Agatha Raisin and the Witches' TreeM.C. Beaton
My Mum and I are both fans of this series, and so its 28th volume was a "must" for us. As soon as my Mum had ordered and received the book, she gave it to me to read first; I put other books I was reading aside for it and made sure my Mum did not have to wait too long until I'd finish and she could read it, too.
With all that, I completely forgot to write a review and post it here!
So, actually, this is not in strict order of reading, but the total number is still correct.
Before this new book, our last literary encounter with Agatha Raisin took place in October 2016. What I wrote then was partly true once again:
It took me a while to get re-acquainted with M.C. Beaton's storytelling pace and unfrilly style. But soon I was fully immersed in Agatha's world again.
We meet Agatha mostly true to her old form: wondering about her relationship with Charles Fraith, dealing with the frustration of dead ends and red herrings in her murder investigation, and coming across a set of characters often turning out to be somewhat different from what she first thought (men including).
Of course, as in all her stories, she has a romantic interest, but unlike in the earlier books, she sees through him and loses interest rather quickly. In another new character, she makes a friend, and that was someone I really liked; I was afraid the new friend was going to turn out to be the culprit. I am not going to tell you any more about this, though, as I do not want to spoil it for you, in case you want to read the book yourself.
Something I noticed - and I wonder if other readers felt the same - was a slight shift in the way Agatha is portrayed.
Before, she always used to be reliably grumpy, and her looks were described consistently as having good legs and glossy brown hair, but fighting a constant battle against an expanding waistline, and trying very hard to please (by her looks) whoever she had a romantic interest in.
Now that Agatha Raisin has made the transition to a successful TV series, where she is very different from what I imagined her by reading the books, I find that maybe M.C. Beaton is trying to gradually adapt her literary heroine to the image of the TV character.
No mention of brown hair anymore (the TV actress is blonde), but instead we frequently read about her good figure and attractive curves (both true for the TV actress).
They are only very small instants and nuances; not much to really put my finger on, but I wonder whether we are slowly going to see a different Agatha Raisin emerge, one that is more like the TV character and less like the old familiar one from the pages.
Anyway, it was a fun read!
We watched one season of Agatha Raisin but I had trouble with it because Agatha didn't look anything like (or really act like) the Agatha Raisin I had in my mind from the books.
ReplyDeleteHello Joyce, I believe this is your first comment on my blog. Welcome!
DeleteYes, my Mum and I felt the same when watching the series for the first time. Then we decided we'd look at it as something independant from the books, with just a few parallels, and that works for us :-)
There are so many other differences between the books and the series, for instance how Agatha's cleaner Doris is very much part of the investigation and a very different character from the books.
I really only know about the books from you! :) I don't think I ever read more than one short story myself (found free for Kindle). I then watched the first season of the TV series (on one of my commercial cable channels I think) and didn't really take to it. I'd probably find it even harder if I'd read the books! (I gave up watching the TV version of Elizabeth George's Inspector Lynley series for similar reasons. Too many differences compared to the impressions I had of the characters from the books.)
ReplyDeleteI watched the Lynley series, but never liked Helen. She is just too gloomy all the time! I like Havers, though, and think the actress has done a great job. My Mum says she looks like she could be Brenda Blethyn's daughter ("Vera Stanhope").
DeleteI find this happens frequently when a book makes it to the TV or screen and I always regret it. If the book is good enough why change it for the viewing audience?
ReplyDeletePS...agree with Dawn Re. Elizabeth George's Inspector Lynley series
Yes, one wonders why some of the changes are made! I understand that some material has to be shortened, but why change entire characters?
DeleteSee my reply to DawnTreader reg. the Lynley series.
I enjoyed the tv version because it was so different that I had no problem seeing it as something quite separate from the books....And I was tired of the books after a time. I'm interested to hear that they may be different now...Perhaps I'll try reading one of the new ones...
ReplyDeleteThat's the way to see the TV version, Kristi, as something separate. If you do read the latest book, I'd like to know whether it feels a little different for you, too.
DeleteRichard and I watched the Agatha Raisin series on TV and we both liked it.
ReplyDeleteOf course, Richard likes any series with good looking women. You know what men are like! LOL!
I don't remember reading the books, so I guess I haven't. I am so old now, I can't remember all the books that I have read!
You probably haven't, Kay - you hardly ever read fiction anyway :-)
DeleteWe like the setting, the cottages and countryside. And Charles is pretty much like I imagined him.
Ha, you are probably right but there WAS a time when I did read fiction. I am an old lady, you know! :-)
DeleteWe sometimes will pause a show we are watching just to admire the countryside in the background! (When we are watching our British shows, I mean!)
I just watch regular telly at home, no streaming service or anything, but I sometimes wish I could pause or go back a little to look closer at some detail or hear someone saying something again!
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