So. As I discovered earlier, I read this book out of order. Somehow I thought I was on book 3 and this turns out to be book 4 and although I do have book 3, Pardonable Lies, I haven’t yet started it.
Even so, Messenger of Truth was my favorite Maisie book yet. She got more human, more multi-faceted, in my opinion. She was tempted by friendship with Georgiana; that speaks of human weakness. She gets lonely. This has been one of my complaints about Maisie, that she lacks this human quality, so for me this developed her. We can see she’s still not ready for a romantic relationship, though. At least she’s now struggling with the question of it.
On the other hand, I’m also still enjoying the macro view of the world, if you will. Maisie and Billy have slightly different perspectives, but both are bothered by the haves vs. have-nots issue. In past books, discussion of the war and the post-war depression have given me a similarly satisfying treatment of the larger world. I want Maisie to be a real person; but I also like it when Winspear deals with these macro issues.
Here comes the SPOILER:
I was surprised that Winspear let Lizzie die! I guess I have to respect her for going whole hog. It’s realistic that she would die, I guess.
I still find the series interesting. I still look forward to seeing what’s going to happen to Maisie. I still intend to read book 3. 
But… there’s still something a bit… sanitized or somehow not entirely, grittily human about this series, for me. On the other hand, I like Maisie so much that I bought THIS!
see! my new cloche!
Call me Mad for Maisie 🙂
Filed under: book reviews | Tagged: Mad For Maisie, mystery |
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OMG I love the hat-I think I need to get one too! And I’m glad you’re back aboard the read-along. I was surprised and so sad that Lizzie died as well – which is why I probably didn’t even bring it up as a topic to discuss. But, it is more realistic and thus was probably the right choice. I liked seeing Maisie’s maternal yearnings as well. I wonder where those will lead her?
I think we’re definitely seeing her develop as a more complete person – needing companionship, both friendship and perhaps romance, and feeling maternal. This is all encouraging. Maisie as virginal, virtuous investigator will only take us so far.
And I’m very happy with my hat. 🙂
[…] up), and I like the continuity; it’s recognizable. I like her cloche, too. (remember, I got my own in Maisie’s honor!) But this time I accidentally picked a large print edition (that was […]