The Ruby in the Smoke

My personal history with this series of books is a bit unusual, I suppose. I saw the TV adaptations of the first two books, then read the third and fourth books and I've recently decided to read the first two. The Ruby in the Smoke is the first book following Sally Lockhart, a spunky 16-year-old in Victorian London (& Oxford, which was lovely as I lived there for a year and it's always nice to hear the names of familiar streets and roads.) It's a historical mystery with real backbone, despite a few flaws.

I really enjoyed the depth of Pullman's writing - the dialog and the descriptions in particular are packed with details and exquisite. Sally herself is well-developed from the start and extremely likeable. The cast of secondary show more characters is unevenly written: while Sally's allies are well fleshed out, her enemies are often cartoonish, with very little depth.

The general plot is good enough, though unnecessarily complex and unrealistic at times, which, combined with the caricatures we are often presented with amongst the 'baddies' makes for a very bizarre story.
The relationships between the different characters are very nice and warm, I felt very close to them all and my favourite parts often had to do with moments of friendships and Sally learning about her past rather than her escaping one of the clownish characters. Near the middle of the novel, she tries to put her finger on why she feels like she belongs and I found her conclusion particularly moving ('they didn't care that one was a servant and that I was a woman, we were equals here. That was what was different.') and gives an inkling of broader themes explored further in The Tiger in the Well, the third book in the series.

A word about the audio book, since it's the format I chose: Anton Lesser's narrative is flawless. Overall, a good book, not excellent but very worth reading and a nice introduction to the series and to one of my favourite heroines in literature. show less

Well. Erm. Humm.

After meaning to read this book for years, I wanted to like this so much more than I did!!!!! Yes, I am using an excess of punctuation here because I feel like my disappointment is justified. So many readers I know say that this book was one of their favorites; that they wanted to be, or be friends with, Sally Lockhart; that rereading this beloved gem never failed them.

My biggest qualm with THE RUBY IN THE SMOKE is that Sally Lockhart feels like the quintessential "un-protagonist." For a character with an eponymous series name and lots written up about her in the back cover synopsis, Sally spends a lot of time off the page. The narration divides its time between Sally, the villains, Jim the plucky errand boy, Frederick show more the photographer, and who knows who else. While it was not bad that we spent some time following Jim's, Frederick's, the villains' footsteps around, I felt like the synopsis misled me to believe that I'd learn more about Sally, that I'd come to understand how she thinks, how she operates.

Alas, not only does Sally not have much narration time, rendering her still unfamiliar to me, but she also doesn't DO much of anything in this book. The synopsis makes her out to be this female wunderkind detective force to be reckoned it, when actually I feel like she does a lot of sitting at home, waiting for others (read: the male characters) to get back from their excursions and fill her in on what they've done. For a character that's supposed to be the protagonist, Sally really feels two steps behind everyone else on this case. Cementing my view that the series was named incorrectly was the fact that Sally basically gets gypped out of having her crowning moment! Through putting herself in an opium-induced trance, she figures out the secret behind the ruby, but it turns out that JIM already figured it out chapters ago, but just didn't tell her for fear of disappointing her or whatnot. Then the climactic scenes occur in which the guys get to do a lot of fighting and Sally is merely hormonal. Puh-lease. I don't care whichever way you spin it, Sally is not "intrepid" for tearfully enduring the consequences of her unknown history and for figuring out something that another character already figured out before her.

For a book with a female protagonist, THE RUBY IN THE SMOKE spends a disappointingly disproportionate time showing us that actually it's the boys who still get to do the exciting and essential parts of crime-solving. Feminist I find this book is not. Try Y. S. Lee's impressive The Agency Victorian mystery series if you truly want to see a smart and resourceful teen female detective in action. show less

The Ruby in the Smoke called out to me not because of any merit of its own, but because it was written by Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials. Usually, when I enjoy an author’s work as much as I enjoyed The Golden Compass, it only makes sense to try some of his other series, yeah?

I have some mixed feelings about The Ruby in the Smoke.

On the one hand, I really liked the characters as a general rule. Each had his or her own quirks. They were a little bit stereotyped to what would have been common to their class, but they were individual enough that they stood out to me more than characters in similar situations in other novels, like Dodger or The Reluctant Assassin. I liked Sally, Rosa, and Fred in particular… but honestly show more Jim, Trembler, and Adelaide also had their merits. Each character was strongly written enough that I cared about what happened to them.

