_the Wicked Wicked Ladies in the Haunted House_
Cori
to read some of the most intriguing "most requested/remembered"
titles, some of which have held up for an adult reader but many of
which are all too easy to pick apart. The most notable of these was
"The Ghost of Dibble Hollow," by May Nickerson Wallace, which I would
not recommend for reprinting due to all the plot problems. (Though
trying to figure how to "fix" the plot while retaining all the good
points has proven a real brain challenge.) I am currently most of the
way through "Wicked Wicked Ladies" and am glad to see it being
reprinted, but can't resist (you knew it) to put in my 2 cents worth
of nitpicks.
First, and largest, is that the household in which the seven sisters
grew up would seem to be prior to 1880. Their lack of central
heating, electricity, and knowledge of the telephone all predates the
late 1880s, and many homes had phones before the end of 1880, although
they couldn't necessarily call all their friends as their friends
might not have them.
So far, so good, except that the song "Wait till the Sun Shines,
Nellie" is mentioned as being played and sung in the house when the
seven sisters were children. This song was not published till 1905,
so even if they had it hot off the press as kids they should have
still had a phone, and perhaps central heating and electricity, in the
house by that time as well. Also, the first dial phone was invented
in 1889. Again, although not everyone had a dial exchange, and in
some areas still had to "ring central" for many years, Maureen's
description of a direct dial phone still should not have sounded like
science fiction to people in 1905! These people treated her like a
total lunatic at the mention of the word "telephone," which was
patented in 1876!
The book "Father's Big Improvements," by Caroline D. Emerson, is a
very good illustration of "what came in when." As far as I can tell,
there is NOTHING wrong with this book (also read for the first time
recently as "one missed in childhood") except that it reads so
realistically even an adult reader is thrown for a loop when they
realize (as I did, near the end) that this is fiction. I had figured
it for a true story of a family known to the author!
Which is a long way of saying, don't you wish ALL authors would pay
close attention to such details--that the 10-year-old reader wouldn't
know or notice but hit the adult like a poke in the eye? This song is
mentioned at least three times as a major plot point in
what is after all a very thin book. "Wait Till the Sun Shines,
Nellie," falls into the dangerous category of "old standards"--read,
songs all too easy to assume have been around FOREVER. Someone,
somewhere, no doubt believes crusaders traveled to the Holy Land to
the tune of "Onward, Christian Soldiers."
The first time I had occasion to look up the publication date of "Wait
Till the Sun Shines, Nellie" was due to that anachronism factory
"Little House on the Prairie," where it was used, as an instrumental,
in connection with Nellie Oleson (who also had a gramophone-type
machine in her room decades before their invention.) Since the
internet was not yet invented then I no doubt used a print source, but
found it easy enough. I used to watch that show seated next to the
shelf with the WORLD BOOK. Without my eyes hardly leaving the screen,
I would reach an arm to the shelf and pull down the necessary volume,
to find they were playing baseball (which was invented) with gloves
(which were not), basketball (not invented at all till years later,
and they already had a girls' team!) and they also had pretty
state-of-the-art football equipment for people living at the edge of
civilization. A list of JUST things (pastimes, inventions, songs) not
available in that time and place, but used on the show, would easily
fill a set of volumes longer than the original books, and that's not
to mention things such as political and social mindsets and modes of
speech. But I digress....
Except for the anachronism involving this song, the book presents a
pretty good portrayal of a pre-1880s household. The disappearance of
the sisters by their transformation into pigeons would seem to take
place a good 10-12 years after their childhood, in other words,
1915-1917 or so, by which time their father CERTAINLY should have had
a phone and been able to call the police and some of their more
well-to-do friends without having to make a house-to-house search,
which by that time he would have been making by car and not horsedrawn
carriage.
