The Nine Tailors

 

The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Update: 1/3/2 It was even better reading it a second time. Most good books are. I rarely give 5 stars (to authors whose works I review; it's nothing personal), but this one deserves it. Few books I read have to capacity to shape me as I read them. This one does.
Previous review: (slightly updated)
"So I think I'd better go, said Wimsey. "I rather wish I hadn't come buttin' into this. Some things may be better left alone, don't you think? My sympathies are all in the wrong place and I don't like it. I know all about not doing evil that good may come. It's doin' good that evil may come that is so embarrassin'."
"My dear boy," said the Rector, "it does not do for us to take too much thought for the morrow. It is better to follow the truth and leave the results in the hand of God. He can forsee where we cannot, because He knows all the facts."
With this quote, I understood why Sayers designed such an "easy" mystery and placed it on my re-read list. We enter into the community of Fenchurch St. Paul and the lives of those who struggle with deception, disease, death, and the long-lived consequences those bring. We also see the efforts of those who seek to restore life. Early on, I felt confident of the corpse's identity, but I continued reading to see why she would craft the story this way and where she was taking me. While the whodunit is essential, it is in creating a mystery that closely ties the surrounding land to the body and souls of those it sustains, and threatens, that we get a closer look at human nature. She takes us to a community that cares for its own but sometimes makes life harder for those souls. We are introduced to the rector and his wife, who look after the community's souls and bodies. We see a church standing high on a hill with bells ringing notes of joy, comfort, grief, and alarm. The church provides shelter when a flood and tragedy occur because warnings of impending catastrophe and pleas for change are ignored. The church structure, warning pleas, a shepherd who watches over his flock, and more allude to the Biblical story of the post-Edenic flood. By weaving several masterful sub-plots, we consider our human nature in light of the mysterious ways our Lord brings sorrow, joy, heartache, and comfort. A paradoxical comfort that sometimes asks us to leave "the results in the hand of God." You will read of cruelty, compassion, water, earth, church, pub, and campanology (which I will learn more about before another reading; I'm sure I'm missing much by my ignorance)
Masterly and subtly crafted, it is well worth a second or more reading.


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