Pemberton Ginther

Well, I was right to be tempted by Pemberton Ginther's The Jade Necklace. Before the first chapter was even over, I was bowled over by how great the writing quality is compared to other series books of the time. Her writing reads like a really good period book, not just a cliched, cranked out Syndicate manuscript (although heaven knows I love those, too!). I ran right through this book and straight into the next one, The Thirteenth Spoon, which was every bit as good. At this point, I'm actively pursuing ANY title by her.

Pemberton Ginther was the pen name of Mary Pemberton (Mrs. George A.) Heyer. She was an artist as well as a writer, and she illustrated many books, as well as painting and working in stained glass--a real renaissance woman. From what I can tell, her art career pre-dates her career as a writer, beginning in the 19th century. She then wrote several series in the 1910s and 20s: Betsy Hale, Miss Pat, Beth Anne, Nancy Lee, and Hilda. I've not yet read any of these, so I'm not sure what their focus is (mystery, romance, adventure, etc.), but I certainly intend to investigate.

The titles that I've read, as well as a third, The Secret Stair, were originally published by the Macrae Smith Company in 1928 and 1929 and then republished in 1932 by Cupples and Leon. While I've never examined a Macrae edition, the page numbers match up, so I assume the two editions of each are identical. I imagine the dust jacket art is different, although I've been unable to find pictures online to confirm this. The frontispieces of both of the books I've read are initialed "FW," so they are not illustrated by her.

The fact that these weren't written specifically for the Mystery Stories for Girls series probably explains why they're so different from the other titles. The heroines and subject matter are a little older and their problems/situations are more adult--another title, The Door in the Mountain, is especially childish in comparison. At 305-308 pages, they're also almost a hundred pages longer than The Clue at Crooked Lane, for example. Pem is also very thorough in fleshing out characters--there are no colorless sidekicks, but a lot more emotional turmoil. There's fewer series stereotypes, and they just don't have the same feel as a typical series book. I'm very curious to see how her actual series books read.

I'll have reviews of the books I've read up shortly. This actually started out as the review for The Jade Necklace but got FAR too long. Can you tell how excited I am to finally find another good author/book?