Blog Tour - Review & Excerpt: A Tempest at Sea by Sherry Thomas
Happy pub day A Tempest at Sea - the latest installment of the Lady Sherlock series!
Swing by the blog for my review and an excerpt from the book!
A Tempest at Sea
Sherry Thomas
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: March 14, 2023
Series or Standalone: Lady Sherlock #7
Links: Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Goodreads – StoryGraph
Rating:
MY REVIEW
CW: murder; blood; suicidal ideation
I’ve been a huge Lady Sherlock fan for years now as it falls perfectly into my favorite (made-up) genre – lady detectives in Victorian England. Truly, we are…
The portrait of Lady Holmes is situated between two male ancestors of the Holmes family. To make the writing easier I decided to call them ‘Red-Beard’ and ‘The Other One’.
At first I thought there will be nothing much to tell about Lady Holmes. That was a bit hasty. It isn’t easy to take pictures where she is halfway recognizable. While searching for a good one I noticed an interesting detail. The Lady holds something in her hands. Something of a greyish colour.
First I thought this could probably be a little pet dog sitting in her lap, which instantly reminded me of a certain HOUND adaptation (more on this a bit further down). After some brightening and enlarging it turned out that this isn’t a pet dog or any other animal.
It looks more like a miniature building. Maybe some sort of midieval tower? Crenellated on top and with a huge crack down the side?
Another thing that’s quite strange is the difference of the ladies’ hands (thanks @gosherlocked ). Her right hand shows long and spidery fingers … almost claws ... while the ones on the left hand appear thick and bulky.
Furthermore, this female Holmes ancestor is clothed in red and blue. Those two colours turn up again and again throughout the whole story ...as colours itself or symbolizing fire and water.
It’s hard to tell, due to the bad quality of the pictures, but it looks like the lady doesn’t wear any jewellery. Also strange, I think, for a time in which nobility loved to show off their wealth, especially on portraits. This and the way she holds that ‘tower’ in her lap conveys rather the feeling that this woman could be a Christian saint. Many of them are traditionally represented with a symbol or iconic motif associated with their life and/or death. (X)
Saint Barbara and the tower
The ‘tower’ is attributed to Saint Barbara, one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers (X).
Barbara is perhaps best known as the patron saint of artillerymen. She is also traditionally the patron of armourers, military engineers, gunsmiths, tunnellers, miners and anyone else who worked with cannons and explosives. She is invoked against thunder and lightning and all accidents arising from explosions of gunpowder … and also of mathematicians. Her feast day is celebrated on December 4th.
Really????? Explosives and mathematics????
What a strange coincicence that another female Holmes once was a mathematician and wrote a book about “The Dynamics of Combustion” .... Mummy Holmes.
Thanks @nixxie-pic for taking all those fascinating fotos (from Sherlocked 2016)
More about Saint Barbara
According to legend, Barbara was carefully guarded by her father who locked her up in a tower. She rejected an offer of marriage. Before her father went on a journey he ordered that a private bathhouse should be erected for her use, near her dwelling. When he returned, Barbara confessed to be a Christian. Her father drew a sword to kill her but Barbara’s prayers created an opening in the tower (I guess a rip in the wall counts for an opening) and she was miraculously transported to another place … a mountain gorge where two shepherds dwelled with their flocks. The father went after his daughter and one of the shepherds betrayed her. Barbara was dragged before court and later brutally tortoured. The German Wikipedia site is much more detailed regarding the tortoure. It says they wipped Barbara until her skin was torn to shreds But every night her prison was bathed in light and by morning her wounds were healed (So that they could tortoure her anew every day … what a sick fantasy!). Finally the outraged governor ordered to beat her with clubs, cut her breasts off and burn her with torches. Eventually an angel appeared and clothed her in a white dress. When the men with the torches came near her, the torches went out. At last, she was condemned to death by beheading and her own father carried out the sentence. However, as punishment for this, he was struck by lightning on the way home and his body was consumed by flame (Quick and painless it seems … what well balanced justice!). (X)
Saint Barbara by Domenico Ghirlandaio, ca. 1473 (Wikipedia)
Another young person who is violently abused by a parent, punished and isolated from other people. Imprisonment and tortoure and finally death by beheading. Well, that sounds at least partly a bit familiar.
Also … the last title of the soundtrack for TLD is called ‘In The Tower’. It accentuates the scene where Eurus reveals herself as a Holmes sibling.
And now back as promised to my very first idea when I spotted that greyish thing in Lady Holmes hands and thought this could eventually be some sort of small pet dog.
This reminded me instantly of another portrait of a female ancestor.
That of Lady Baskerville ... from the 2002 HOUND adaptation with Richard Roxburgh and Ian Hart as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Because this woman has also something ‘greyish’ in her hands. It’s an Irish Wolfhound … her pet dog … which she caresses on that portrait.
The 2002 adaptation of the Hound of the Baskervilles is a very special one. It differs in many aspects from the original story. The most prominent modification though was done to the old tale of the hound itself.
The Legend of the Hound
At the time of the Civil War, the Manor of Baskerville was held by one Hugo, a wild, profaned, godless man. Hugo accused his wife of having an affair with a young man who owned lands near to the Baskerville estate. Mad with jealousy, he beat her savagely. She fled across the moor. Hugo gave chase. He caught her and he killed her, but her hound, devoted to its Mistress, had followed. It flew at Hugo and tore out his throat even as Hugo stabbed the creature to death with his hunting knife. According to the legend, ever since, the ghost of the hound has plagued the family, prowling the moor, uttering piteous cries. A foul thing - great black beast with blazing eyes and dripping jaws.
In this adaptation Sir Hugo Baskerville is not a single man, lusting after a yeoman’s daughter whom he abducts and carries away to Baskerville Hall to have his way with her. No pakt with the devil happens. Instead there is a husband, driven by murderous jealousy, because he suspects his wife of having an affair with another man. And a faithful dog kills that furious husband and gives its own life to protect the beloved mistress … unsuccessfully.
I have no idea if any connection exists between this HOUND adaptation and the portraits shown in TFP. A family case of murderous jealousy sounds at least rather thrilling. And there are more interesting aspects regarding that British HOUND adaptation from 2002. A detailed description of that movie is underway.(X)
And a last thought: looking at those three portraits hanging on a wall at Mycroft’s place …. in this exact order … what do we basically have? What’s the lowest common denominator? It’s a woman placed between two men. Well ….
