A short while ago I read the four novels by Jill Paton Walsh about her Cambridge quasi detective Imogen Quy. I loved them, and looking for more by the same author I came across novels that she had written with Dorothy L Sayers. With, and then by herself in the style of, once the older writer had died. It is a clever skill to be able to disguise your writing and Jill Paton Walsh does this with aplomb, perfectly finding the voice of this writer from a previous age.
It took me a while to actually get into this book, I think because, for various reasons, I was only reading a few pages at a time. The writing felt rather dense and ornamented. However, once I was able to sit and read a solid chunk of the story then I was hooked and loved the whole thing.
I wondered why the title was as it was and then I realised. One of the main characters in the book is a theatrical angel ie. One who is wealthy enough to risk losing large amounts of money supporting theatrical productions that may succeed or, equally, may completely fail.
‘Thrones and Dominations’ are two of the ranks of angels listed in the Bible. There are 9 ranks, from seraphims at the top, down to the quotidian angel at the bottom of the list. References to angels of various sorts are scattered throughout the Bible.
Our aristocratic Lord Peter Wimsey has recently married the love of his life Harriet Vane, writer of detective stories. The social history is interesting before you get to the plot. The family have reservations. Lord Peter is deemed by some of his family to have married out; to have married below himself. Surely Harriet will stop producing these popular but questionable stories now that she doesn’t need the money? Surely she will realise that her role is to produce sons, preferably more than one?
George the fifth has just died, abdication looms, as do worries about the state of Europe in the late 1930s. I liked the way this set the story within a solid historical framework. The actual plot itself reminded me of a between the wars play. There must be a starlet with hopes of riches and fame. There must be a cad who just doesn’t know the decent way to behave. What I enjoyed most, and indeed what might well make me seek out another volume, is the developing relationship between Peter and Harriet and how, as a London couple, they are finding their own way in a changing England heading towards war.
There are more.