Fictional detective Lord Peter Wimsey finally marries Harriet Vane, a prickly mystery writer he has pursued through several novels, on this day in 1937 in the novel Busman's Honeymoon. The novel, by Dorothy Sayers, was one of the last featuring the two English sleuths.
[Dorothy Sayers] began writing detective fiction in the early 1920s, and her first novel, Whose Body?, was published in 1923. It introduced the educated and fanciful Lord Peter Wimsey, who over the course of some dozen novels and many short stories emerged as a complex, intriguing character, comic and lighthearted at times but plagued with nightmares and nervous disorders from his service in World War I.
In Strong Poison (1930), Wimsey solves a mysterious poisoning and wins freedom for the wrongly accused mystery novelist Harriet Vane, with whom he falls in love. In Gaudy Night (1935), set at an Oxford reunion, Vane finally accepts Wimsey. The pair are married and set off on a comical honeymoon, accompanied by Wimsey's faithful butler, Bunter, in Busman's Honeymoon (1937).
May they enjoy many, many more happy years together. To see a photo of their matchmaker and read a short biography, click over to The Dorothy L Sayers Society's website.
2 comments:
In some weird conflux of time and space, I was going through the bookshelves yesterday, culling for an upcoming move and stumbled upon Busman's Honeymoon. It's old and yellowed, dog-eared and impossible to resist, so I had a read instead of finishing my work--and I never even realized what yesterday's date was. Thanks for a lovely moment, Brenda!
Anna A., looking forward to A FAMILY FOREVER--by another of my favorite authors! :-)
Thank you, Anna!
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