Within the character arc, I want to talk a little about the villain, Mrs. Holland. Mrs. Holland is a picture perfect Disney villain. She’s single-minded and old and crotchety and selfish and arrogant and dangerous. Thing of a personality mix somewhere between Maleficent, Cruella, and Ursula… and you’ve got Mrs. Holland. She’s perfectly done.

I really liked the romance too, which is something I don’t often say. I like it for the same reason I like it in Pullman’s other novels… there’s a slow, sweet build to it. Romance tends to take over stories and doesn’t seem to develop naturally… that drives me crazy, and it’s not true of The Ruby in the Smoke. Sally falls in love slowly, and in such a way you know it’s going to develop naturally over the course of the series. I really liked it, and I liked the potential couple too… so… I’m here for it.

While this is an historical fiction mystery, it’s also very much a YA novel. These were rare enough in 1985, and it goes to show that Philip Pullman was one of the early runners for the YA genre. Because of this, there’s been some criticism to the novel that it is too simple and straightforward. Honestly, those were some of the things I liked about it. There’s not a lot of glitz and glam to the writing, but it’s not so overly simplified that I would consider it middle grade. Not too hot, not too cold… just right.

The tale of the ruby itself immediately brought The Maltese Falcon to mind. The central piece in the story – or what the reader is led to believe is the central piece – is this ruby that people are willing to kill to have. It’s an immense fortune, and it seems to change people, bringing out the worst of their greed. I enjoyed he twists and turns of the novel – I predicted some elements its ended because some cliches are just good… but not the dramatic shift in the story. I thought it was well-done.

So here’s my concern, and I guess, it’s my only concern. The Ruby in the Smoke is based on and around the Opium Wars. Here in the States, we don’t talk a lot about these, as they aren’t a part of our country’s history, but in the mid-1800s, Britain went to war twice with China over opium. Opium plays a large part in The Ruby in the Smoke, and is used by multiple characters. There’s some stigma around it, but it is nonetheless appropriated for its hallucinogenic properties. So on one hand, we have drug use. And on the other hand, I’m not crazy about the depiction of Chinese characters? All are shown in relation to opium dens. They make up so little of the book, but it stood out to me immediately and… I don’t know. I guess it was just worth mentioning.

Generally, though? I really liked The Ruby in the Smoke, more than I was expecting to. It was refreshing to read a YA mystery that wasn’t a secret YA romance. This is an older book, so there are definitely cliches and tropes that were perhaps less common 34 years ago. Nonetheless, I’d recommend it is you enjoy the genre and in particular, if you liked The Golden Compass and are interested in some of Pullman’s other work. For myself, I’ll be venturing forth with The Shadow in the North. show less

This is the first of Philip Pullman’s Victorian mystery novels featuring Sally Lockhart. She is 16-years-old in this story, her father has just died in a shipwreck, and she finds herself in the middle of nefarious dealings involving a missing ruby, criminal gangs, fraud, piracy, and the opium trade.
Because the protagonist is young, this is often considered a Young Adult novel. Don’t let this mislead you. This is a well-crafted tale of mystery, murder, and intrigue. The characters are engaging. The prose is exceptional.
Victorian England is a great setting for stories because of the sharp contrasts it provides -- from the largely illiterate poor working in sweatshops or grubbing a living on the streets of London, to the cultured show more gentry living on returns from investments of inherited capital. The extraordinary portrayal of this time and the details scattered throughout the scenes in this book make it seem as if they were written by someone who lived there, or who is, at least, intimately familiar with it and can bring it to life for those of us who are not.
I often find myself uncomfortable putting novels in predefined genre cubbyholes because the best of them often don’t fit. This is one. I think the YA categorization of this particular book and the rest of the series is most inappropriate. Sally is not a typical teenager and she is not a typical Victorian young lady. Neither is she a role model many people would want their kids to emulate, although I, as and adult, found her admirable. She defies convention, questions authority, and does her best in a bad situation.
The story is dark, at times, darker than I normally prefer, and although a hopeful conclusion comes a bit unexpectedly, it is not a case of “and they all lived happily ever after.”
In my opinion, this ranks among the best Victorian mystery novels that I have read. The story is suspenseful, the characters are well portrayed and believable, and the protagonist is likeable. I highly recommend it -- for adults. (Some kids may like it, too.) show less

