If you missed tonight's live broadcast of our discussion with the Charles Todd writing team about their Bess Crawford and Ian Rutledge series, you can listen in to the podcast now! Thanks so much to Caroline and Charles for joining us - it was great to hear about their inspiration and research into the WWI era as well as the mystery writers they love to read.
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Just a reminder that tonight at 7pm ET we'll welcome the mother and son writing team of Charles Todd to Book Club Girl on Air in the culmination of our Book Time with Bess Bess Crawford Read Along! I'm so excited to talk with Caroline and Charles about Bess, WWI, and all the books in the series. We hope you can join us and ask your questions (via the chat session or by calling 347-945-6149 in) as well! Set your reminder here and return to that same link tonight to listen and participate live. Be sure to register on the site before 7 tonight to be sure that you can participate from the beginning of the show. Any questions, please ask!
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Book Time with Bess, The Bess Crawford Read-Along continues with our discussion today of the second book in Charles Todd's series about WWI nurse Bess Crawford, An Impartial Witness!
In the early summer of 1917, Bess Crawford is charged with escorting a convoy of severely wounded soldiers from the trenches of France to England. Among them is a young pilot, burned beyond recognition, who carries a photograph of his wife pinned to his tunic. But later, in a crowded railway station, Bess sees the same woman bidding a heart-wrenching farewell to a departing officer, clearly not her husband.
Back on duty in France, Bess is shocked to discover the wife’s photograph in a newspaper accompanying a plea from Scotland Yard for information about her murder, which took place on the very day Bess witnessed that anguished farewell. Granted leave to speak with the authorities, Bess very quickly finds herself entangled in a case of secrets and deadly betrayal in which another life hangs in the balance, and her search for the truth could expose her to far graver dangers than those she faces on the battlefield.
Questions for Discussion
1) As in A Duty to the Dead, long-seated familial animosities and jealousies play a role in the crimes committed. What did you think of the Garrison and Melton families? How do they compare to Bess' family, or to the families of soldiers and nurses created by war?
2) Simon Brandon plays a far greater role in this novel than he did in A Duty to the Dead. What do you make of that and do you think his intentions stem from his duty to Bess' father, or from his affections for Bess herself?
3) Simon strives to curtail the risks that Bess takes throughout the novel. This advice of his struck me particularly: "We have to move on. Put the living first. There are already enough monuments to the dead." Do you think Bess's drive to right the wrongs she sees puts her at odds with this advice, to her detriment?
4) Do you think there is any such thing as an "impartial witness?" Bess admits to adding her own perspective and interpretation to what she sees at the railway station. Later, Mrs. Hennessey is referred to by Bess as an "impartial witness," presumably because she's completely in the dark about what's been happening. But what do you think of the phrase, and what do you think the authors mean us to to think of it?
5) What did you think of the ending of the novel? Were you expecting a confrontation, or confession, that you didn't see? And if so, why do you think it was written that way?
6) Did you learn any new phrases while reading An Impartial Witness? For me it was "Well, it's shank's mare, then," which Sister Benning says to Bess when they have to walk behind the ambulance of wounded soldiers on their way to safer ground. Turns out that "shanks mare" is an Irish phrase referring to having to hoof it on your own two legs.
I'm looking forward to all of your answers - and please link to your own posts about An Impartial Witness in your comments!
Join us next on Tuesday, May 29th when we'll discuss the third book in the Bess Crawford series, A Bitter Truth - which also comes out in paperback tomorrow, May 1st.
Book Time with Bess - The Bess Crawford Read-Aong continues!
May 29th – A Bitter Truth discussion
June 5th - An Unmarked Grave – the new hardcover goes on sale
June 25th – An Unmarked Grave discussion
June 28th – Book Club Girl on Air Show with Charles Todd to Discuss the Entire Series
Follow the read-along on Twitter at the hashtag #besscrawford and be sure to friend Charles Todd on Facebook!
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Our Book Time with Bess Bess Crawford Read Along begins! Today we'll discuss the first book in Charles Todd's Bess Crawford series, A Duty to the Dead. Answer the questions below in the comments section and link to your posts with your own thoughts about A Duty to the Dead there as well. For those who are also posting their thoughts to Twitter, please use the hashtag #besscrawford.
