Ugh. Hard to believe this is the same author who wrote very absorbing medieval historicals with such grace and intelligence. This is cheap James Bond and deadly tedious. There were 8 of these, of which this is the 7th. All are apparently now out of print and good riddance. Besides being ankle-deep in 70s Brit slang – I’d forgotten how fond of brand names they were – and the unexplained references to previously met characters and events, the story itself is stupid and overly convoluted. I resented having to wade through tons of nautical jargon in an attempt to follow the oooh-exciting yacht adventure. Other references were just obscure. Describing a ritzy enclave, she says, “the beachside properties are expensive and large: anyone from the Third Crusade would have felt instantly at home.” Eh? Ok, that was the Kings’ Crusade, meaning there were, um, 3 or 4 major kings and probably a few other leaders involved, and (duh) a vast preponderance of knights, fighters and hangers-on, just like any other war machine. What the heck is she trying to say? It doesn’t make any sense. Even more mysterious: a street scene in Yugoslavia – “…in front of each arch of the knee shops…”. Knee shops?? I looked this one up and got nowhere that didn’t point at places to buy knee braces. She also uses words like “joppling” and “whimming”, which she perhaps made up. I only found “jopple” on a website of made-up words with humorous definitions, and “whimming” in a nonsense poem by John Lennon and in a blog, as a humorous extension of the noun. I’ll add that the usage was quite clear in the blog, but not at all in the book. No idea what it was meant to convey.Probably the most interesting facet of the book is the fact that the series’ continuing character appears pretty much in the background and the narrative is from the pov of what is apparently a one-shot. It seems that each book has a different “bird” (there’s that slang again) and I gather that each is the narrator, although I’d have to actually look at another to find out and I really don’t care to bother.
I've been cataloging my books online for a few years now, but looking back it's odd that some of the writers for whom I have the greatest love barely rate a mention, due to my possibly arbitrary decision to just add books as I read them. I could explain why I do this except I can't remember and I'm sure it was a dreadfully boring reason and why the heck should anyone care? Various editions of the novels of Dorothy Dunnett take up about two whole bookshelves all by themselves, and yet this is the first of her novels to turn up on my Goodreads! This is both uninteresting and insignificant! Yet I'm noting it anyway. Anything to avoid company. Joanna Emerson is one of Johnson Johnson's dolly birds, young women who, whatever their other qualities, tend to score high on intelligence and resourcefulness, be single and have a well-defined trade which they are rather good at, all in contrast to the casual sexism of the oh-so-seventies titles. This is Dunnett: ironies abound. Back to Joanna, highly trained nanny who, after a difficult adventure on a train in the middle of a freezing Canadian tundra, ends up employed by a rich New York couple to mind their new-born baby. Deeper agendas have conspired to bring this about, aided by the machinations of yachtman and portrait painter and freelance troubleshooter for British Intelligence, Johnson Johnson. Dodging kidnap attempts ostensibly aimed at the bawling heir, negotiating the marital difficulties of her employers and the social climbing of the family next door, Joanna provides an excellent service, provided she can survive.These are rather light, fast, fun books, though not without their darker, sharper, sadder moments. The hero - enigmatic, surpassingly clever, deeply manipulative but hiding nasty emotional and physical scars - is cast from the same mould as Lymond, Niccolo and Thorfinn, as are the supporting characters who provide us with our not entirely reliable view of them. The Dolly books, nevertheless, can be a bit of a mixed bag, and though not the best, this is certainly one of the better ones.
What do You think about Dolly And The Nanny Bird (1983)?
On the whole, this was probably the best of this series so far. The main character is herself involved in the espionage game, though as a decoder, and thus spends a lot of time being calm and competent. A heck of a lot about child care in the story, along with a great many women who have the care of children and yet care nothing for them.As usual there's a portion of the ending that steps out of adventure and could be suitably be called "mad cap". Almost all of these books have had a section that is presumably meant to be comedic, but is where credulity is stretched to the limit.
—Andrea
