For Dazzlerdream: Flavia de Luce and The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

Guest811910

My screen name is Jordansdream, not Guest and a number sequence. Somehow I seem to be signed in as a guest.
Alan Bradley's novel The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie introduces Flavia de Luce, an eleven year-old girl detective in the spirit of Nancy Drew yet with more humor and eccentricity than Nancy possesses in the original novels. While Bradley's intended audience encompasses all readers of detective fiction, the story presents neither foul language nor the violence common to modern popular fiction. Parents of young adult readers have nothing to fear.

Halfway through the latest in the series, Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mewed,  I realized how much Flavia has in common with both Nancy Drew and Jane Darcy, Nancy for obvious reasons and Jane because Flavia lives in the Buckshaw, a stately house suffering from a decade or more of deferred maintenance and bursting with oddities behind every door; among these are a mouse infested Rolls Royce up on blocks in the stable and an unheated wing with a complete chemical laboratory. Imagine Pemberley falling to rack and ruin in 1950.

Here is a quote from the Guardian about The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie:

"Set in an English village in 1950, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie reads like a cross between Dodie Smith's I Capture the Castle (posh family fallen on hard times, dead mother, disengaged father, crumbling pile) and the Addams family.... A strong plot, involving philately, ornithology and prestidigitation, and a wonderful supporting cast make this Canadian novelist's debut delightfully entertaining."

Edited to add: I just read that Bradley's novels are in development for television, hope the program does Flavia, family,  friends, villains, and all manner of other weirdos justice.

dazzlerdream

I love the sound of this series!! I think I've found my summer reading and it's not even summer yet!  Do you have to wait for Summer to start your summer reading?  How many books has he written in the series?  The title"Thrice The Brinded Cat Bath Hat Mewed" is fabulous!  Thanks for giving me a new series to check out!  I just heard of a book, but haven't read it yet, about a young girl living at Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, it's called Serafina and the Black Cloak.  I think it kind of weaves the legends of North Carolina in to the story and sounds pretty mysterious!

Also, I've just finished reading Kristin Lavransdatter: The wife and have acquired the last book in the series.  I find it very exciting and insightful, I'm so glad you recommended it @jordansdream!

jordansdream

"Unless some sweetness at the bottom lie, who cares for all the crinkling of the pie" is a quote from The Art of Cookery by William King, 1709. Of course, I did not recognize it when I read the Bradley's book in 2010. The "thrice brinded cat" I got right away because it's the witches in Macbeth.

I may have details wrong about the story; maybe the Rolls Royce isn't mouse infested. Maybe Dogger, confidant of Flavia and butler/valet/gardener of the other de Luces, keeps the car in perfect order despite it never or rarely being driven. My haziness on the these details is inspiration to reread. Enough time has passed.

Combining comedy of manners with the great tradition of country house murders,The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie was Bradley's first novel and written when he was in his sixties. It won a number awards. My response to encountering Flavia for the first time was similar to meeting other great literary characters. "More," I said to myself, "I must have more," and Bradley has accommodated readers by adding 6 more. The first is a treasure.