Overall, this is a very good kids' book, a bit thin for adults and not
even as much as some YAs. See "A Pattern of Roses," by K. M. Peyton
and "Tom's Midnight Garden" by Philippa Pearce as really excellent
examples of this type of work. "Mirror of Danger" by Pamela Sykes and
"Jane-Emily" by Patricia Clapp are also good works of a similar nature
for those wishing to make a comparison with "Wicked Ladies." I would
have enjoyed this at age 10, but I have to read my old favorite, "The
Velvet Room," by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, again, and see how the pigeon
ladies stand up in comparison.
The only other REAL nitpick I would make regarding "Wicked Ladies" is
the author's use of the word "so." My college English professor
taught me that "so" is a comparative term. In other words, "she was
_so_ surprised _that_ her mouth fell open" is proper usage. Yet, this
book is full of sentences such as "she was so surprised," "she was so
mad," and without reason, when more descriptive terminology could have
been used. There were about three of these "sos" I would have let
stand, but as editor I'd have brutally blue-penciled the remaining two
or three per PAGE the author uses with the notation, "I am so sick of
seeing so used so often, so there!"
Glad to learn of its return to print. Is it from Scholastic, or
another publisher? If another, which? I wonder why the other
frequently-requested book by Mary Chase, "Loretta Mason Potts," seems
never to have appeared in paperback and is horrendously rare and
expensive these days. I have started to make inquiries into
contacting the author's heirs about how they might feel regarding a
reprint, as I'd really like to read it after hearing so much about it
online.
Donna
I looked at The Wicked, Wicked Ladies in the he Haunted House in the book
store that other day. Great title but I thought it was a bit thin to pay
that much for the hard cover. Having read you review I don't regret my
decision not to buy it. I'll look for it in the library or wait for the
paperback.
Donna
"Cori" <cmashiel...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:6047da4.03091...@posting.google.com...
Cori
Purple House Press or another one?
Wendy E. Betts
Cori <cmashiel...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>So the reprint is hardcover? Did you notice whether the publisher was
>Purple House Press or another one?
It's hardcover and the publisher is Random House. (Delacorte, IIRC.)
--
"I couldn't believe this was a book. It didn't even give me a
headache." -- Chris Crutcher on _To Kill a Mockingbird_
Eeek - the wicked pigeon ladies are back in the garden!:
www.armory.com/~web/vol11.no6.html
Wendy E. Betts
Wendy E. Betts <w...@deeptht.armory.com> wrote:
>In article <6047da4.03091...@posting.google.com>,
>Cori <cmashiel...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>>So the reprint is hardcover? Did you notice whether the publisher was
>>Purple House Press or another one?
>
>It's hardcover and the publisher is Random House. (Delacorte, IIRC.)
Make that Knopf. Oh, and the new illustrations are by Peter Sis.
Cori
Cool. Okay, that song was mentioned four times, and a few more
quibbles: it is, or certainly should be, a firm rule with very few
exceptions that book characters should not be named alike, such as Tim
and Jim, or Tim and Tom. Unless for some VERY good reason the story
calls for it, character names should NEVER begin with the same letter,
let alone the same two or three letters. There was no real need for a
Mavis, Maude, and Maureen in this book when plenty of other names are
out there. There was also some viewpoint switching within scenes,
another no-no. The story was pretty original, I'll give it that.
Another similar book suggestion is "The Red Room Riddle," by Scott
Corbett.
Cori
(who is still annoyed at Meindert deJong. Try reading "The Wheel on
the School" and you'll see why.)
sjt
uncommon (or has not been in the past, anyway), for siblings to be
named alliteratively.
We all start with "S" in my family.
A Wicked Pigeon Lady devotee from way back,
sjt
On 16 Sep 2003 01:59:35 -0700, cmashiel...@hotmail.com (Cori)
wrote:
-><snip> character names should NEVER begin with the same letter,
->let alone the same two or three letters. There was no real need
->for a
->Mavis, Maude, and Maureen in this book when plenty of other names
->are out there.
sjtrow [at] wildmail.com
~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
If they had a king of fools
Then I could wear that crown
And you can all die laughing
Because I'll wear it proudly
~*~*~*~*~* EC *~*~*~*~*~*~*
Cori
mounting a big campaign for now: