May Book Club - Wednesday, May 8th

We will be discussing Maisie Dobbs, the first book in the mystery novel series of the same name by Jacqueline Winspear.  At first glance, Maisie Dobbs’ inaugural case as a private investigator looks dreadfully routine: Christopher Davenham, whose wife has been making unexplained weekday excursions from their London home, has employed Maisie to discover whether he is being betrayed.  However, Maisie recalls the advice of her enigmatic mentor, Maurice Blanche, that “the extraordinary hides behind the camouflage of the ordinary.”  Events prove Maurice correct, as the trail of Davenham’s wife leads Maisie to a mysterious, carefully guarded home for Disabled World War I veterans—and toward a painful confrontation with her own haunting past. 

Set in England and France in the 1910s and 1920s, Maisie Dobbs steps beyond the conventional confines of a mystery novel by telling the story of a brave, brilliant young woman who rises from her working-class origins to study at Cambridge and earn a place as a respected detective.

In addition, with astonishing subtlety and sympathy, the novel relives the heroic struggles and devastating losses of those who strove and suffered in the so-called War to End All Wars.  (“An Introduction to Maisie Dobbs, Penguin Books, 2003)

About the author

Jacqueline Winspear was born and raised in County Kent, England.  Following a career in academic publishing and marketing communications, she emigrated to California in 1990.  Her debut novel, Maisie Dobbs, was nominated for the Edgar Allan Poe Award (Mystery Writers of America), and won the Agatha, Alex, and McCavity Awards for best first novel.

Our May Book Club meets on Wednesday, May 8th, at 7:00 p.m. You may attend in-person at the library or via Zoom; e-mail Clara at clantz@midyork.org for the Zoom link.