Guest Post (T2T): Y. S. Lee!

Y.S. Lee is the talented author of The Agency series, starring an unusual and resourceful Victorian-era woman named Mary Quinn in a historical mystery trilogy worthy of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Today she's here on my blog to talk about a famous Victorian figure as part of her "Notorious Victorians" guest post series for the Traveling to Teens tour for The Agency, Book 2: The Body at the Tower!

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Welcome to part six of Notorious Victorians – the blog tour supporting my second novel, The Body at the Tower. Today, I’m continuing the mini-theme of “Scandal and spectacle”. Yesterday, I talked about Oscar Wilde’s hunger for celebrity. Today, I want to look at the reluctant spectacle of Joseph Merrick – better known in some circles as the Elephant Man.

One of the less appealing aspects of our culture is its fondness for pointing and staring at those who are different. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries took this further: if you were affluent and bored, you could take a tour of a lunatic asylum. It was a bit like going to the zoo, but with people as your subjects. Sometimes, the people came to you.

Joseph Merrick was born in 1862, an average-looking baby. During early childhood, his body began to change: his lips swelled, his skin thickened and developed a loose, lumpy appearance, and he grew a lump of bone on his forehead. As he grew up, his right hand and both feet swelled and a childhood accident to his hip left him permanently lame. He had to sleep sitting up, because of the size of his head, and his swollen lips made it very difficult for him to speak clearly. Merrick’s disfigurations were blamed on an accident his mother had while pregnant, in which she was frightened by a fairground elephant.

Merrick tried different jobs, but he wasn’t dexterous enough for factory work and his speech difficulties and appearance frightened people. At the age of 17, rejected by his father and unable to support himself, he entered a local workhouse – an institution for the desperate. Workhouses were places of punishment and humiliation. Merrick had no desire to remain. After another failed attempt to find a job, he concluded that his best chance for survival lay in exhibiting himself as a freak. He found a manager and embarked on a tour that ended up in East London. While in London, he was examined and interviewed by a doctor called Frederick Treves.

These were the waning days of the human freak show. Shut down by London authorities, Merrick travelled to Brussels, where his manager stole his savings and abandoned him. Merrick made his way, with difficulty, back to England. Rediscovered by Treves (whose card Merrick carried), Merrick was taken to the London Hospital. Through a newspaper campaign, Treves arranged for him to live there permanently, funded by public donations. As a minor celebrity and tragic public figure, Merrick continued to receive visitors. He even made friends, and it was these human connections that most delighted him. He died, aged 27, of suffocation. Treves, who knew him best, theorized that he’d broken his neck by lying down to sleep, in an attempt to be more like an ordinary person.

Joseph Merrick’s life was a succession of tragedies. It was also a series of utterly practical decisions by a man intent on achieving some level of independence. That he achieved it by trading on his grotesque appearance makes him one of the most interesting reluctant spectacles of his age.

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Wow, freaky! I looked up more about Joseph Merrick after reading this guest post. Turns out he has what's called Proteus Syndrome, which is an unexplainable accelerated growth of random parts of the body. Apparently only 200 cases of this disease have been documented, and there is no known cure for it. Scary!

Thank so much, Ying, for that fascinating guest post! Be sure to follow the rest of the Traveling to Teens tour, with the schedule below:

Mon. 8/2 - Kristi (The Story Siren)

Tues. 8/3 - Kristen (Bookworming in the 21st Century)

Wed. 8/4 - Sarah GreenBeanTeenQueen

Thurs. 8/5 - Lizzy (Cornucopia of Reviews)

Fri. 8/6 - Ari (Reading in Color)

Mon. 8/9 - Mariah L

Tues. 8/10 - Steph Su

Wed. 8/11 - Cecilia (The Epic Rat)

Thurs. 8/12 - Laura (Laura’s Review Bookshelf)

Fri. 8/13 - The Book Smugglers

Review (T2T): The Body at the Tower by Y.S. Lee

The Agency, Book 2 (Book One review here)

**Note: slight, minor spoilers for Book One, but nothing earth-shattering or life-ruining, yup**


Tags: YA, historical fiction, mystery, Victorian London, suspense

Summary

Orphan Mary Quinn works for the Agency, a secret spy organization run by and employing entirely woman. Her latest assignment has her disguised as a 12-year-old boy at the construction site of a clock tower near Parliament, investigating a mysterious death and the site’s overall generally bad reputation. Mary is skilled at her “trade,” but she finds being a boy harder than she expects when it brings back long-suppressed memories of her rough childhood.

