Customer Reviews

Quite Honestly

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I have been a big Rumpole fan every since the PBS series, and I thought I'd give one of Mortimer's other books a try. If he could strike gold with Horace Rumpole, why not with Lucy Purefoy? Unfortunately, no such luck.

Lucinda Purefoy is a bishop's daughter recently graduated from college. She takes an advertising job, but something is missing, so she decides to volunteer for an organization called SCRAP, Social Carers, Reformers and Praeceptors, who help former prisoners readjust to society. That's how she meets Terry Keegan who's just done four years for breaking and entering. They fall in love.

The conflict begins when Terry tries to explain to Lucy why he got into burglary in the first place. "It's not for the money," he says, "It's the excitement." She wants to get closer to Terry so she decides to try it for herself. She begins by shoplifting. When Terry finds out about it, the roles are reversed. Now he's the one trying to get her to go straight.

When Terry looks down his nose at her trivial efforts, she decides to increase the stakes. There lies the problem with the book. It's just not believable; it reads more like Bridget Jones's Diary than a crime caper. I would imagine Mortimer was trying to lampoon do-gooders here, but Lucy is such a dim bulb that the reader is constantly telling himself, "She can't be serious!"

The minor characters are worse. Lucy's father the bishop is more liberal than Teddy Kennedy. When he finds out Lucy is sleeping with Terry, he's all for it. Also, when the leader of SCRAP resigns, they solicit Terry's criminal overseer, Chippy McGrath, to take his place. Mr. Markby, Terry's parole officer, is just as clueless. These people just don't measure up to the Rumpole characters. Somebody should have had the courage to tell this to Mr. Mortimer.

Lucy Purefoy, a confessed do-gooder, joins SCRAP (Social Carers, Reformers and Praeceptors), eager to help criminals rejoin society and become vital, working, happy parts of it. Her first and --- it turns out --- only charge, Terry Keegan, wants none of Lucy nor of SCRAP. He's finally won his freedom and vows to leave everything about "the system" behind. When he walks out of those prison doors, he has a little money in his pocket and a pretty good idea of where he wants to go, and it most definitely has nothing to do with Ms. Lucy Purefoy. His Aunt Dot always did quite well by him, so why not make a fresh start from there? Sadly, no one told Terry that Aunt Dot passed away during the three years he was off paying his debt to society.

A bit desperate, Terry calls on his old buddy and partner --- or ex-partner --- in crime, Leonard "Chippy" McGrath, hoping to room with him just until he can get back on his feet. Unfortunately, Terry discovers that Chippy hasn't changed one iota since their days working together, and when Terry turns down Chippy's offer to join his cadre of B&E specialists, he finds himself back on the streets, stripped of his cash and his hopes of a bed for the night. With the whole idea of independence looking more and more difficult, Terry decides that the enthusiastic Ms. Purefoy might be able to help after all --- just this once.

Naturally, the good-doing Lucy is ecstatic to have a real criminal to reform, especially after all those dull weeks spent in training. Excited that Terry has responded to her efforts, she redoubles her energies to find him a suitable place to live and lands him a legitimate job. Quite honestly, Lucy thinks, it's so simple.

In order to most effectively help Terry, Lucy decides she needs to fully understand him, so she embarks on an ambitious plan to do so. She's a hands-on kind of gal. And you could say she goes beyond the call of duty. Way beyond. Maybe it's her naiveté, having grown up the daughter of a Bishop, or her wide-eyed belief that people are basically good, just in need of a break and a little faith. Whatever, Lucy learns more than she bargained for about a life of crime.

Full of eccentric characters --- Lucy's father, a bishop whose modern interpretations of the church's teachings include tolerance for extramarital sex and gay marriages; Terry's cohort, the appropriately named Screwtop (unhappily, a reference to his brain function); Lucy's ex-boyfriends, a motley group of eccentric winners and big-time losers; and a romantically inclined prison matron with a hopeful roving eye --- QUITE HONESTLY is a quick-reading hoot.

--- Reviewed by Kate Ayers

That the guy's only doing it for some doll."

From Frank Loesser's "Guys and Dolls". There is a Guys and Dolls like quality to John Mortimer's new book "Quite Honestly", but with a twist. In John Mortimer's world of criminals and those who would seek to redeem them it's better than even money that the doll's only doing it for some guy.

