Sherlock in Love: A Novel [Paperback]

Sena Jeter Naslund (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 8, 2001

How did Sherlock Homes come into possession of a true Stardivarius?  Who was the one true love of the great detective's life?  And what shattering disappointment left the detective with feelings of overwhelming melancholy?  As Holme's great friend, Dr. Watson, sets out to answer these questions and recount the thrilling "lost" adventure of Holmes's attempt to rescue the love of his life from a mad King Ludwig of Bavaria, his own life is threatened by a figure in a familiar Inverness coat and deerstalker cap.

In this extraordinary novel, Sena Jeter Naslund, author of the critically acclaimed national bestseller Ahab's Wife, brilliantly reweaves the colorfully cryptic, fog-enshrouded world of Sherlock in Love is at once a rewarding entertainment and a remarkable homage to the greatest sleuth in literature.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After Holmes's death, Dr. John Watson decides to write the great man's biography, but his ad in the Times requesting letters and interviews elicits only Mycroft Holmes's ire and an anonymous note warning him to abandon the project. In looking at Holmes's Stradivarius, Watson is reminded of Victor Sigerson, the odd and flamboyantly attired fellow--an accomplished musician, juggler and magician--who had given the valuable violin to the famous sleuth. The good doctor recalls being baffled by the way Holmes had taken to Sigerson, pursuing his violin practice with an uncharacteristic enthusiasm. Watson had never learned the surprising nature of what Sigerson and Holmes shared besides their love of music. Up to this point, about halfway through the novel, Naslund ( Ice Skating at the North Pole ) keeps her readers enthralled. But the narrative loses its grip as Sigerson becomes embroiled in the silly affairs of mad King Leopold, from which Holmes must extricate him. Returning to the present, Watson uncovers some secrets about Holmes's family known previously only to a few. Initially lively and fun, Naslund's imaginative work is based on an intriguing premise that is ill-served by its resolution.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

The ever-popular Sherlock Holmes is the subject of at least three novels this fall. Nicholas Meyer's The Canary Trainer: From the Memoirs of John W. Watson (Prepub Alert, LJ 5/15/93) is a promising but ultimately unsuccessful blend of the legends of Holmes and of the Phantom of the Opera. Though gripping, Mark Frost's The List of Seven ( LJ 7/1/93) relies too much on the supernatural for true Holmes lovers. Despite its title--Holmes in love?--Naslund's work comes closest to achieving the style of Doyle's original work. As it opens, Holmes is dead, and a dispirited Watson has decided to write his biography. He immediately begins receiving ominous threats. Pages torn from Holmes's record books lead Watson to reconstruct the detective's mysterious bond with the talented violinist Victor Sigerson. Readers won't be surprised when Sigerson turns out to be a woman in disguise, but there are twists and turns to come. In the end, Violet Sigerson's story gets a bit preposterous--not all of Naslund's inventions are as convincing as Doyle's--but Holmes fans should find this book enjoyable and atmospheric.
- Barbara Hoffert, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (May 8, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688178448
• ISBN-13: 978-0688178444
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,058,934 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sena Jeter Naslund is the author of the novels Four Spirits and Abundance, A Novel of Marie Antoinette and a short story collection, The Disobedience of Water. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, she is a winner of the Harper Lee Award; Distinguished Teaching Professor and Writer in Residence at the University of Louisville; director of the Spalding University brief-residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing program; former poet laureate of Kentucky; and editor of The Louisville Review and the Fleur-de-Lis Press.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Abyssmal, wooden and trite; The Waste of a Grand Premise, July 3, 2001

By 

Mark D. Kindt (Lakewood, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sherlock in Love: A Novel (Paperback)

Rather than read this book, the prospective reader is advised to re-read The Seven Percent Solution by Nicholas Meyer. "Sherlock in Love" is perhaps the worst Holmsian pastiche that this reviewer has ever read. The author has no feeling for any of the historical periods about which she attempts to write. Unfortunately, the author has not been able to carry any sort of an authorial voice like that of either Conan Doyle or his, wonderful alter ego, Dr. John Watson. This is an extraordinary disappointment. A fine premise is lost in poor execution.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Sooooo disappointed, November 18, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Sherlock in Love: A Novel (Paperback)

Initially, I was excited to read this book. Though not a Sherlock Holmes fan per se, I LOVED Ahab's Wife and am always on the lookout for books that take common "folklore" and look at it from another perspective (e.g. Wicked by Maguire). Anyway, though the beginning dragged, eventually I got into this book and was happy to read along to its conclusion. But at the end (which luckily came quickly - a fast read), I said to myself, "so what?". There were themes of feminism and magic and friendship that weren't well-developed. But I guess that is good - otherwise the book would have been longer and I might have just put it down.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a bad novel. Too much for Sherlock lovers., January 12, 2001

By 

Antonio Martin - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sherlock in Love (Hardcover)

The novel is not bad, excepting the part in which the author tries to insert a past case of the master. The line is correct and entertaining -up to the already mentioned part- and then the end, is a little too much for the Sherlock aficionado. It is not as bad as "The last Sherlock Holmes case" though.

I honestly think that the author was going to write a good book until she had to create the case of "Mad King Ludwig", from that point on, I felt she improvised and did not know how to get out of her own mess, leaving me with a sour after taste.

In her defense, I love Sherlock, and I think the original work is unbeatable. Against her, I also like to read about Holmes, almost everything that comes to me, and I am very understanding with all the pastiches, and do not compare them with the original.

Do I recommend it to the Holmes's followers? No, unless you just can't stop reading about Sherlock, are curious about it, and/or somebody lend it to you.

If you read it and liked it, you will like "Larry Millet's books".