To make matters worse—or better, in some instances—James, her old flame, has returned from India, changed in some ways, yet exactly the same in others. Will Mary be able to balance all the different parts of her life while she does her job, or will something have to fall—literally?

Review

The first book in this series, A Spy in the House, was a solidly entertaining and well-researched historical mystery, but this second installment, THE BODY AT THE TOWER, throws me into fangirl zone. THE BODY AT THE TOWER, is off-the-charts incredible for its genre, a Victorian London mystery that is sure to please old and new fans.

All of Y. S. Lee’s writing strengths return in full force in this worthy sequel: from character development, to exquisitely immersing historical details, to a sizzling romance. All of the details about the Victorian era never feel forced or extravagant: readers will find it easy to fall into the gritty London that Mary inhabits, while learning incredible things about the Victorian era along the way.

The richness of the setting is matched well by the playful banter between Mary and James, banter that I described as Austen-worthy in my review of the first book, a sentiment that I heartily return to now. Sure, maybe it’s wish fulfillment in a number of ways—James is a self-described arrogant and persistent man—but damn if the pages didn’t nearly catch on fire while I was reading their banter. This is a strong-minded couple that doesn’t have it easy, but they certainly have chemistry.

Lee introduces new characters almost effortlessly, while simultaneously further exploring Mary’s conflicts with her heritage and childhood. Sure, minor characters help move the plot forward or give the MCs necessary information, but in THE BODY AT THE TOWER they acquire the possibility for life outside the story. And Mary is not just your average inexplicably competent female detective, but rather a young woman with demons of her own.

I’m not a big historical fiction OR mystery fan, but this series is one of my favorites, and probably my favorite historical mystery series. Well-written, eye-opening, and entertaining, you will dive in and be immersed immediately. THE BODY AT THE TOWER proves that Y. S. Lee is a rising star, and hasn’t even reached her peak yet. I am on tenterhooks awaiting the third book, and more after that from this incredible author!

Writing: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Plot: 5/5

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5


Cover discussion: 4 out of 5 - Personally I don't see Mary ever having occasion to dress like that, and I see her slightly different--more feisty, perhaps?--but I certainly appreciate the enormous effort Candlewick goes to to make sure Mary is represented accurately on the cover. Bravo, Candlewick!

Candlewick / Aug. 10, 2010 / Hardcover / 352pp. / $16.99

ARC sent by publisher for a Traveling to Teens tour. Check out the other blog stops on the tour below!

Mon. 8/2 - Kristi (The Story Siren)
Tues. 8/3 - Kristen (Bookworming in the 21st Century)
Wed. 8/4 - Sarah GreenBeanTeenQueen
Thurs. 8/5 - Lizzy (Cornucopia of Reviews)
Fri. 8/6 - Ari (Reading in Color)
Mon. 8/9 - Mariah L
Tues. 8/10 - Steph Su
Wed. 8/11 - Cecilia (The Epic Rat)
Thurs. 8/12 - Laura (Laura’s Review Bookshelf)
Fri. 8/13 - The Book Smugglers

Stay tuned in a few hours for a guest post from the magnificent author Ying herself!

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[ETA] OH, and HOW DID I FORGET that TODAY (August 10) is The Body at the Tower's release date? Huzzah! Hoorah! Congrats! *pops champagne and sprinkles all over Ying, who is thousands of miles away* Now you can run out and get this book immediately (or tell your local bookstores to stock it)!

The Only Showdown You'll Ever Want to Witness

Because, come on: how many of us really want to turn on the WWF channel and watch burly, oil-slicked men go at it with one another? I'd be much more interested in seeing Katniss and Katsa, with their different skills, battle one another, and speculate what might happen.

Well, wonder no longer. Because something is going down... something big.

How would you like to see Edward duke it out against Hermione? Or Katniss and Katsa? Well, guess what? You can, in the first ever

YA Fantasy Showdown!

In celebration of Suzanne Collin’s final book in the Hunger Games trilogy, a group of bloggers are pitting some of the best-known characters in YA in the ultimate showdown. And YOU get to pick the winner.

That’s right. You read the battles (written up by said bloggers), evaluate the characters, and vote for who has the honor of moving on to the next round. It’s a tournament like you’ve never seen before (because there’s more). The authors have been asked to participate and advocate their character in writing their own version of the battle. It’s going to be truly epic. Or at least a good way to pass the time until Mockingjay comes out. And it all goes down August 10th.