A Duty to the Dead
Dedicated to helping the many wounded during the Great War, Bess Crawford receives a desperate request from a dying lieutenant while serving as a nurse aboard a hospital ship. "Tell my brother Jonathan that I lied," the young man says. "I did it for Mother's sake. But it has to be set right."
Back home in England, Bess receives an unexpected response from the dead soldier's family, for neither Jonathan Graham‚ his mother‚ nor his younger brother admit to understanding what the message means.
But the Grahams are harboring a grim secret, and Bess must, somehow, get to the bottom of it. It is her sacred duty to the dead, no matter how painful, or dangerous, that obligation might be.
Questions for Discussion:
1) Was this the first book that you read by Charles Todd, or, the first book set in this time period? I first encountered WWI-era-England with Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series, and then, of course with the tv sensation Downton Abbey. If you have read more in this time period, what other books do you recommend?
2) What was your first impression of Bess Crawford? Were you surprised by the independence she enjoyed as a woman in this time, and that her parents afforded her so much freedom? Did your opinion of Bess change throughout the novel?
3) Bess has an interesting back story, growing up as she did in India. How did the authors use that part of her life to help define her character, and that of her parents and their relationship?
4) Did you know that large ocean liners, such as the Brittanic, which was a sister ship to both the Titanic and the Olympic, were called into service as hospital ships during the war? Brittanic was indeed sunk as well, just as the Todds write it in the book. Did you know that so many of the men who died on the hospital ships were buried at sea? Of course it makes sense, but I hadn't realized the number and that those men's families were left with no grave at home to visit, as Bess reflects, "In the sea there were no markers for the dead. No place in the deep to mourn, no place to leave flowers."
4) What did you think of Arthur's message? Do you think it was fair of him to ask Bess to deliver it? Why do you think she was so committed to not only delivering it, but to making sure it was followed by the Graham family?
5) What did you think of Mrs. Graham and her sons? I was struck by how much Bess was at their mercy and whim while staying in their house. Do you think they abused her kind nature in asking her to care for Peregrine?
6) Did you guess who the real killer was before he was revealed? I confess I went back and forth a few times, wondering.
7) What new word did you learn in A Duty to the Dead? For me it was "ratings," which refers to "a classification according to grade; specifically: a military or naval specialist classification, or more precisely: "chiefly British: a naval enlisted man." (Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition).
I can't wait to hear what everyone else thought. I loved meeting Bess and learning more about this time and the mystery kept me turning pages rapidly until the wee hours of the night.
Join us next month as we discuss the next book in the series, An Impartial Witness, which we'll talk about on Monday, April 30th. And, the first 5 people to comment here with answers to the discussion will win a copy of An Impartial Witness!
The Book Time with Bess Read Along runs through the publication of the newest book in the series, An Unmarked Grave in June 2012. See the complete schedule for discussing the 4 books in the series below. Feel free to join at any time!
April 30th - An Impartial Witness discussion
May 1st – A Bitter Truth paperback goes on sale
May 29th – A Bitter Truth discussion (May 28th is Memorial Day)
June 5th - An Unmarked Grave – the new hardcover goes on sale
June 25th – An Unmarked Grave discussion
June 28th – Book Club Girl on Air Show with Charles Todd to Discuss the Entire Series
Look for updates along the way here, on Twitter (#besscrawford), and on the Book Club Girl and Charles Todd Facebook pages.
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There's still plenty of time to join Book Time with Bess, our Bess Crawford Read Along! Our first discussion of Charles Todd's first Bess Crawford mystery, A Duty to the Dead, is next Monday, March 26th - and takes place all week, so you have at least a week to read it!
To whet your appetite in the meantime, here's part 1 of an interview between Caroline Todd (one half of the Charles Todd writing team, Charles being her son) and John Curran, author of Agatha Christie's Secret Notebook and Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making about the Queen of Mystery herself, Agatha Christie.
