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4.0étoiles sur 5
Not a light read but compelling, Fév 20 2007
Having read several of Elizabeth George's mysteries, I was surprised to find myself reading an entirely different type of book. Do not expect this novel to include the characters from her previous Detective Lynley series except in reference. I was not too sure what I would think of it, but as I read I became totally drawn into the characters and unable to put the book down. This novel takes us into the darkest parts of London and gives us insight into the people who must deal with the dangers and hopelessness in their everyday lives. The book, utilizing a mix of patois and formal English, is situated around one particular dysfunctional "family" and ultimately what led to the final desperate outcome. The book itself is a prequel to her previous novel "With No One As Witness" in that it takes us back into the events in the life of a young boy that led to the shooting of a Scotland Yard detective's wife. I found the book took me on a journey I would not normally want to take, but is well-written for its subject matter. It is definitely not a light read.
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3.0étoiles sur 5
Haunting...but problematic, Nov. 28 2006
I may be unusual in that I am an African American who is also a huge Elizabeth George fan. I, like many readers, was surprised by the vehemence of my reaction to "With No One as Witness", as Helen had never been a favorite character of mine. But my response to that book made me even more eager to read "What Came Before He Shot Her". In some respects, George succeeds admirably. She is an evocative and gripping writer, and I found myself rooting desperately for brave and loving Joel and poor helpless Toby, even though I knew what was coming. Even the infuriating Ness was a terribly wounded child trapped in the body of a woman, with a rage she couldn't control, focused mostly on herself. Kendra, Dix, Ivan; all these characters tried in their own flawed ways to connect with the Campbell children, but circumstances and character deficits conspired to ruin these attempts at outreach. On this level, George approaches some of the heights of the Dickensian social problem novels she is apparently aspiring to, and it is a brave choice for a mystery novelist, especially after loyal readers were so outraged after the last book.
However, I have a few serious caveats. One is the relentless use of street patois, and the juxtaposition between speaking "proper, educated" English and the vernacular of the streets. While it is undoubtedly true that Kendra got a quicker police response to the charity shop using her "Lady Muck" voice than she would have otherwise, I find the suggestion that the only way for people of color to prove their worth and intellectual capacity is to speak in the accepted language of the dominant culture problematic. After all, in previous novels Havers has stood as an effective skewering of the faulty association between real worth and respectability and the old-guard idea of titles, university degrees and use of the Queen's English as the arbiters of class. While there is certainly a disparity between how whites and blacks are viewed according to their use of language, I find it problematic for George to perpetuate this idea as appropriate. Even more troubling is the suggestion that much of the Campbell children's difficulties stem from the fact that they are multiracial. It made me wonder if George has actually looked around London lately. Recent studies show that 50% of "black" children in Britain today have a white parent. So how much would the Campbell children really stand out? And George falls back on antiquated notions about a constant struggling for identity and inability to fit in that is an age-old literary trope but bears little resemblance to the real lives of multiracial people today, many of whom are challenging both the "one-drop" notion and its attempts to compartmentalize their identity, as well as the idea that they are tortured misfits who can't find their place in society. George even refers to (I'm paraphrasing here) Joel's blood being "at war", a fanciful and quite offensive notion that evokes the "tragic mulatto" stereotype that should have been stamped out with that "progressive and well-meaning" 60's British film "Sapphire". I think George has bitten off more than she can chew here, and while I would never suggest that only people of color can write about other people of color, George reveals her limited understanding of the realities of life for contemporary mixed race children. In addition, by making the Campbells appearance the apparent trigger for much of their troubles, she disconnects the reader from the other serious social and psychological ills that have led them inexorably down their tragic path.
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2.0étoiles sur 5
A Wretched Look at Wretchedness, Nov. 22 2006
If you read Elizabeth George because you like mysteries solved by Thomas Lynley and Barbara Havers, you should take careful stock before taking on What Came Before He Shot Her. This isn't another mystery of that sort in that series.
Instead, this is a modern version of Dickens in looking at the poor and downtrodden in London to see how bad genes, a horrible environment and rotten luck can combine to bring down those who mean well. In making that comparison, however, I must note that this book lacks the humor, wit and energy of Dickens.
In the books 548 pages, Ms. George does save some interesting surprises. But I didn't find those surprises worth wading through the first 250 pages to find.
So what is the book about? A grandmother has been raising three of her grandchildren after their father has been killed and their mother has gone off the deep end. As the book opens, the grandmother dumps the three on the doorstep of another daughter who is recently divorced while the grandmother heads off to Jamaica to be with her boyfriend. The oldest child is a fifteen-year-old, Vanessa (Ness), who finds herself fascinated by fashion, drugs and getting attention from men. Naturally, all that leads her into deep trouble. The youngest child, Joel, is the surrogate father for his younger brother, Toby, who isn't quite right in the head. In suburban circumstances with a normal family life, Joel would have done well. But placed in an impossible situation, he finds that the family's troubles just escalate. As Joel tries to solve those problems, the problems just seem to get worse. Before the end of the book, Joel finds himself being drawn into the gang culture to achieve other purposes than further the gang.
To describe the book that way is to make it more interesting than it really is. I didn't find myself identifying with any of the characters. As a result, I found that I wasn't drawn into the story. I also found the dialect to be challenging to read and understand. I was tempted to stop before I got to the end. Having finished the book, I can see that that decision would have been a good one. This book just didn't work for me.
If you want to read a book about the problems of parentless children in London who live on the edges of society, this book may be of some interest. I suspect, however, that there's probably an autobiography of someone who really came from such a background that you can read . . . which would be more interesting and relevant.
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