Somehow I've gotten onto a string of misogynistic women authors. Compared to this the last one, Christie's Blue Train, seems quite mild. At least its sexism is of a more paternal tone -- oh, you women are so silly and unable to control your feelings --rather than truly hateful. The women here are not just irrational, but also vicious, selfish, dishonest, and amoral. And this despite the fact that the male characters do all the murdering and most of the other crimes. When women commit their sordid little crimes it is at the behest of men, but that still makes them worse than men because they are stupider as well.This book contains the most repulsive proposal I have read, to date: Will you marry me and give up to me your independence, the enthusiasm which you give your career, your time and your thought? ...In return, mind you (I consider it an obligation), I should assume full responsibility for you. I would pay your bills to any amount which my income might afford. I would make all the decisions which were not directly your province, although on the other hand I would like to feel I might discuss everything with you if I wanted to; but only because I wanted to, mind you; not as your right. ...You would be my care, my mate... my possession... It means the other half of my life to me, but the whole of yours.This is totally serious. It is not meant as a satire. Also, it comes right after the guy has had a very public affair with a married women, and there hasn't been a big talk or reconciliation scene or anything of that nature. But I guess poor Val has low standards. After all, earlier in the story when she was admitting how upset she was about Alan's betrayal, she was told, "This is damned silly introspective rot. What you need, my girl, is a good cry or a nice rape." And that's from her brother! The protagonist/detective/hero of the story! This is book ten in Campion's series. I really thought I had read an earlier installment and not hated it or him, but I sure did here. In fact, I found most of the characters pretty repellent. The only person I found sympathetic was Amanda, the young aircraft engineer. Well, and the kid Sinclair, but he only existed as a plot device and disappeared as soon as he had conveyed the crucial information.Allingham's writing is decent and often clever. It's a pity her characters ruin it.[Added after a reread 02/26/14, which was unfortunately necessitated by starting [book:Traitor's Purse|383181] and realizing that I couldn't remember what had happened with the Campion/Amanda plot arc.I think what bothered me so much about the misogyny was both how universal it was -- every female character conforms to stereotypes of women as irrational, emotional, catty, and focused on men (except for to some degree Amanda, who is always described as "innocent," "childlike," "trusting" and also is unfeminine and a mechanic) -- and how ultimately unnecessary to the plot. Which sucks because the plot is actually reasonably strong in terms of the mystery, but I couldn't enjoy it because this nasty, insulting bile about women kept coming up over and over, even when it had nothing to do with what else was going on.]
The Fashion in Shrouds by Margery Allingham was originally published in 1938 and it's the tenth novel in the Albert Campion series.A brief summary: Albert Campion has found the skeleton of Richard Portland-Smith who disappeared without a trace three years ago. The investigation of his apparent suicide, which turns out to be murder, leads to Richard's former fiancée, the actress Georgia Wells, and also to a series of deaths, apparently caused by "the hand of fate". Albert Campion's involvement is more than just professional this time, because the case involves his sister Valentine, Georgia's best friend.The reason I like this book so much, is because we get to know Valentine, Albert's sister, and learn a bit more about his back ground and family and also because Lady Amanda Fitton from Sweet Danger, is back in Albert's life. I also like it because during Campion's investigation, Alligham describes working women, 1930's period fashion, and the mores of British upper class society. It contains the best description of fashion I've ever read. "Why it is that a garment which is honestly attractive in, say, 1910 should be honestly ridiculous a few years later and honestly charming again a few years later, still is one those things which are not satisfactorily to be explained..." (5)The characters In AFIS are all glamorous and British upper class as is usual in the Albert Campion mystery cannon, but what is striking about The Fashion in Shrouds is the importance Allingham placed on the professional woman just prior to the WW II. Much more interesting than the overly dramatic actress, Georgia, are Val Ferris, Campion's sister, and Lady Amanda Fitton. Val is described as ‘one of the most important business women in Europe, with a reputation to keep up and a staff to look after’. Lady Amanda Fitton, is an aeronautics engineer, who is without pretension and very hard working. Amanda is also brilliant and just as capable of working out what is going on in the murder case as Albert Campion. It is she in fact, who first smells a rat.The Fashion in Shrouds also asks some very important questions about the pre WW II professional woman. How does a professional woman of that time compete with men and yet express her femininity? What does the expression of a female sexual agenda mean in relationships with men? Should women work and then give up their independence when they marry? These questions were not so easily answered during that period. There are also reminders in AFIS that the social mores of 1938 are very different from those of today. From our 2013 perspective, some of the content and the ending of this book is considered controversial by readers who are sometimes appalled at what they consider misogynist content, but I wonder if that content and the conclusion were perceived in the same way in 1938.
What do You think about The Fashion In Shrouds (1978)?
The only thing that really hurts this book is that you have to take it in the context of its time. There is blatant racist and sexist content, but it *was* written in 1938, when the world was still ignoring what Hitler was doing in Europe, so that's not really surprising. I'm not saying that should be ignored, but don't throw out the good with the bad because aside from that the book is *very* good (in fact, if not for that I would've given it five stars).Now, I'll be honest, this is Albert's long-awaited (by me) reunion with Amanda Fitton from Sweet Danger, which is why I read it. But the book is enjoyable for reasons above and beyond the delightfully in-denial nature of their relationship: we meet Campion's sister for the first time and the mystery is tricky enough that, while I called a couple of plot twists, I didn't figure out the whodunnit until Allingham allowed the reader to. Agatha Christie may be the Queen of Crime, but surely Allingham deserves at least a princess tiara? *g*It's a pity the BBC Campion series didn't go long enough to tackle this one--I would have loved to see how they handled it. :-)
—Azar
Kindle Owners Lending Library | This series has been solidly three-star for me, enjoyable enough to keep reading but not worth paying for. The first half of this book wasn't even up to that standard, being needlessly complicated, overly populated, dusted with unnecessary red herrings, and falsely philosophical about gender differences. Once the murder finally occurred, however, the book improved by leaps and bounds, and the presence of Amanda--which I knew to expect at this point in the series--helped push the whole thing up to an extra star (even if the murderer was clear through a combination of snobbery and no other options).Note two unpleasant anachronisms: repeated use of the N-word by an upper class white man, and our hero telling his sister that what she needs is "a nice rape".
—Robyn
Albert Campion’s sister, Val, is a fashion designer who finds herself mixed up in the unexplained death of film star, Georgia Wells’ husband. Georgia is a femme fatale who seems to attract just about every man she meets including Val’s friend Alan Dell, a plane designer. Coincidentally the body of Georgia’s former fiancé who disappeared some years ago has also been found. Could Georgia be more than just the selfish vamp she definitely is?I enjoyed this complex mystery with its portrayal of nineteen thirties society. I liked Campion as a characters and I also liked his sister, Val. The ending of the book was a complete surprise to me as I had identified someone else as the murderer but when you look back at the story there are plenty of clues as it who the murderer actually was.These older mysteries written during the Golden Age of British crime fiction stand the test of time very well in my opinion. ‘The Fashion in Shrouds’ is particularly well plotted and the characters are believable. The writing is of a high standard – higher than that of some modern crime writers. I recommend this book to anyone who hasn’t yet tried Margery Allingham’s Albert Campion stories.
—Damaskcat
