I really enjoy the way Gordon McAlpine's mind works. McAlpine (who has also used the pen name Owen Fitzstephen) doesn't just write historical fiction, or crime fiction, or for that matter, any kind of novel that uses the usual kind of plot line to move it along. Instead, he adds his own special twist to those genres to create something a whole lot different. Woman with a Blue Pencil is a good example. On its face, Woman with a Blue Pencil is historical fiction covering that awful period in American history after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor when all West Coast Japanese Americans, suddenly viewed as potential spies and traitors to this country, were moved into internment camps for safekeeping and "their own good."
Sam Sumida is an academic investigating the murder of his wife on the eve of Pearl Harbor only because authorities don't care enough about what happened to her to do a proper investigation themselves. But then Sam discovers that he has no memory of the last several weeks and that everyone he knows no longer recognizes him. Even worse, he learns that there is no public record of him ever having existed - or of his wife's murder. Unbeknownst to Sam, his investigation is about to lead him into a deadly confrontation with an anti-Japanese personal investigator who is somehow linked to Sam's murdered wife. But the real kicker in Sam's world is that he is unaware that he and his wife are merely fictional characters in a novel - and that what happened at Pearl Harbor necessitated them being stricken from that novel and replaced by characters with a more politically correct feel to them. So now if Sam is ever to figure out what happened to his wife, he is going to have to confront his fictional replacement.
The "woman with a blue pencil" calling the shots is all-powerful, but the young Japanese author taking her advice is not ready to completely let go of Sam Sumida.
This one is fun, and it has led me to another Gordon McAlpine novel, Holmes Unearthed, that I'll soon be reading.
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| Gordon McAlpine jacket photo |
When you said that Sam discovered he and his wife were fictional characters in a book that had been replaced by more pc people I was sort of gobsmacked. That's a pretty original idea, at least I've not read anything like that. I hope Holmes Unearthed is equally as good.
ReplyDeleteCath, the old Twilight Zone TV series did two episodes with similar plots, so I'd run into it before that way but never in a book. McAlpine did a good job with the plot and added a nice little twist to it. I'm liking the Holmes book even more for the most part, but it's starting to slow down because of a lot of "scientific" theory being explained, so I'm hoping for it to pick back up in these last 35 pages.
DeleteI love the unexpected layers. And what a great twist with him being a fictional character getting edited from the book. I definitely want to read this one now. :D
ReplyDeleteIt's a lot of fun, Lark. I did lose concentration a couple of times and ended up losing the thread for a bit. A quick re-read got me back on track easily enough, but this thing can get complicated at times. I think you'll appreciate it.
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