Thursday, June 30, 2011

Review: A Spy in the House


A Spy in the House (The Agency Series #1)A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book has been on my radar for some time, but it wasn't until I saw it offered for $1.99 at BN that I decided to go ahead and buy it. My only regret is that I waited so long.



I skimmed through a couple of reviews of this book, and they irritated me. A number of reviewers were annoyed by its lack of realism; apparently they missed the note at the end wherein Y.S. Lee stated, "The Agency is a totally unrealistic, completely fictitious antidote to the fate that would otherwise swallow a girl like Mary Quinn." Who is Mary Quinn? First, that's not her name. She can't live under her real name because she is technically a fugitive, wanted for housebreaking and sentenced to death by hanging. Instead of the rope, she found herself offered a chance at escape and education. Being a smart girl, she took the chance.



Mary is not necessarily a bad girl--she was born and raised in difficult circumstances in 1841. Her father was a sailor and died at sea; her mother was unable to get support from the community and became a prostitute. Mary knows that few choices exist for a girl like her, and she tries to survive in a world that doesn't welcome her. That's why she took to thieving. However, once she is rescued by the school, Mary finds that the education they give her is both helpful and harmful. She is unable to be content in the jobs available to women, and the feminist principles she learned at the school make her dislike the idea of relying upon a man for support either as a wife or mistress.



Educated and unsatisfied, Mary is offered another choice, and this one speaks to her desire for agency within her own life. She is offered the opportunity to investigate for Scotland Yard. The book calls her "a spy in the house," but "spy" isn't really an adequate job title for what Mary Quinn does. She's more of an investigator, seeking evidence to prosecute her supposed employers--the Thorold family where she works as a paid companion for the daughter, Angelica. While she is looking for information for Scotland Yard, they hired her through an intermediary service--the Agency--and are unaware of her identity.



Y.S. Lee clearly knows Victorian England--she has a Ph.D. in Victorian Literature and Culture. Lee's knowledge of the setting helps her to build a believable portrait of London--and the incredibly filthy and foul smelling Thames--but she never creates info dumps. All of the information she provides about London seems an organic part of the plot and serves the purpose of advancing the story. Even Lee's emphasis on the dampness and mildew throughout the city becomes important to a final plot twist.



I know that Mary Quinn's story is unrealistic. I'm OK with that. There are times when a story like this one, wherein a spunky young girl manages to find a fulfilling life actually serve to make readers think even more about the impossibility of the story and the social restrictions placed on women at the time. This book is the first of a trilogy; I will gladly read the remaining two, and I hope that Y.S. Lee continues to write fiction for some time.



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