Austen on blogs and my recent reading of a Reginald Hill novel, I found myself picking up Hill's affectionate homage to Jane Austen in the form of a Dalziel and Pascoe novel inspired by Austen's last unfinished novel Sanditon. Hill's book A Cure for all Diseases, is set at a seaside resort called Sandytown and features a modernised rendition of Austen's characters. Just as Sanditon, begins with an accident and a sprained ankle, so to does A Cure for all Diseases, with hilarious effect transposed as it is to a Yorkshire setting. In telling this part of the story Hill utilises the modern equivalent of the epistolary form, a story told in e-mails. This form is for some readers a bit problematic, as Hill utilises modern e-mail and text conventions, with minimal punctuation and an emphasis of abbreviation. Looking on amazon I was surprised at how critical readers were of Hill's use of e-mail to tell the story, personally I found it easy enough to read and thought it a clever innovation on a traditional form, but obviously not to everyones taste. I think also that readers are expecting a standard crime novel and that is something this book is not, it is actually something more. It is a very clever book that does justice to the conventions of a crime story but also offers a funny and entertaining tribute to the work of Jane Austen, it plays with the conventions of Austen's work and the modern crime novel, it is an intelligent and entertaining pastiche. It also offers a comment on the changing nature of the English language with its experimentation with form and spelling. Spelling, in fact becomes a potential clue in the subsequent crime and investigation. Reginald Hill has used word games and literary clues to great effect previously in his novels.

The e-mails are written by Charley Heywood the modern equivalent of Charlotte Heywood in Sanditon, Charley is a sardonic and observant recent psychology graduate who provides an entertaining narrative. Charley's is not the only interesting variation on the first person narrative. After his recent brush with death Hill has deposited his legendary head of Mid Yorkshire CID at the Avalon, a rest home located in Sandytown, at his Doctor's urging Dalziel is keeping an audio diary of his thoughts and what thoughts they are, some of the funniest passages I have read in a long time occur in Dalziel's mental meanderings. It is, I admit, hard to imagine the great titan of police investigation ever being convinced to commit his innermost thoughts to a diary of any form, but once you suspend disbelief you are in for an entertaining ride. Austen's characters appear throughout the novel and like Austen, Hill has a sharp eye for social satire. This book is in many respects more Agatha Christie meets Jane Austen than modern police procedural, although that element is also there. The crime when it comes, occurs at a local event with a select band of characters present and as suspects, much like the cosy constructs of Dame Agatha. Character has been richly developed, and commented upon by two entertaining observers; Charley and Dalziel, there is also an interesting young observer in the character of Minnie, the precocious nine year old daughter of the Parkers. At the heart of Sandytown is a great lady, (to paraphrase Austen), in this case it is Lady Denham, a woman much hated, feared and sucked up to by sycophantic dependent relatives. Lady Denham, a character much like the character of Lady Catherine de Bourgh in Pride and Prejudice is a force to be reckoned with and somebody offers up a final reckoning, leaving Lady Catherine as the stories obligatory corpse. This event cues the entry of DCI Pascoe and the rest of the CID crew, they arrive to 'winkle' out the secrets, (and yes a character actually says that).

This book is a playful celebration of both Austen and Christie, at one point Charley and Pascoe have an exchange that results in Pascoe commenting on how well both authors film, he is interrogating Charley at the time, and the encounter is a clash of wills and intellect. This book also sees the return of an old adversary, in the form of Franny Roote, a figure who has haunted Pacoe's career, and repeatedly turns up like the proverbial penny. In this volume he is one of several potential love interests for Charley. Relationships, love and sex form an entertaining backdrop to the other dramas of the novel, as would be expected of a work paying homage to Austen.

This book is just such a delight on many levels, it is metafictive and witty and just plain funny, although some of the humour is at the level of a carry on film, and like much of what emerges from Dalziel's mouth, not very p.c.. The characterisation is largely superb, the mystery is suitably surprising and the writing itself is simply entertaining. I enjoyed Dalziel's reference to chick lit; ...Never mind. Yon shit-lit's full of misunderstandings, isn't it? Makes it all the sweeter when he finds out the truth...' (p.392). And a typical piece of Hill imagery; '...Dalziel, occupying one of Tom Parker's low-slung Scandinavian chairs like the USA occupying Iraq, tried to lever himself upright but had difficulty formulating a satisfactory exit strategy.' (p.390). This is a great book, but it is a book that is enhanced by having read earlier novels in the series some familiarity with the principal characters and their history seems essential to fully appreciate this story, just as a familiarity with the works of Jane Austen can only add to your enjoyment of the novel. If your a Janeite, and it is to that unique literary fan club that Hill has dedicated this novel, you should enjoy this metafictive romp. As a blend of police procedural and cosy crime this novel is also a success, although to those unfamiliar with the character development of Andy Dalziel and Peter Pascoe, some of the story may seem a little implausible and confusing, so this is probably not the novel to start reading the Dalziel and Pascoe stories. Finally I love the cover, it refers directly to the content of the novel, the setting of a seaside health resort, but it also sums up what a perfect holiday read this book would make.


A Cure for all Diseases.

by Reginald Hill.