Devil May Care (1977)

                                Virginia Baroque Chateau Mega-Mansion | Homes of the Rich
                                                           

                                                      Listening: Southern Nights

When Ellie takes on the job of housesitting for her beloved Aunt Kate in her massive Virginian mansion, it simply seems like getting some quiet time that she might use to reassess her engagement. What she gets are a series of increasingly eerie ghostly incidents, an impudent yard boy, and a host of irritating neighbors who all seem intent on protecting their family legacies from the old rumors her 'ghosts' are stirring up. When things take a violent turn, it's going to take all the friends and goodwill Ellie has to see her through it...

Devil's a funny one. It's one the very few Elizabeth Peters books that allows the supernatural to have a hand in the mystery, and I often wonder why. Otherwise, it's got all the hallmarks of a traditional MPM book--an old Southern mansion, a few bumps in the night, an endearingly childish romance with lots of bickering, and lots and lots of giggles. It's almost as if her Barbara Michaels and Elizabeth Peters novels for the year got swapped, because her Michaels book (addressed in the following post) is a Victorian romp without any real supernatural elements.

In fact, I've mentioned in an earlier post that Devil is a lighthearted version of 1969's Barbara Michaels Prince of Darkness, with he same idea of witchcraft in a small Southern town, as a legacy passed down by the elite who use their influence to abuse vulnerable locals. But in Prince it's immediate, still happening. In Devil it's a relic of a bygone time--still with some impact on the present day, mind you, but played more for laughs.

Aunt Kate, who I can't help but read as a cipher for MPM herself (as I seem to do with all the older female characters in her novels), shows how far we've come from Ammie's Ruth. Kate is an independent older woman who defies convention by doing exactly what she likes--whether that's fighting censorship in the school library and encouraging local perceptions of her as a white witch to watching football and dancing Scottish reels. She's rich, had a "brief, unhappy marriage", refuses to marry the local neighbor (although "she'll live in sin with him"), has a house full of cats and dogs, a workroom littered with hobbies she's terrible at, and pines for a ghost. Second wave feminism has left her a jeans-wearing liberal with vocal opinions on everything. She's a delightful free spirit that everyone adores, and for good reason. She's what all women aspire to achieve...or at least, what I do.

It's also worth noting that Devil has one of the few gay characters that make into MPM's work. While its not explicitly stated (too scandalous?), the implication is obvious. And Ted is played as a sympathetic character: warm, mischievous, and clever, the fact that local society looks down on him is noted sadly.

Favorite Line: "You sound funny."

                        "I do not feel funny," said the doctor ominously.

Rating: ****

*Look out for the loving references to

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