Dolly And The Doctor Bird (1982) - Plot & Excerpts
Operation Nassau starts promisingly, with a main character who is observant and very good in a crisis. A woman who has chosen to place her medical career above all else (though driven there to a degree by her eccentric father, who wants her to get married and give his clan heirs), she is perhaps a little over inclined to use exact medical terms, but she worked well as a person.Unfortunately, the point of this novel is to teach Dr McRannoch that she is wrong to be this way.This series has always been a trifle rapey - all three of the female main characters I've read so far have had to deal with people trying to have sex with them ("forcible passes"). The first two deal with this casually, as a kind of occupational hazard of being female. Dr McRannoch brings to mind a line from a different detective series, where one woman says of another: "What she needs is a good rape".The tee-total career-minded doctor, in other words, needs to learn to dress better, drink more, and appreciate (among others) a man who spikes her drink, hides under her bed, and ties her up - all because he knows she won't let him kiss her in other circumstances.So, yeah...this wasn't my idea of a fun story. Especially since (view spoiler)[the observant, good in a crisis woman ends up being a total patsy to the espionage story, with a couple of TSTL moments, and where practically everyone except her knows what's really going on. And, of course, by the end of the book she's resigned from her job and is contemplating marriage (hide spoiler)]
After the vivacious, frothy Sarah Cassells, Dr. B. Douglas MacRannoch was a bit hard to get used to. She's extremely stern, dry, antisocial and judgmental, like Dr. Temperance Brennan of the television show Bones, but without all the whimsy. However, we can't all be Sarahs, and I stuck with it. Dr. MacRannoch becomes embroiled in several attempted poisonings and gets whisked off to various Bahamanian islands for a series of adventures and some serious personal development. Beltanno (as her first name is eventually revealed to be) finds herself in a whirlwind of murder attempts, international espionage, and, as if that weren't enough, an involuntary personal makeover.I'm not always a fan of the Pygmalion plot of a woman discovering who she is by getting a new haircut and wearing more revealing clothes. However, as testament to the fact that Dunnett can do anything, she makes this an appealing and reasonable development. Her slow thawing is done exceptionally well, beginning with peeks of wit and emotion until Beltanno is revealed to be a fully realized human being (with a sense of humor even!) as well as a woman. It's a heck of a story, and takes place in an exotically beautiful location, with a cast of characters including socialites, diplomats, Japanese golfers, and Turkish dancers. It's so interesting to see the way Johnson Johnson interacts with each of the heroines, and especially interesting in this case. Very, very fun to read, and Dunnett always keeps you guessing right up until the end.
What do You think about Dolly And The Doctor Bird (1982)?
I'm starting to re-read Dorothy Dunnett's "Dolly and...." series. Dunnett has such a distinct style, and if you like that sharp, witty, literature-referencing style, the Dolly series will be exactly your cup of tea. Somewhat mysterious hero (Johnson Johnson, world-renowned painter and also spy), strong women, and lots of action. The Doctor Bird is Beltanno Douglas MacRannoch, only child of the head of the MacRannoch clan, and a woman trying to chart her own destiny in the middle of madness. One word of warning - the book was written in the early 70s and so some of the mores, language and geo-political set-ups clearly reflect those times. Still, quite a fun read.
—Miki