Caroline: You were a student of the mystery before Agatha Christie’s now-famous 73 handwritten notebooks were discovered. How did you happen to meet Christie’s grandson, Matthew Pritchard, and what led to your work not only with the notebooks but with the restoration of Greenway House for the National Trust? Were you a great fan from the start?
John: I was born an Agatha Christie fan! So when I met Mathew in Canada in 2004 at the premiere of Chimneys, an ‘unknown’ Christie play, he invited me to visit Greenway House. Once there I took up residence in the room at the top of the stairs where all of the papers pertaining to Christie’s literary life were housed. I read the Notebooks cover to cover on the first night there but it was not until early the following year that the idea of a book occurred to me. Mathew immediately gave his blessing and I was off! It was while living in Greenway studying the Notebooks that I came to the attention of the National Trust who were preparing to clear the house for renovation. They asked me to undertake the task of cataloguing and boxing all of the papers before their removal from the house.
John: Most of your books are set in the post-First World War period when Agatha Christie—and the Golden Age of the detective story—was beginning. Is this coincidence?
Caroline: Because of the popularity of the Golden Age, we felt that this era would be familiar to readers—and modern enough to have motorcars, telephones, and attitudes towards crime and life that were recognizable. An historical mystery that wasn’t really historical. It is also a timeframe where forensics hadn’t become the tool that it is today. The policeman or the detective had to rely on his or her own “little grey cells”—a knowledge of people and of evil—to find the solution to the mystery. For Christie, this period was contemporary. For us it’s the challenge of understanding a period that isn’t our own.
Caroline: Murder in the Making is a must for all Christie fans. But it’s also a marvelous look at the way her mind worked, and how she came up with such innovative ideas. A writer’s guide for anyone interested in the mystery or in how mysteries are written. What did you yourself learn from writing Murder in the Making?
John: I learned how hard she worked! She had thousands of ideas but she selected and rejected, polished and honed, changed and adapted and kept working until the plot shone with ingenuity—and simplicity. She was the ultimate example of the art that conceals art; she made it look simple. And she made it look simple for over 50 years.
John: Have you ever thought that the relationship between Rutledge and Hamish is not unlike that between Mr. Satterthwaite and Mr. Quin in the Christie short stories, although Rutledge/Hamish is much darker? Quin is not of this world and he ‘haunts’ Satterthwaite during his investigations into mysterious deaths.
Caroline: That’s a very interesting comparison. Quin, of course, is the man who knows the answers and who points Satterthwaite in the right direction with his questions and suggestions. He is also visible to others when he comes to call. Hamish, on the other hand, can only know what Rutledge knows. But sometimes when he draws attention to something that is in Rutledge’s subconscious, it brings it to the surface and to his attention. Christie called Quin an advocate for the dead, and Rutledge became a policeman rather than a solicitor because he felt that the police were the advocates for the murder victim. In the Quin stories, Christie often combined a ghost story with a current murder—which I enjoyed. But Hamish isn’t a ghost, he’s the guilt that Rutledge carries over his death. Rutledge knows Hamish is dead—but knowing and accepting are two different things. As long as Rutledge hears that voice in his head, much as he hates it, he can tell himself that Hamish came home from the war.
Caroline: Christie’s An Autobiography has been called remarkable for what it reveals about her—and what it conceals. Did you find it helpful in working on the notebooks? Were there notes that she left from writing it?
John: No, the Autobiography was no help because from the start I set out to write books about the Christie output, and not her life. She was adept at concealing herself (and is, in my opinion, perfectly entitled to do so) and mentions her books hardly at all in the Autobiography. I was trying to understand how she did what she did.
John: Is Bess Crawford your Miss Marple?!
Caroline: Ah! I’ve always thought Miss Marple must have had an interesting youth, although I think Christie enjoyed the concept of the simple village spinster who surprised everyone with her infinite understanding of evil. Yes, the village is a microcosm of life in general, that’s the point. But it’s also intriguing to wonder if there was more in her past, perhaps during the Great War. There’s nothing in Christie’s background that suggests where she got her own understanding of evil. And I think that’s something we share, this interest in what makes ordinary people turn to murder as a solution to their problems. Which neatly avoids your question. The answer, I think, is that a woman must have certain qualities to be believable as a sleuth, and one is the ability to observe. Another is an ability to see through sham and to be objective. These I think Bess has learned from Miss Marple.
Caroline: If you could ask Agatha Christie one question—about anything, her work itself or how she worked, or something that intrigued you in your study of her notebooks—what would it be?
John: Some of my years-old questions were answered by my study of the Notebooks but what I still can’t understand would form the basis of my question: ‘How did you do what you did so well, so often, and for so long?’ And I don’t think even Agatha Christie herself could answer it!
Click here for more information about the Book Time with Bess Bess Crawford Read Along and to sign up. Browse inside A Duty to the Dead and I hope we hear from you next week during our first discussion of that book here!
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If you, like me, are feeling a Downton Abbey let-down after the airing of the last episode in the second season, I might just have the cure that ails you (it might even cure the Spanish flu).
Further immerse yourself in WWI-era England with the Bess Crawford mysteries by Charles Todd by joining our “Book Time with Bess” Read Along!
The “Book Time with Bess Read Along” kicks off now and runs through the publication of the newest book in the series, An Unmarked Grave in June 2012.
About Bess Crawford, and A Duty to the Dead, the first book in the series:
So who is Bess Crawford? The creation of the mother and son writing team of Charles Todd – the team that brought us the acclaimed and bestselling Ian Rutledge series – Bess Crawford is a singular woman living in a time of great change in England. Independent-minded Bess Crawford’s upbringing was far different from that of the usual upper-middle-class British gentlewoman. Growing up in India, she learned the importance of responsibility, honor, and duty from her officer father. At the outbreak of World War I, she followed in his footsteps and volunteered for the nursing corps, serving from the battlefields of France to the doomed hospital ship Britannic.
On one voyage, Bess grows fond of the young, gravely wounded Lieutenant Arthur Graham. Something rests heavily on his conscience, and to give him a little peace as he dies, she promises to deliver a message to his brother. It is some months before she can carry out this duty, and when she’s next in England, she herself is recovering from a wound. When Bess arrives at the Graham house in Kent, Jonathan Graham listens to his brother’s last wishes with surprising indifference. Neither his mother nor his brother Timothy seems to think it has any significance. Unsettled by this, Bess is about to take her leave when sudden tragedy envelops her. She quickly discovers that fulfilling this duty to the dead has thrust her into a maelstrom of intrigue and murder that will endanger her own life and test her courage as not even war has.
As an added bonus to get you started, the e-book of A Duty to the Dead is just $1.99 for a limited time, so order up today and get reading!
The read-along officially kicks off today (but don’t worry, our first discussion won’t take place until March 26th) and it runs through the publication of the paperback of the most recent Bess Crawford novel, A Bitter Truth (on sale 5/1), as well as the new Bess Crawford hardcover, An Unmarked Grave (on sale 6/5). We'll end the read-along in June with a Book Club Girl on Air Show with the Charles Todd writing team to discuss all the books in the series.
Here's the schedule of when I'll post questions about each book for us to discuss:
March 26th - A Duty to the Dead discussion
April 30th - An Impartial Witness discussion
May 1st – A Bitter Truth paperback goes on sale
May 29th – A Bitter Truth discussion (May 28th is Memorial Day)
June 5th - An Unmarked Grave – the new hardcover goes on sale
June 25th – An Unmarked Grave discussion
June 28th – Book Club Girl on Air Show with Charles Todd to Discuss the Entire Series
Look for updates along the way here, on Twitter (#besscrawford), and on the Book Club Girl and Charles Todd Facebook pages.
The first 10 people to sign up will receive a free copy of the paperback of A Duty to the Dead (if you're taking advantage of the $1.99 ebook instead, let me know that and we can send you An Impartial Witness).
Write a post saying you're signing up and link back here, grab the tile ad above and then link to your post using the Mr. Linky below. (If you don't have a blog, announce it on your Facebook and link to your status update). Then tweet about your reading using the hashtag #besscrawford.
(email me if you are having trouble with the tile ad at bookclubgirl AT gmail DOT com).
Happy Reading!
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