The "guy" in this instance is Terry Keegan. He's a youthful offender newly released from prison. The "doll" is Lucinda Purefoy. The daughter of a very liberal Anglican (Episcopalian) Bishop and recent graduate of Manchester University (of which I am a proud alumnus). In a rather rash career move she is recruited to join an association dedicated to the rehabilitation of Britain's prison population, "Social Carers, Reformer and Praeceptors" known to all as SCRAP.

Terry is Lucinda's first assignment and from the beginning we see that things will not necessarily turn out quite the way Lucinda envisions things. The story is told in the voices of both Terry and Lucinda in successive chapters. It is a very neatly drawn point/counter-point process. First we hear Terry's account of their first meeting, then Lucinda's, and so on.

The plot hook for "Quite Honestly" is a simple one: will Lucinda succeed in her planned redemption of Terry. For Mortimer at least it seems the road to hell and maybe to love (if there is any difference between the two) is indeed paved with good intentions. Along the way we are treated to some of Mortimer's typically humorous and insightful writing. Mortimer's wry asides about Lucinda's father the bishop and the Anglican Church (ground Mortimer has trod before in his Rapstone Chronicles series) are humorous in principal part because they seem so on target. As you would expect from someone who has given us Rumpole and characters such as Peanuts Molloy and Tony Timson, the words and thoughts we see coming from Terry are also funny, the more so because they seem to ring so true. The story takes twists that may or may not be expected and Mortimer adds a layer of absurdity that somehow makes these unexpected twists somehow seem rational. It is hard to believe, of course, that people can act the way Lucinda does but I don't think Mortimer is engaged in writing a realistic `noir' crime story. His aim is to entertain and as long as one doesn't expect super-realism I don't think they will be disappointed.

John Mortimer's "Quite Honestly" was fun to read. While it may not be the best piece of writing he's ever done, it is still a cut above most of what you might find in the front shelves of your local book store. The characters are not quite as fully formed as fans of Rumpole may have come to expect. However, those characters developed over time and over many stories and here we have a relatively short novel (about 205 pages) that brings us protagonists with a clean slate. I think as long as you go in without expecting it to be quite as masterful as the stories he has created for Rumpole you will enjoy "Quite Honestly".

This is a love story without imagery depictions of gnarly positions written beautifully by Mr. Mortimer. Lucy wants to do some good in this world so she volunteers to be a reformer to Terry who has just been released from prison. Terry is not that easy to change therefore Lucy faces a big challenge in front of her. When push comes to shove Lucy perseveres; she is the daughter of a bishop. A lot of eccentric characters make up Mr. Mortimer's tale. The dialogues are funny. Each chapter is told from Lucy's point of view or Terry's side of an experience. The language is particularly stunning and swift. With Mr. Mortimer's knowledge of British law and order, and its justice system, his narration is tremendously exciting especially that he adds an extraordinary sense of humor into looking at situations. From the first page to the last this book is wonderful to read.

Remember the O. Henry tale of love where the man sells his watch to buy an ornament to his love's beautiful long hair? And she sells her hair to buy him something? John Mortimer updates the meme.

Terry Keegan is a small-time, young burglar about to be released from prson. Lucy Purefoy is an idealistic young woman who believes, more or less, that love and goodness can change the world, so she joins SCRAP (Social Carers, Reformers and Praeceptors). As a praeceptor, Lucy is to befriend a released prisoner and help him or her find a job, a place to live and keep them on the straight and narrow. Praeceptors are, of course, not to become their charges' friends and especially not their lovers.

You know what's going to happen, don't you?

Terry knows that there is a better, higher road in life, but he doesn't want Lucy's help. He'll find his own way, thank you. Lucy, of course, knows, just knows, she can change Terry's course in life.

The story is told in alternating voices, first Lucy, then Terry. Along the way, author John Mortimer introduces us to characters who are a hilarious send up of contemporary mores. There's Lucy's father, a bishop who doesn't think God is on his side any more, not since the deity smiled upon Bush and Blair. Lucy's mother is an genteel alcoholic, totally self-absorbed. Lucy herself reflects the values of the age, never without a man of the moment in her bed. In all, Mortimer skillfully and efficiently describes our era, where traditional values have been abandoned for . . . well, for whatever strikes one's fancy.

Of course, Lucy and Terry begin their descent along the slippery slope of love. Terry wants to earn the respect of Lucy by doing good. Lucy wants to bond with Terry by understanding what keeps him burgling houses.

