A couple of Queens of Crime and an important question about what writers should be allowed to write…
In the first half of episode 80, we ask if writers should only write what they know – whether that means their race, gender, or experiences. In the second half we compare and contrast 4.50 From Paddington by Agatha Christie and Whose Body? by Dorothy L Sayers, and find out if I’ve got over my loathing of Lord Peter Wimsey.
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The books and authors we mentioned in this episode are:
The Book of William by Paul Collins
Miss Hargreaves by Frank Baker
Kate Atkinson
Alva and Irva by Edward Carey
Little by Edward Carey
My Caravaggio Style by Doris Langley Moore
Lord Byron
The Call by Edith Ayrton Zangwill
No Surrender by Constance Maud
Not So Quiet by Helen Zenna Smith
The Happy Foreigner by Enid Bagnold
Diary Without Dates by Enid Bagnold
The Tree of Heaven by May Sinclair
The L-Shaped Room by Lynne Reid Banks
The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
J.K. Rowling
Cassandra at the Wedding by Dorothy Baker
William Shakespeare
The Sandcastle by Iris Murdoch
The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch
Memoirs of a Survivor by Doris Lessing
The Fifth Child by Doris Lessing
Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell
The Masters by C.P. Snow
Virginia Woolf in Manhattan by Maggie Gee
The Millstone by Margaret Drabble
The Garrick Year by Margaret Drabble
The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson
Strong Poison by Dorothy L Sayers
Gaudy Night by Dorothy L Sayers
Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie
The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie
A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie
Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie
Loving by Henry Green
The Last September by Elizabeth Bowen
Definitely agree so much – the way to diversity is not to restrict the artist in what they write. So many books I love are people writing about something completely different from themselves and anything else!
As for Sayers vs Christie – I adore both, and I’m afraid I shall continue to love Wimsey whatever anyone says… ;D And totally agree with Rachel that it’s wonderful to watch Wimsey develop over the books!
Oh dear, oh, dear. I am not sure I can listen to this because I have a sneaking suspicion you have not gotten over your loathing of Wimsey. I’ve had a bit of a crush on him ever since I was about twelve. I agree with the previous comment. He does develop as the books go on.
I’ve been listening to your discussion on ‘write what you know’. Couldn’t agree more with your concern that diversity is actually being stifled by criticising those authors who chose to write from an experience other than their own. Kudos to you for being brave enough to say this rather than following along with the ‘woke’ trend
Whose Body? didn’t captivate me, but I plan on trying the 2nd volume
I have very neutral feelings on Peter Wimsey EXCEPT that he won me over by falling in love with someone marvelous. How can I be mad at someone who fell in love with Harriet Vane, the best character in all of literature? Can’t.
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I struggle with this issue. As a librarian, I am wholeheartedly against censorship, and I know that authors would definitely be criticized for ONLY writing white characters. If an author really researches a culture and does a good job representing it, I am all for it.
However, representation IS a huge issue, and so is cultural appropriation. POC authors can’t get book deals writing about first-hand knowledge of their cultures, yet white authors can publish books about POC characters that are poorly written and stereotyped. it’s a real problem.
Definitely the main problem is POC authors not getting book deals – there should be so much done to make publishing more accessible to all. I do find that cultural appreciation has been tarnished with the label cultural appropriation now – though the latter obviously also exists
I enjoyed Rachel’s passion in the first section very much! I admire writers who can write believably about things they haven’t experienced personally. That takes an incredible amount of imagination and thoughtfulness, perhaps even a kind of genius. There’s such a tension in life; we have a shared humanity that enables us to empathize while at the same time each human being is a world unto herself.
I do love Gaudy Night so immensely. I have the women at The Literary Life podcast to thank for helping me understand the depths of that novel and how brilliant Sayers was as a scholar. Having never read any Agatha Christie, I can’t compare. Terrible, right?