The Blue Place by Nicola Griffith

The Blue Place by Nicola Griffith
Avon Books, 1998.

Overview: Suave Norwegian-American ex-police detective Aud Torvingen literally runs into trouble on a dark and stormy night. (Well, Griffith is too good of a writer to use that phrase, but it's night and there's a bad storm). The trouble she runs into takes the form of a sexy art dealer named Julia Lyons-Bennet, who is running from the scene of a murder. The victim was a friend and colleague, and she is determined to find those responsible. She enlists Aud's help, and Aud takes on the challenge without quite knowing why. (It can't hurt that Julia is sexy, though...) As the case unfolds, the reader also gets to learn more about the reasons for the hardened ex-cop's emotional and physical defenses.

My reaction: Griffith somehow manages to make a gripping story based around a character that on the surface seemed to be a very familiar one. Sure, her attitude vis-a-vis her wealth rubbed me the wrong way sometimes, and her willingness to bend rules about mistreating suspects when she was a cop (and encouraging rookie cops to follow in her footsteps) made me really uncomfortable, but I felt like her gradually emerging backstory made me understand both of those things, even if I didn't like them.

That said, I really enjoyed the mystery at the center of the case. Refreshingly, Griffith didn't cycle through suspects ad nauseum; instead, she keeps the reader's interest by having Aud deal with dangerous henchmen, while all the while wondering what she's missing. 

While I had mixed feelings about the conclusion, I would recommend this book--I'd even venture to say that those mixed feelings are one of the reasons I'd recommend it! The Blue Place held my attention even through the occasional eye-roll, and stands out both in terms of writing quality and character complexity in the genre. Go read it! (PS: the cover art is exactly how I imagine Aud--pretty impressive!) One caveat: I think that Griffith's Ammonite is a stronger book, but when I compare Blue Place to some truly terrible companions in the lesbian detective genre, I decided it does deserve a "recommended" rating.

The More I Owe You by Michael Sledge

The More I Owe You by Michael Sledge
Counterpoint, 2010.

Overview: The More I Owe You is centered around American poet Elizabeth Bishop's tumultuous decades in Brazil. She falls in love with Lota de Macedo Soares, an influential Brazilian, and with the country itself, although she cannot bear the dysfunctional politics which completely consume her lover. The romance of turning what was supposed to be a two week holiday into a seventeen year long stay is not entirely lost despite the detailed account of how the fiercely the lovers clashed over Elizabeth's alcoholism and Lota's dangerous involvement with politics, because somehow all the anger in the world is not enough to completely extinguish their love.

My reaction: This was beautifully done. I kept wondering which parts had been drawn from Bishop's extensive correspondence and which were Sledge's imagination, but toward the end I just let myself appreciate the story. And cry. I definitely cried at the end of this one! 

It definitely makes me want to go read all 70 of her published poems (I had no idea there were so few!)! 

Sledge also brings Brazil's politics to life through Lota's involvement with Carlos Lacerda and her struggle to create Flamengo Park. I was pretty uninformed about Brazilian politics, and so getting some of that background was an added bonus. It was so interesting to see how the evolution of the political situation affected the life of one American expat and the people she lived with: it started as political debate at dinner parties and progressed until Lota was advising Carlos and he was in and out of hiding as a result of assassination attempts. 

All told, this was a fascinating and moving portrait of Elizabeth Bishop, and I highly recommend it!