Sherlock Holmes reread: The Copper Beeches

[vivdunstan]

Onto the last in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes collection. And this is one that I do remember. Even though I have a tendency to muddle it with the "Solitary Cyclist" story ...


This is a tale of a young governess who takes on a position in a remote old house. A position with unusual strings attached. She is asked to cut her long, chestnut coloured hair. And to sit for extended periods in a chair placed before a large window, wearing a bright blue dress that is provided. Another strong female character, who in this story is put in a terrible position.

I always find this story particularly disturbing. The demands on the young woman re the new job are so *wrong*, and even Holmes is notably alarmed by them. Yet she is still sent to take the job, and to telegram Holmes for help if she needs it. Which of course she does.

Her employer has a scarily almost split personality; jovial and light hearted, albeit rather forced at times, then at other moments filled with sudden and terrible rage. For personal reasons I found this all too familiar, and very upsetting.

Her employer's young son is also extremely disturbing, with his constant wish to harm animals. Which Holmes argues is a pointer to the hidden psychological characters of one or both parents. But for me was just so horrific, and to think of the young governess, already in a difficult situation, having to live with that was horrible.

In the end it turns out to be a case of an imprisoned older daughter, who the governess is similar to in looks. And there is a happy ending, with the daughter's beau helping her escape through the roof, with the secret help of the housekeeper. The split personality father gets his comeuppance. And the governess gets away. But I can't help thinking that she must be emotionally scarred after this. And that son remains still out there ...

So that's the end of the first collection of short stories for me. On to Memoirs next week.

Comments

[watervole]

I must do some Holmes re-reading at some point...

[vivdunstan]

I've been meaning to reread for ages. But committing to blogging my way through the stories is getting me to finally get round to it! Very much enjoying it.

[a_cubed]

It's no surprise that there is a thriving Holmes/Holmesian horror, particularly Mythos horror, subgenre. This one and The Engineer's Thumb, are really horror not detective fiction.

[vivdunstan]

Yup, lots of Holmesian horror out there. Lots with tentacles too.

My next Holmes short story read will be "The Cardboard Box", which is exceedingly gruesome, and was edited out of many editions of the stories.

[a_cubed]

It's in my edition (Omega, 1986 Complete Collected).

I enjoyed this non-ACD set of Holmes stories. They're not all Mythos ones, but quite a few.
https://www.johnjosephadams.com/projects/improbable-adventures-of-sherlock-holmes/

The recent "The Irregulars" one season TV show was also rather Mythos-inspired. I just (re) watched it with $DAUGHTER. Re for me, first for her.

[vivdunstan]

It's in mine, but vastly later, in His Last Bow, as originally published. My decision is whether to read it in Memoirs or His Last Bow. I'm veering towards getting it out of the way fast in Memoirs! Though I'm hardly ecstatic about the story after it either ...