The Tightrope Walker

Wow. It's very Gilman - Amelia several times conquers entirely through naively assuming she will. Including the one place where she is incredibly _stupid_, which brings on the climax. I almost put the book down at that point, but powered through instead - and once the setup was done, the story caught me up again. Very rich, very weird story, as a girl who's always been rather rootless finds the last plea of a woman who expected to be murdered - and against all odds, actually finds out what happened. She does a lot of growing up along the way, one way and another - I like Amelia at the end of the story a lot better than I liked her at the beginning. The coincidences are wild - particularly about the book (I now want to read Gilman's show more version of it!). A lot of fun, and I think it will definitely reward rereading (as Gilman's books usually do). The biggest question is how I managed to miss it for so long! show less

I first read this book when I was, frankly, too young, maybe twelve or thirteen years old, on the recommendation of a family friend. (I was reading a lot of classic Agatha Christie murder mysteries at that time.) Because Dorothy Gilman also wrote The Maze in the Heart of the Castle, the children's book often referenced in the text, which I had already read, my young mind had trouble understanding the metafictional conceit - I thought The Tightrope Walker was a real story about an author who was really murdered! That made me feel tense and upset, and I can't remember if I even finished the book at the time.

Coming back to it as an adult, I'm impressed by several of the things Gilman is doing here. First of all, the metafiction aspect (and show more I'm not sure if she had planned it out at the time or not; she didn't publish "Maze" for several more years after its inclusion in this story) is undeniably clever, and I'm looking forward to revisiting *that* book, too. I'm also really taken with her depiction of an insecure and somewhat neurotic female protagonist, someone who means well but often lacks confidence and second-guesses herself. For the most part, she felt very real to me, and even the romance aspect Gilman brings into the novel isn't overplayed. I enjoyed following Amelia around as she ferrets out clues and pieces together an event that happened years before, and I liked that although she seems *more* secure by the end of the novel, she still acknowledges that she has a long way to go. I wouldn't have minded a second adventure with Amelia, frankly, even if such an event would probably push credulity a little far.

Speaking of credulity, the end of the book does fall prey, a little bit, to convenient tidying-up; the denouement is a little too TV-Movie-of-the-Week to be totally satisfying. Gilman does manage to avoid most of the obvious cliches outright, though, which is to her credit. Additionally, because the novel is narrated in first person, past tense, the mystery feels immediate but the suspense runs a little cold. Could anyone really worry that Amelia is going to get killed? I doubt it - she's still alive to narrate the story, after all. Unfortunately, that undermines the final portion of what is otherwise a very enjoyable little novel; whether it undermines it too much is probably best left to the individual reader. I still enjoyed my read, but I'm not feeling as keen to recommend The Tightrope Walker to others as I was, say, during the first 120 pages. show less

A young woman seeks justice based on the flimsiest of clues to the people involved in the wrong-doing. I was captivated by this old-fashioned style of telling a story in a way that draws on the characters and their actions. There's a mystery, a mild romance, and lots of suspense and adventure. An excellent tale of the MC becoming a confident adult.

Really enjoyed this book and the main character. I found it to be a very engrossing mystery involving characters I was curious about. There was a gentleness to it that almost caused me to stop reading, as I'm used to gritty mysteries, but I'm glad I kept reading. I've never read anything by this author before, but I'm determined to see if her other work pleases me as much.

A wonderful mystery about a note found in a hurdy-gurdy, a possible murder, and the uses of love, good and bad. The heroine is a gentle damaged soul who finds strength she doesn't know she possesses, and discovers she can love, and be loved.

2023 reread via audiobook:
I am changing my previous rating of 4* to 3.5*. While I enjoyed this book, it doesn't have the same humor or quirky characters that are in Gilman's other books. On the plus side, it does have a murder mystery!

From the writer of the classic Mrs. Pollifax series, this is an enchanting tale of a shy young woman who discovers herself while solving a mystery. Well-written and charming.