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3.08 AVERAGE
3.08 AVERAGE
This is a hard series not to like. Not only is it professionally written, with an interesting storyline and quirky characters, but it’s almost half mystery, half travelogue. In this book, Cassandra Reilly, who makes her living translating South American literature into English, is asked by the friend of a friend to find her missing husband in Barcelona, Spain. Well, Cassandra needs the money so she can go to Hungary to see some old friends (see Trouble in Transylvania, below). But come to find out, the man she is looking for is not a man at all, nor is the woman who hired her really a woman.
All of the characters are, well, unusual to say the least. Carmen the hairdresser that Cassandra has a crush on is a Catholic and won’t go all the way. Ana, whom Cassandra is staying with, is an architect who builds special, portable rooms designed specifically to a client’s needs. Ben is a butch dyke with a young daughter who is always getting kidnapped. Frankie is a male-to-female transsexual who is Ben’s ex-husband. Then there is April Showers, a foot masseuse whose presence in Barcelona seems suspect. Add to this the fact that some of these characters speak English, some Spanish, and some Catalan—the native language of Barcelona—and you have traveler’s stew.
The title is tip of the author’s hat to Dorothy L. Sayers, who penned the exciting Harriet Vane mystery, Gaudy Night, but there is no other similarity. While Sayers’ story was set in a woman’s college, Wilson’s takes place on the streets and in the buildings of Barcelona. Gaudi is Antoni Gaudi, an early 20th Century architect whose incredible structures dot Barcelona like sprinkles on a donut. The descriptions of these structures were so awe-inspired that I had to stop reading and Google as many Gaudi images as I could call up.
For a change, there are no murders in this book. No deaths at all, in fact. Just a series of misunderstandings and a lot of walking around, sitting in clubs and restaurants and apartments, and discussions of sexuality. But Wilson does this in a way that keeps you interested and wondering what will happen next. Cassandra, who at 46 is one of the oldest protagonists in the initial offering of a mystery series, even manages to get laid, although off camera. At the end, we know everything we want to know and more—even where Cassandra will travel next.
BONUS REVIEW: Gaudi Afternoon (The Movie)
I was excited to learn that there was a film of Gaudi Afternoon, directed by Susan Seidelman. I ordered it on Netflix and watched it the day after finishing the book. It was pretty dreadful. There are a lot of reasons why, and no real excuses.
To start off with, Cassandra (played by Judy Davis), is not identified as a lesbian. Instead, the movie focuses on the odd gender reversal roles exhibited by Frankie (a pre-op male to female transsexual) and Ben (a butch dyke) as father and mother respectively of the young Delilah. This is pretty heady stuff, it’s true, but Seidelman chose to play it primarily for its comic value and leave the social issues aside. Save for the part of Hamilton, who was terrific, the movie was badly miscast. I suppose Davis could have played a pretty good Cassandra, but decided (or was directed) to portray her as alternately angry and bewildered. Frankie and Ben were given some of the right lines, but didn’t have the right actors to say them. April was played by Juliette Lewis as gorgeous, thin, and young (none of which attributes April had in the book, except through lusty Cassandra’s eyes). The young girl, Delilah, is given such horrible lines that you wish she had stayed in San Francisco.
As you might expect, Cassandra doesn't have any girlfriends in this movie, unless you count the times that April inexplicably makes a move on her. Ana, the architect of small rooms, doesn’t make an appearance at all and Cassandra’s eventual in-book lover, Carmen, appears in the movie as a mother of three with a no-good boyfriend.
So why did Seidelman choose not to express Cassandra’s lesbianism? Nor her lust for April nor her nights with Carmen? Cowardice, I guess. And box office expectations, although I doubt this movie got more than a handful of viewers in the theater. The movie would have been far more effective it she had stuck to more of the book, using the camera for panoramic shots of beautiful Barcelona—including the Gaudi constructions, which appeared only briefly. If she had retained Cassandra’s sexual nature, the movie would have at least had a shot of being an underground lesbian classic, watched by like-minded women for generations to come. Well, you make your choices and have to live with the results—and sometimes the negative reviews.