1872, London. "Her name was Sally Lockhart; and within fifteen minutes, she was going to kill a man." Hard not to be immediately pulled into a story with a sentence like that! In the first of the four Sally Lockhart Mystery novels, having been recently orphaned with her father's ship sinking somewhere in the Orient, sixteen year old Sally finds herself drawn into a saga filled with suspense and mystery. When she asks her late father's associate to explain to her what "the seven blessings" means, he keels over and dies. Soon, an unsavoury woman by the name of Mrs Holland is hot on Sally's trail, though Sally doesn't yet have any idea why. We know of Mrs Holland that she wears too-big brown and grey dentures—having, just before her late show more husband's casket was closed, reached out to take said dentures out of his mouth, claiming "there's still plenty of wear in those!"—we also know that she's holding a sailor (who's recently nearly escaped sure drowning) prisoner by keeping him drugged with opium. There's a huge ruby in the stakes and the only way Sally can put all the pieces together before it's too late is by literally confronting her worst nightmare in a way no sane parent could ever approve of. With a smart and resourceful heroine and filled with a cast of wonderful, highly coloured characters and non-stop action, this is a very well written tale by the creator of His Dark Materials that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. I couldn't wait for the follow up, and immediately ordered it from the BookDepository as soon as I'd finished listening to this very well made audiobook. show less

Throughout the year of 2014, I told myself I'd re-read some of my favourite books from my childhood. This was the first one I picked up as I remember being absolutely addicted to the series way back when. It was just as incredible as I remembered, maybe even more so thanks to finally catching the adult themes and jokes within the book within my adult eyes.

What do a man drowning at sea, a heart attack victim and a mysterious message all have in common? Little Sally Lockheart. That's all I'm going to say in regards to the premise of the book. You really do all have to read it and I don't want to give anything away. Even the slightest of details can hint at the final ending of the book.

Philip Pullman really is the master storyteller. He show more keeps things succinct, and yet detailed, explained and yet exciting, and everything ties in with everything else almost far too perfectly. The language he uses is rich and inviting and always urges you to read "just one more" chapter. The heroine is amazing at some things, and yet does have her flaws, which I think makes her just that much more real. Instead of having a mastermind perfect at everything running an investigation, you have a flawed person investigating equally flawed people and so on. One of the main themes of this book is what some people call "the grey area". Not one person or object within this book is either good or evil, they always lie somewhere in between. I love that.

The plot is engaging and unique and although everything is tied up neatly at the end, there are some loose threads that aren't explained which makes you want to read the next few books in the series. As if you wouldn't want to anyway, Philip Pullman is a genius. He always has, is, and will always remain, one of my favourite authors of all time.

I salute you, my friend. I salute you. show less

WARNING: This review contains spoilers.

****

A very pleasing early work from the author best known for the His Dark Materials trilogy. First published in 1985, The Ruby in the Smoke tells the story of 16-year-old Sally Lockhart, whose father, partner in a shipping company, recently died aboard a ship in the East. Sally has reason to believe her father met with foul play, and she is determined to find out what happened. Mr. Lockhart has raised her to be resourceful, strong-willed and practical, and these qualities serve her well as she gets herself into a mystery of which she understands little: opium, rubies, an unknown enemy, and the words "seven blessings", which strike terror in the hearts of men.

Since this is a book for young adults show more (12 and older), the plot must move along smoothly, and that it does. There is always something happening, and Pullman deftly switches perspectives to show all the various threads of the story. He is also good at establishing the atmosphere. He's done his homework on the Victorian era, and he includes enough details to set the stage and teach the readership a thing or two, but not so much material that it becomes dense with information. There are also vivid descriptions of what an opium haze is like, as well as the false teeth worn by the primary villain, Mrs. Holland -- they used to be her husband's, she informs another character, and she snatched them out of his dead mouth before he was buried. And he died of cholera, too. Gross.

The other characters, while they may not be *entirely* three-dimensional, are nevertheless very colourful and engaging. Sally in particular is so determined, so practical, so willing to be self-sufficient that you want her to do well for herself. The end of the book will also induce a quick sob or two if you're not careful -- it's poignant stuff.

I did think that the way Sally solves the mystery was a bit off -- she was apparently exposed to opium from a very young age, and she discovers that her recurring nightmare is actually a recollection of something that happened when she was very small. So she has to take some opium to solve the mystery. Rather an odd way of going about it. And the inclusion of the other villain at the very end seemed a bit offhanded, like "Whoops, Mrs. Holland's gone but I just have to very quickly tie up this last loose end." Not that it didn't serve any dramatic purpose, but he seemed really off.

But all in all, this was a very good book. I'd recommend it for youngsters who enjoy historical novels or perhaps Nancy Drew (since they're both resourceful female sleuths, although Sally is probably the pluckier of the two, considering she's slightly younger and has no father). Philip Pullman fans may also do well to check this one out if the plot strikes their fancy. show less