The Strange Case of Eliza Doolittle
Timothy Miller
Publisher : Seventh Street Books (January 19, 2021)
Paperback : 256 pages
ISBN-10 : 1645060217
ISBN-13 : 978-1645060215
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1645060217?tag=simonsayscom
Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton originally for BookPleasures.com
Sherlock Holmes pastiches, of course, are nothing new. In stories penned by literary descendants of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the fictional detective has encountered actual historical figures from Aleisteir Crowley to Winston Churchill to the Dalai Lama. He has been portrayed alongside literary characters created by other authors like Count Dracula, Fu Manchu, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
I admit, when I first saw that Timothy Miller was merging the realms of Holmes and Watson with the characters George Bernard Shaw introduced in his play, Pygmalion, later adapted by Lerner and Loewe into their classic musical, My Fair Lady, I suspected I was about to experience a real stretch. At best, a humorous mash-up. I couldn't have been further off the mark.
In fact, The Strange Case of Eliza Doolittle is a inventive pastiche true enough, but it's no laughing matter. Mostly. I must say Miller did a very credible job at capturing the well-known and oft-imitated cadence of Dr. John Watson as demonstrated in all the original Sir Arthur Conan Doyle yarns. Miller does mix into that well-established style comic touches, especially his use of similes and metaphors. one humorous scene featured actual American actor William Gillette. Known for his portrayal as Holmes in the London theatre (it was Gillette, not Conan Doyle, who gave Holmes the trademark of wearing a deerstalker hat), Gillette plays Holmes in a scene where Holmes bemusedly looks on and Watson is surprised to see the real and fictional detectives together in the same living room with Henry Higgins.
Throughout, Miller shows a very detailed knowledge of the historical milieu when the Victorian era was giving way to the Edwardian period when motor cars were replacing hansom cabs. There's a strong tone of danger as Holmes and Watson try to find out just how Eliza Doolittle had been so transformed. Was she in fact a continental princess taking on a secret identity to avoid assassination? Had the original Eliza Doolittle been replaced by a doppelganger? Or had something sinister happened to completely transform a flower girl into a proper English lady beyond phonetic tutoring?
Along the way, we don't just see Holmes and Watson being inserted into Henry Higgins cantankerous environment where we might expect Rex Harrison breaking into song. Not for the first time in the Holmes canon, we see the transformative formula of Dr. Henry Jekyll and his alter ego Edward Hyde, sort of, becoming a major thread of the complex plot. Because of that plot line, we have many dark and bloody scenes.
In short, The Strange Case of Eliza Doolittle is full of surprises and no shortage of twists and turns in the multi-layered plot. The book has a rich vitality with it's inclusion of many tones and in-depth characterizations and vivid descriptions. In addition, there are many passages, notably the fast-paced chase scenes, that show a strong influence of more recent high-octane screen versions of Holmes adventures.
You don't have to be a Sherlock Holmes aficionado to enjoy The Strange Case of Eliza Doolittlealthough Doyle fans will get to see many references to events and characters from the Holmes canon updated into a sort of sequel to the original stories. So, on many levels, the novel is a lot of fun. I enjoyed this book more than many a title I've read of late. A perfect diversion from the weird world of 2020.
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