Note: This review is included in my book The Art of the Lesbian Mystery Novel, along with information on over 930 other lesbian mysteries by over 310 authors.
All of the characters are, well, unusual to say the least. Carmen the hairdresser that Cassandra has a crush on is a Catholic and won’t go all the way. Ana, whom Cassandra is staying with, is an architect who builds special, portable rooms designed specifically to a client’s needs. Ben is a butch dyke with a young daughter who is always getting kidnapped. Frankie is a male-to-female transsexual who is Ben’s ex-husband. Then there is April Showers, a foot masseuse whose presence in Barcelona seems suspect. Add to this the fact that some of these characters speak English, some Spanish, and some Catalan—the native language of Barcelona—and you have traveler’s stew.
The title is tip of the author’s hat to Dorothy L. Sayers, who penned the exciting Harriet Vane mystery, Gaudy Night, but there is no other similarity. While Sayers’ story was set in a woman’s college, Wilson’s takes place on the streets and in the buildings of Barcelona. Gaudi is Antoni Gaudi, an early 20th Century architect whose incredible structures dot Barcelona like sprinkles on a donut. The descriptions of these structures were so awe-inspired that I had to stop reading and Google as many Gaudi images as I could call up.
For a change, there are no murders in this book. No deaths at all, in fact. Just a series of misunderstandings and a lot of walking around, sitting in clubs and restaurants and apartments, and discussions of sexuality. But Wilson does this in a way that keeps you interested and wondering what will happen next. Cassandra, who at 46 is one of the oldest protagonists in the initial offering of a mystery series, even manages to get laid, although off camera. At the end, we know everything we want to know and more—even where Cassandra will travel next.
BONUS REVIEW: Gaudi Afternoon (The Movie)
I was excited to learn that there was a film of Gaudi Afternoon, directed by Susan Seidelman. I ordered it on Netflix and watched it the day after finishing the book. It was pretty dreadful. There are a lot of reasons why, and no real excuses.
To start off with, Cassandra (played by Judy Davis), is not identified as a lesbian. Instead, the movie focuses on the odd gender reversal roles exhibited by Frankie (a pre-op male to female transsexual) and Ben (a butch dyke) as father and mother respectively of the young Delilah. This is pretty heady stuff, it’s true, but Seidelman chose to play it primarily for its comic value and leave the social issues aside. Save for the part of Hamilton, who was terrific, the movie was badly miscast. I suppose Davis could have played a pretty good Cassandra, but decided (or was directed) to portray her as alternately angry and bewildered. Frankie and Ben were given some of the right lines, but didn’t have the right actors to say them. April was played by Juliette Lewis as gorgeous, thin, and young (none of which attributes April had in the book, except through lusty Cassandra’s eyes). The young girl, Delilah, is given such horrible lines that you wish she had stayed in San Francisco.
As you might expect, Cassandra doesn't have any girlfriends in this movie, unless you count the times that April inexplicably makes a move on her. Ana, the architect of small rooms, doesn’t make an appearance at all and Cassandra’s eventual in-book lover, Carmen, appears in the movie as a mother of three with a no-good boyfriend.
So why did Seidelman choose not to express Cassandra’s lesbianism? Nor her lust for April nor her nights with Carmen? Cowardice, I guess. And box office expectations, although I doubt this movie got more than a handful of viewers in the theater. The movie would have been far more effective it she had stuck to more of the book, using the camera for panoramic shots of beautiful Barcelona—including the Gaudi constructions, which appeared only briefly. If she had retained Cassandra’s sexual nature, the movie would have at least had a shot of being an underground lesbian classic, watched by like-minded women for generations to come. Well, you make your choices and have to live with the results—and sometimes the negative reviews.
Note: This review is included in my book The Art of the Lesbian Mystery Novel, along with information on over 930 other lesbian mysteries by over 310 authors.
