Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... The Beekeeper's Apprentice (1994)by Laurie R. King
Best Historical Fiction (123) Favorite Series (39) » 27 more Historical Fiction (84) Female Author (123) Top Five Books of 2013 (273) Summer Reads 2014 (43) Books Read in 2013 (121) Top Five Books of 2015 (380) Books Read in 2016 (2,826) Female Protagonist (404) Books Read in 2022 (2,033) Books Read in 2017 (2,950) Carole's List (243) KayStJ's to-read list (284) Detective Stories (130) Books tagged favorites (354) Victorian Period (108) Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. First, this is Sherlock, not beekeeping, as the cover and title, and even alternate title lead one to believe. (I tend to be a judge-a-book-by-its-cover person unless it's been recommended to me.) This is quite an old book, tho that doesn't matter as it's set in the early 20th century with Sherlock having retired to the countryside. This book is about a young woman who is equally sherlockian in her intellect, and how she becomes Sherlock's apprentice. They solve a few cases together, and we generally see them become fast friends and intellectual equals. I enjoyed the cases, they are as well done as any other Sherlock retelling, and Mary, the main character, is fun to follow around, though she does suffer from being a bit too perfect. Sherlock is also given a generous reimagining, veering away from the abrasive, neurodivergent recluse and becoming a wise kindly old man for the most part. One might imagine that's how he would be to his intellectual equal, but it's certainly a change. I was swept away in the world created here though, so I will try the next in the series. ( ) I thoroughly enjoyed the adventures of Mary Russell, a teenaged genius who matches wits and joins forces with the "retired" Sherlock Holmes. She's a character I'd like to spend more time with. The story is well-plotted, and exciting in all the right ways, but I was totally bewildered by the mechanics of the climactic scene, and that might influence my decision to carry on with this series. Sherlock Holmes fanfic. Entertaining. I seem to remember a few bits toward the beginning that were too embarrassingly Mary Sue to read, but it settles down after a hundred or so pages. Interesting approach to story-telling: the speed of events changes wildly throughout the book---but very true to what it's supposed to be, which is a memoir. The Beekeeper's Apprentice (Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes #1)by Laurie R. King (Goodreads Author) 4.08 Rating details  55,400 Ratings  4,984 ReviewsLong retired, Sherlock Holmes quietly pursues his study of honeybee behavior on the Sussex Downs. He never imagines he would encounter anyone whose intellect matched his own, much less an audacious teenage girl with a penchant for detection. Miss Mary Russell becomes Holmes' pupil and quickly hones her talent for deduction, disguises and danger. But when an elusive villain enters the picture, their partnership is put to a real test.
But at the heart of the novel is not the historical accuracy or the gender commentary; rather, the core of the story is the partnership between Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes. It's a partnership between equals, of two keen minds, two clever, stubborn, and formidable people who nevertheless feel the psychological weight of the profession they have chosen to follow. Moreover, there's none of that tired and overdone sexual tension that one might expect from a story with two protagonists of the opposite gender. There are no romantic interludes, tense moments, or pensive fantasizing. Instead, rather like the recent adaptation Elementary, the story does something remarkable: portray a friendship and a relationship between two unique characters of opposite genders without going down the tired, old, (and, in the case of Holmesian adaptations, particularly overdone) path of romance. Is contained inWas inspired byHas as a commentary on the textHas as a student's study guideAwardsNotable Lists
A chance meeting with a Sussex beekeeper turns into a pivotal, personal transformation when fifteen-year-old Mary Russell discovers that the beekeeper is the reclusive, retired detective Sherlock Holmes, who soon takes on the role of mentor and teacher. No library descriptions found.
|
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |