Thrones, Dominations by
Dorothy Leigh Sayers
Published by Hodder Stoughton
Completing a book begun by a dead novelist is always a perilous undertaking. Whether the deceased author is Charles Dickens or Alistair Maclean, your readers will inevitably hope for more than it is possible to deliver.
Dorothy L.Sayers abandoned work on Thrones, Dominations in 1936, perhaps because its themes were a little too close to the unfolding Abdication Crisis, and certainly because her literary ambitions were beginning to turn away from detective fiction. Her typescript was rediscovered in 1996 - six chapters, containing 22,000 words. The Booker short-listed Jill Paton Walsh, herself the author of two detective novels, was chosen to finish the book. Sayers had left few clues behind about the intended development of the story. Even the identity of the victim was unknown.
The narrative opens with the return from their honeymoon of Lord Peter Wimsey and his bride, Harriet Vane. (Any resemblance between Harriet and her creator is entirely coincidental.) The entire population of Mayfair is on tenterhooks: how will a humble Oxford-educated middle-class detective novelist cope with the lofty responsibilities of her new position?
Fortunately a society murder in a bungalow by the Thames distracts some of the attention from the newly-weds. Lord Peter investigates in his usual masterful fashion, with occasional interludes when he is called away to deal with international crises. The activities of a sexy French portrait painter, a lovelorn playwright and a dashing theatrical producer are central to the plot. On the periphery of the story is a dense population of aristocrats, loyal retainers, respectful police officers, feckless thespians and members of the lower orders with an uncertain grasp of the King’s English. The book is studded with arcane information, from the seating arrangement at a ducal dinner party to some marvellously graphic details about the drainage of London.
It is clear that Sayers had two themes in mind - the responsibilities of inherited wealth and power; and the nature of a happy marriage. She quoted Milton in her title, the first of many signs that she intended to work on the grand scale, struggling to escape from the limitations of traditional detective story. The relationship between Peter and Harriet is the focus of attention, not the mundane business of unmasking a murderer.
Judged by modern standards, the result of this partnership between living and dead authors is not a distinguished crime novel. The book is a hybrid - a combination of detective story, historical novel, love story and anthology of literary quotations. After the opening chapters, the prose becomes plainer and the development of the story less leisurely. The rich lode of intellectual and social snobbery will infuriate still further Sayers’ many critics. So, too, will the element of wish-fulfilment.
But Paton Walsh plots deftly and writes intelligently. Working with difficult material, she has completed the twelfth Wimsey novel in a way that provides a satisfying answer to fiction’s most basic question: what happened to them next? Well, now we know. Sayers’ many fans will be delighted.This review was first published in the Independent, January 1998
