Gaudy Night (Masterplots II: British and Commonwealth Fiction Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Dorothy L. Sayers
- First Published: 1935
- Type of Work: Mystery
- Time of Work: From June, 1934, to May, 1935
- Setting: Oxford and London, England
- Principal Characters: Harriet Vane, Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey, Letitia Martin, Helen De Vine, Miss Hillyard, Miss Lydgate, Annie Wilson
- Genres: Long fiction, Psychological fiction, Mystery and detective literature, Character study
- Subjects: Love or romance, Crime or criminals, Gender roles, Authors or writers, Education or educators, Marriage, 1930’s, Emotions, College life, Novelists, England or English people, Women’s issues, Letter writing, Detectives, Mysteries, Hate crimes, Colleges or universities, Women’s rights, Learning or scholarship
- Locales: London, England, Oxford, England
The Novel
Ten years after she is graduated from Shrewsbury College, in Oxford, Harriet Vane accepts the invitation of a classmate, Mary Stokes Attwood, to return for an annual celebration, the “Gaudy.” While at the college, she finds a scrap of paper blowing around the quadrangle; on it, she finds a crudely drawn picture of a naked woman stabbing a figure in academic dress. Later, on her way back to London, a message flutters from her gown: “YOU DIRTY MURDERESS. AREN’T YOU ASHAMED TO SHOW YOUR FACE?” The words have been formed with letters cut from newspaper...
[The entire page is 2273 words long]
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