Frilly Lit Catwalk Frilly Lit Catwalk
The Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Novels by Laurell K. Hamilton
The Deborah Knott Mystery Series by Margaret Maron
Little Green Men by Christopher Buckley
Eye of the Beholder by Jayne Ann Krentz
First up is a book by Frances Lester Warner called Endicott and
I. It's copyrighted 1919 and is a picturesque painting of a family throughout the
years, done in little vignettes. Chip and I found it in the conspiracy bookstore.
Well, that's what we call it - the conspiracy bookstore - because they
have a thorough collection of conspiracy materials. The conspiracy bookstore
is in Burbank, California. Ya know, where Warner Bros. and Disney Studios are. Did you
know that Disney Studios has big palladian Snowhite dwarfs holding the buildings up? (And
yes, we think *palladian* is a completely apt term.) In any case, it's a lovely book. Just
lovely. And with such a hint of malice. One chapter is devoted entirely to the family
prayer hour, another to the family orchestra, and another to fond derision of Endicott's
attempt to diet. Imagine such family unity.
Actually, Endicott and I reminds us much of the books Mr. Bridge and Mrs.
Bridge, by Evan S. Connell. Only there is no hint of the pathetic in Endicott
as there is with Mr. Bridge and Mrs. Bridge. Endicott and I is
a MUST READ for any little frillies in training, along with Emily Post and the Anne of
Greene Gables Books. And of course the Laura Ingalls Wilder Books for
that dash of true grit.
Amongst the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter Novels, written by Laurell K . Hamilton and published by Ace Books, are: Guilty Pleasures, The Laughing Corpse, Circus of the Damned, The Lunatic Cafe, Bloody Bones, The Killing Dance, Burnt Offerings, and the latest, Blue Moon. How, you ask, could Fantasy genre novels be in the Canon of Frilly Lit? Even when a printed-inside-the-cover review says "Anita Blake is...fast, feisty and far from frilly"?
Well, it's because Anita Blake is FRILLY WITH TRUE GRIT. She's petite, fair, and carries an arsenal of anti-preternatural-monster weapons. She is the Executioner. And she's got two gorgeous beau competing for her hand - one of whom is the divinely beautiful, gothically fashionable, master vampire, Jean Claude.
Anita Blake's world is one in which glamorous costumes and dead-eye marksmanship are de rigeur. How could you get more frilly than that?
Margaret Maron's Deborah Knott is not just another feisty southern belle, although she is. Her daddy got her judgeship for her - but this doesn't mean Deborah's not honest. Besides, she understands the importance of frozen casseroles and how to make social calls. And, of course, she is always more than capable of stirring up the answers to the mystery.
But in addition to Deborah herself, those who love a finely wrought line of prose - and what frilly person does not? - will love Margaret Maron's tale-spinning. Her writing has a deceivingly light touch - like a sweet, airy cake, her words are secretly full of buttery, dense ingredients that you can - yes - sink your teeth into. Or maybe like fluffy, golden biscuits...
Hysterical! Wacky! Almost silly, but bitingly sharp instead!
When "they" truck out that old guy - to get his advice and opinions and make themselves feel better - the one who "had perpetuated catastrophe when he was in charge of U.S. foreign policy" and now whose "very presence in such situations was deemed by the press to be encouraging" - ooh, you know someone in Washington has just been nailed by a keen and frilly sharpshooter.
Jayne Ann Krentz's - a.k.a. Amanda Quick a.k.a. Jayne Castle - latest romance is Eye of the Beholder. Her latest heroine is Alexa Chambers, who, as the jacket cover says:
"has a flair for style, an eye for art - and a reputation in tatters. An expert in Art Deco, she blew the whistle on an employer who was selling fakes to wealthy clients. Her payoff? No job and no prospects. Now she runs a shop in her hometown of Avalon, Arizona - a hot spot for crystal devotees and sunset gazers. But gutsy, energetic Alexa has no intention of sitting still."
And she is just wonderful, like all of Jayne Ann Krentz's heroines. And she is also another exemplary model of frilliness for all young ladies...as indeed are all of Mrs. Krentz's heroines. The words *innocent but knowing, humorous but not irrelevant, decorative but not merely decorative* somehow come to mind here in that infinitely just so way Mrs. Krentz always has.
And one must mention the delightful aspect of having art featured as a veritable character in this latest novel. I believe this device, has with Eye of the Beholder, officially become a new kind of theme for Mrs. Krentz and it is a superb idea. Never say that Mrs. Krentz is not current and fresh!
Copyright © 1999-2000 by Honey Treetot's Tree House Club.