Keep it on your mind: http://yafantasyshowdown.weebly.com/

Don't miss it... or regret it for as long as you continue to read YA lit.

By the way, check out this matchup list. Totally heart-racing, right? Twenty says Katsa owns Edward in the first round. :P

Edward Cullen (Twilight) vs. Katsa (Graceling)

Christopher Chant (Chrestomanci Chronicles) vs. Hermione Granger (Harry Potter)

(The Mortal Instruments) vs. Daniel (The Dark Divine)

Nobody Owens (The Graveyard Book) vs. Ai Ling (Silver Phoenix)

Enna (Books of Bayern) vs. Gemma (A Great and Terrible Beauty trilogy)

Percy Jackson (Percy Jackson) vs. Sam Templeton (Gone/Hunger/Lies series)

Eragon (Eragon) vs. Sabriel (Abhorsen Trilogy)

Howl Jenkins (Howl’s Moving Castle) vs. Eona (Eon: Dragoneye Reborn)

Aerin (The Heron and the Crown) vs. Astrid (Rampant)

Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games) vs. Tally Youngblood (Uglies Trilogy)

Westley (The Princess Bride) vs. Eugenides (The Queen's Thief series)

Lessa (Dragonflight – Anne McCaffrey) vs. Goranu (Little Sister by Kara Dalkey)

Thorgil (The Sea of Trolls trilogy by Nancy Farmer) vs. Kendra Sorenson (Fablehaven series)

Valek (Poison Study) vs. Aragorn (The Lord of the Rings)

Alanna (Lioness Rampant series) vs. Meliara of Tanth (Crown Duel/Court Duel)

Ged (A Wizard of Earthsea) vs. Edmund Pevensie (The Chronicles of Narnia)

This message brought to you by the talented and creative Heather Zundel of The Secret Adventures of Writer Girl. Embellishments brought to you by, uh, me. Basically, all the silly, nonsensical comments were mine.

Review: Jump by Elisa Carbone

Tags: YA, rock-climbing, mental disorders, romance, philosophy

Summary

P.K. refuses to be sent to a reform boarding school by her parents. Critter escapes from the mental hospital. Together, they decide to live it up and hitchhike out west to in order to find some great rock-climbing sites, a hobby they’re both passionate about. Throughout their adventures, P.K. realizes the unique soul that Critter is, and the two misfits begin to fall for one another. But can their connection survive obstacles in the real world that threaten to tear them apart?

Review

From Elisa Carbone comes a book that will take you to unexpected places…and not just in terms of the rock-climbing. JUMP is a beautifully written, marvelously well researched, and soulful story that is reminiscent of genre-defining books like Stargirl.

Elisa Carbone’s prose is poetry in motion. The chapters alternate between P.K. and Critter’s points of view, and the words follow the rhythm of their thoughts and actions: if they’re moving, the words are uncluttered, efficient, one after the other, and if they’re more contemplative, the words meander almost ethereally. Woven between this intricate prose is a confidence in subject detail that is rarely matched in YA lit: it’s clear that Carbone knows her rock-climbing lingo inside out. The rock-climbing language that P.K. and Critter speak may be unfamiliar to most of us, but its value is, once again, in its rhythm, of putting us right there on that rock face alongside the main characters.

Critter reminds me a lot of Stargirl in Jerry Spinelli’s classic eponymous novel. Both are people who seem to “get” the truth about living and this world a little more than the rest of us think we know best. As a result, it’s fascinating to read about Critter, to see him from both his eyes and P.K.’s. Regardless of whether or not you can relate to the characters, the two of them together make for an eye-opening reading experience, and Critter’s explanations of how the world works in particular should linger on your mind, maybe even become embedded in your own personal philosophy.

The plot I felt was perhaps a little uneven at times, in that it was too easy for me to put the book down and go do something else, because nothing altogether tangible really connects the golden strands of these characters’ developments together. However, JUMP was still a worthy read, and I’ve found passages of the book still turning in my head even now, weeks after I read it. Read this if you, like P.K. and Critter, think you’re ready to make that jump into another level of YA lit, one that forces you to reevaluate your life philosophies and priorities.

Similar Authors
Cath Crowley (A Little Wanting Song)
Jerry Spinelli (Stargirl)

Writing: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Plot: 3/5

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5


Cover discussion: 3.5 out of 5 - It didn't really attract me at first because of the models' awkward poses, but it's the kind of cover that grows on you, I think.

Penguin / May 13, 2010 / Hardcover / 272pp. / $16.99

ARC received from Around the World Tours.