This novel has not aged well. I can imagine why it stood out when it was first published in 1990 - Cassandra's an out and proud, intelligent and cosmopolitan protagonist who has open relationships; there's transgender representation. Sadly, it was a difficult read - the pacing, dialogue and plot couldn't hold my interest.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Gaudi Afternoon I found to be a delightful and richly entertaining novel to read. Cassandra Reilly is a globe trotting, Irish American lesbian translator and amateur detective working in London on a translation of a best-selling novel by a woman Venezuelan writer when she receives a call from Frankie, an American actress. Frankie was put in the know about Cassandra from Cassandra's friend Lucy in San Francisco, where Lucy keeps watch over Cassandra's place and correspondence there whenever Cassandra is on her far flung travels. Frankie requests a meeting with Cassandra in London upon arriving there the next day to better explain herself and why she needs Cassandra's help.
Though showing a reluctance to take on Frankie's case, Cassandra is intrigued. Besides, the initial show of money Frankie offers for her services is tempting enough. So, the two meet in London and Frankie explains that she needs to track down her estranged husband Ben, whom she suspects is in Barcelona. Where exactly in Barcelona, she's clueless about. Nor does Frankie speak Spanish or Catalan. But Cassandra, given her fluency in Spanish and previous contact with Barcelona (where she has 2 close friends, Ana, who is a conceptual architect, and Carmen, a lesbian hairdresser with a very strong personality and spirit) makes use of the phone numbers Frankie provided her with, and is able to gather a fairly good idea of where Ben is in Barcelona.
Once both Frankie and Cassandra are in Barcelona, the story becomes more convoluted, colorful and intriguing with lots of unexpected twists and turns. Some of the main characters prove to be different from what they at first show themselves to be. That's all I say about that.
Notwithstanding the roller coaster nature of the novel, Gaudi Afternoon was very well written and fun to read.
Though showing a reluctance to take on Frankie's case, Cassandra is intrigued. Besides, the initial show of money Frankie offers for her services is tempting enough. So, the two meet in London and Frankie explains that she needs to track down her estranged husband Ben, whom she suspects is in Barcelona. Where exactly in Barcelona, she's clueless about. Nor does Frankie speak Spanish or Catalan. But Cassandra, given her fluency in Spanish and previous contact with Barcelona (where she has 2 close friends, Ana, who is a conceptual architect, and Carmen, a lesbian hairdresser with a very strong personality and spirit) makes use of the phone numbers Frankie provided her with, and is able to gather a fairly good idea of where Ben is in Barcelona.
Once both Frankie and Cassandra are in Barcelona, the story becomes more convoluted, colorful and intriguing with lots of unexpected twists and turns. Some of the main characters prove to be different from what they at first show themselves to be. That's all I say about that.
Notwithstanding the roller coaster nature of the novel, Gaudi Afternoon was very well written and fun to read.
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'm surprised by the lukewarm reviews - Cassandra, to me, was very much in the mold of polarizing literary sleuth, no more obnoxious than say Inspector Morse (book version, not TV), and the plot felt no more over-the-top than other mysteries from the 90s (and in some ways significantly less, since I'm more than willing to believe in complicated, obnoxious people , in contrast to say over-the-top serial killer plots which rely on omnicompetent, unremorsefully evil menaces to society roaming the back alleys). I really enjoyed it.
Spoiler
being bad at co-parenting and romantic relationships
Cassandra Reilly works as a translator to fund her adventures travelling all over the world. When the mysterious Frankie employs her help in assisting her to track down her ex husband in Barcelona, things get somewhat out of hand. This book introduces the amateur detective and embroils her in the plot of custody battles, kidnappings, cross dressing and questions around who can be a mother. I’m definitely interested to read more of this lesbian detective but there were some definite flaws with this book. The plot was so dedicated to high stakes and twists that the author tended to use the same conventions again and again and again and it didn’t really add anything by repeating them. This book also features two trans characters as well as men who just enjoy wearing dresses and the narrative makes a clear distinction between the two but it was written in the 90s so some of the language and understanding was definitely outdated. Overall it was an interesting book, especially as a mystery novel without any murders. It was more about the characters’ relationships with each other and that was definitely it’s strong point.
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The story had it's real ups and downs, unfortunately.