Murder with Mirrors 1
I haven't gotten far into the book, and it's already fascinating. Written in 1952, it's set at a "home for juvenile delinquents." The book begins with Agatha's Miss Marple character talking to an old friend (Ruth) about another old friend, Carrie. This Carrie character has a tendency to marry "cranks" - people with ideals, that is. I haven't met Carrie in the book just yet, but I'm already biased to think that she's the type to follow a guy wherever they lead. I'll even go so far as to think that Carrie doesn't have ideals of her own, but substitutes the work of having ideals by marrying someone who does.
Have you met Carrie yet? Have you met her husband?
Well, he's either a "Swede or a Norwegian or something" (pg 4) and he was 50 when she married him at the tender age of 17.
I had ideals at 17. And yes, I was cranky for it. While I'm not the type to blindly follow someone else's ideals, I remember that at 17, I followed someone else's lead as to what was going to happen in the relationship. Now that I'm almost 52, I can say that it was probably because I didn't understand relationships. To that end, I can understand Carrie. I hope she doesn't find herself in too much trouble...
Well, Carrie's husband died when she was 32, and she was left with piles of money that attracted her second husband. It should be noted that her first husband left a few trusts that were meant to help people get educated, as was the trend at that time. (This is the kind of interesting tidbit that I like to read about, btw)
So the second husband leaves her for some other gal, but Agatha's careful to point out that Carrie could've gotten him back if she only knew that the other woman was just a passing phase. (Another interesting tidbit! Could I be remotely interested in waiting for a man to lose interest in his side chick? My cranky ideals would say no to that sort of thing.)
Along to the third man, page 6. Husband #3 has ideals and is cranky, and "he's bitten by that same bug of wanting to improve everyone's lives for them." (pg 6)
Oh Agatha! How I love that you use Ruth to add, "And really, you know, nobody can do that but yourself." It's as true today as it was in 1952, and it's a comfort to read the line. What's interesting is that she uses Ruth to outline that in husband #1's day, the "fashion in philanthropy" was to donate to education. Does she stop there? Of course not. Ruth needs to add that, "Everyone expects education as a matter of right - and doesn't think much of it when they get it!"
I could research when education got fully funded in England, but that's not what this blog is about. It's about the changes Agatha witnessed over the course of her lifetime and how she throws her observations into her characters. Was education a right in 1900 when Agatha was 10? Whatever it was at that time, it was undoubtedly very different from what it was in 1952, which is not that much time in the grand scheme of things. It strikes me as interesting to wonder what evolution in education she witnessed in her lifetime.
Back to the "fashion in philanthropy" comment...
Ruth segues into Carrie's latest husband being knee-deep in cranky ideals for the philanthropy du jour: juvenile delinquency. "All these young criminals and potential criminals. Everyone's mad about them." (pg 6) But that's not all! Carrie and #3 are living with them, "who aren't perhaps quite normal. And the place stiff with occupational therapists and teachers and enthusiasts, half of them quite mad. Cranks, all the lot of them, and my little Carrie Louise in the middle of it all!" (pg 6)
There you have it. We now know what Agatha thinks about juvenile institutions and everyone who works there. While her opinion is interesting, the slice of history is even more compelling in my opinion. So the donations go from education to a form of psychiatry, and I'm left thinking about ideals that are wrapped up in the trend of the day.
This is all for now. Evil's lurking in this place of juvenile delinquents, and if the evil isn't in one of the juveniles, it'll be in one of the people "helping" them.
Have you met Carrie yet? Have you met her husband?
Well, he's either a "Swede or a Norwegian or something" (pg 4) and he was 50 when she married him at the tender age of 17.
I had ideals at 17. And yes, I was cranky for it. While I'm not the type to blindly follow someone else's ideals, I remember that at 17, I followed someone else's lead as to what was going to happen in the relationship. Now that I'm almost 52, I can say that it was probably because I didn't understand relationships. To that end, I can understand Carrie. I hope she doesn't find herself in too much trouble...
Well, Carrie's husband died when she was 32, and she was left with piles of money that attracted her second husband. It should be noted that her first husband left a few trusts that were meant to help people get educated, as was the trend at that time. (This is the kind of interesting tidbit that I like to read about, btw)
So the second husband leaves her for some other gal, but Agatha's careful to point out that Carrie could've gotten him back if she only knew that the other woman was just a passing phase. (Another interesting tidbit! Could I be remotely interested in waiting for a man to lose interest in his side chick? My cranky ideals would say no to that sort of thing.)
Along to the third man, page 6. Husband #3 has ideals and is cranky, and "he's bitten by that same bug of wanting to improve everyone's lives for them." (pg 6)
Oh Agatha! How I love that you use Ruth to add, "And really, you know, nobody can do that but yourself." It's as true today as it was in 1952, and it's a comfort to read the line. What's interesting is that she uses Ruth to outline that in husband #1's day, the "fashion in philanthropy" was to donate to education. Does she stop there? Of course not. Ruth needs to add that, "Everyone expects education as a matter of right - and doesn't think much of it when they get it!"
I could research when education got fully funded in England, but that's not what this blog is about. It's about the changes Agatha witnessed over the course of her lifetime and how she throws her observations into her characters. Was education a right in 1900 when Agatha was 10? Whatever it was at that time, it was undoubtedly very different from what it was in 1952, which is not that much time in the grand scheme of things. It strikes me as interesting to wonder what evolution in education she witnessed in her lifetime.
Back to the "fashion in philanthropy" comment...
Ruth segues into Carrie's latest husband being knee-deep in cranky ideals for the philanthropy du jour: juvenile delinquency. "All these young criminals and potential criminals. Everyone's mad about them." (pg 6) But that's not all! Carrie and #3 are living with them, "who aren't perhaps quite normal. And the place stiff with occupational therapists and teachers and enthusiasts, half of them quite mad. Cranks, all the lot of them, and my little Carrie Louise in the middle of it all!" (pg 6)
There you have it. We now know what Agatha thinks about juvenile institutions and everyone who works there. While her opinion is interesting, the slice of history is even more compelling in my opinion. So the donations go from education to a form of psychiatry, and I'm left thinking about ideals that are wrapped up in the trend of the day.
This is all for now. Evil's lurking in this place of juvenile delinquents, and if the evil isn't in one of the juveniles, it'll be in one of the people "helping" them.
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