The plot is predictable as is the climax, but it's still lots of fun as Lucy and Terry wend their way through one hilarious episode after another. Mortimer has an easy style and is, overall, delightful.

Definitely a light read, but always a very enjoyable one.

Jerry

I enjoy Mortimer for two basic reasons. First, his stories are interesting and well-developed. More importantly, I find his novels and stories to contain a vastly amusing curmidgeon-like perspective on the foibles of current British society. This is certainly true even in the Rumpole stories. To say that the man can be maddingly witty is a vast understatement. Of course, the humor masks a very serious and perceptive observer of contemporary Britain; but it generates vast amounts of chuckles nonetheless.

This novel is no exception. Mortimer, among other topics, manages to skewer "do-gooder" associations (that being SCRAP, otherwise known as Social Carers, Reformers and Praeceptors), the prison system, theories of criminal behavior, upper-class guilt, various theories of reforming convicted criminals, and the hierarchy of the Church of England. Satire can often be overdone, and Mortimer clearly sometimes pushed the envelope. But Mortimer fans and others will delight in this highly contrived, but nonetheless, amusing disgourgement of the author's latest collection of pet peeves.

Mortimer, recently knighted, is not in the best of health these days, and has passed into his eighties. He was somewhat "shaky" when he spoke in Washington several years ago to a full house of enchanted listeners at a Smithsonian Institution function. However long he remains with us, he is to be savored and enjoyed--and re-read often.

How does John Mortimer do it? Everything I read by him is so consistent, so witty, so darn good! I have read and reread the famous Rumpole books, and I love them dearly, but I also apreciate the brilliance of his pen in his non-Rumpole works such as this unpredictable and funny novel of love and crime. As is often the case in his work, Mortimer plays with the concepts of justice, crime, right and wrong, and the result is a delight. It is the story of a see-saw; a woman stands clearly on the side of virtue, and a young man on the side of vice, however the author slowly causes them to slide gracefully towards their oppostie extremes. While this is going on, the feeling of love rears its ugly face, and nothing seems to make sense anymore.
I strongly recommend this delightfully daffy meditation on crime and virtue.

Over the years a collector of Rumpole and his other works I have thoroughly enjoyed his writing, some to a greater extent than others.This, his last work ,I believe, is not memorable as it should have been.It appears to be aimed at a teen feminine market as many of the latest movies appear to be.This ,obviously is my own opinion but leaves me wishing for the wit and characters to be found in so many of his other works.The angst between the two main characters has its witty moments but on the whole fail,in my opinion, to achieve any high points.

John Mortimer enchants and delights in this mirror-image telling of an upper class do-gooder, Lucinda Purefoy, and her reform project, working class thief and recent ex-con, Terry Keegan. The narrative technique, recounting the story from Lucinda's point of view, alternating with Terry's take on the same events, is unerring. Mortimer keeps the story moving with a born storyteller's sure hand. Thoroughly enjoyable, and far better than the telly.

Recently graduated from Manchester University with a degree in social sciences, Lucinda Purefoy feels good about her future. Perhaps because of her being an offspring of a caring liberal Anglican bishop, Lucinda believes she should thank society for her opportunities. Thus the idealistic Lucinda joins the volunteer group SCRAP (Social Careers, Reformers and Preceptors) that assigns one of their compassionate guides with a recently released former convict to expedite the ex prisoner's return into society.

Lucinda meets her objective burglar Terry Keegan as he is released from Wormwood Scrubs after he spent three years behind bars for breaking and entering. Terry wants nothing to do with the do-gooder so he plans to dump her in the first fast food place he finds. However, stubborn Lucinda is like dry mustard refusing to come off even when Terry visits his childhood crony Leonard "Chippy" McGrath seeking work. Chippy is an environmentally concerned businessman, who Lucinda will soon learn runs a vast crime complex

QUITE HONESTLY is a fabulous look at society using a rotational point of view between how Lucinda sees her need to help Terry and his perspective that she is a pain in the rump. The story line is fast-paced and filled with amusement as John Mortimer looks closely in his ironic manner at incarceration and prison reform through his Good Samaritan and a former guest of the state. Rumpole aside, this is a fabulous thought provoking tale that will have readers laugh yet ponder the goal of imprisonment and what is best for both society and the ex-con (not necessarily inclusive) to return to the civilian world.

Harriet Klausner