Mrs. Christopher

by Elizabeth Myers

This novel was first published in 1946 by Elizabeth Meyers, a gifted writer who died prematurely at the age of 34. On the first page the eponymous heroine shoots a man who is blackmailing her in the presence of three fellow victims of his blackmail. Their response to being saved from their blackmailer plays out over the rest of the novel and ultimately determines Mrs Christopher's fate.

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1946

About the author

Elizabeth Myers (1912 – 1947) was an English writer whose tragically early death from tuberculosis at the age of 34 years robbed denied her readers and admirers of one of the most promising writers to emerge from the war years. She was a formidable and original literary talent as is evident from the few offerings of her short literary life. She is perhaps best known for her first novel, ‘A Well Full of Leaves’ (1943) although her other two novels, ‘The Basilisk of St James Square’ (1945) and ‘Mrs Christopher’ (1946) met with a good deal of critical acclaim, the later being made into a film in 1951 under the title of ‘Blackmailed’. As well, Elizabeth wrote several volumes of short stories, including ‘Good Beds – Men Only’ and ‘Thirty Stories’ and a collection of letters (the last two volumes being edited and published posthumously by her husband, Littleton Powys).

She was a wonderful correspondent and her letters to such contemporaries as Walter de la Mare, Richard Church, John Cowper Powys and Eleanor Farjeon published in ‘The Letters of Elizabeth Myers’ (1951) make fascinating reading and give an insight into her life as she struggled with her health and her literary ambition.

Reviews

[Nathan "N.R." Gaddis]

A really rather well done Whodunnit ; dun correctly with the reveal of Whodunnit right in the first chapter. Then we get the three trails of the three witnesses/beneficiaries of the murder of the blackmailer and trace the three trails through the question of will they take the 500 bucks for turning in Mrs Christopher? And among it all is a bunch of stuff about god and forgiveness and love and compassion and things of this nature that might be a bit much for many readers and in fact it all ends up being a bit didactic but what is being didactic'd is 'good for you stuff' that our world could use a little more of. Maybe you'll find it all a little naive like Dostoevsky's Idiot. But really a nice little gem of a BURIED novel.

Myers' got a few others for your spading pleasure ; one even once existed as a Penguin :: A Well Full of Leaves.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very strange book. The writing is often extremely striking and beautiful and the psychological depth displayed in the handling of the characters is impressive. Nonetheless, I found it hard going. It is a religious book with some trappings of allegory. The title character, Mrs. Christopher, is prepared to die for the sins of some essentially random strangers. How they repay her for this sacrifice is told in three chapters, one for each of the strangers. There is a lot of agonizing and preaching and rhapsodizing over God, love, and forgiveness - impressively done, and very deep, if that's your thing.

The book was published in 1946 and I was mostly occupied with when it was set. The Great Depression is mentioned but there is no mention of a war being fought or just finished, so I suppose it's the mid-thirties. But other than a couple of references to the Depression, the setting of the novel is almost deliberately stripped of historical specificity, thus increasing the kind of Pilgrim's Progress atmosphere engendered by the theme and structure of the book.

[Nicholas Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute gem of a novel. Seems to me to be cut from the same cloth as Charles Williams' novels i.e. fiction tightly interwoven with religious themes. Both these authors are able to present their ideas in a subtle and thought provoking manner and with such delightful language that even a confirmed atheist might consider converting. Williams remains the master but Myers' descriptions of nature and London and the environment her characters inhabit are frankly sublime. She's far more accessible than Williams here couching her religious allegory in the form of a murder mystery (revealed at the beginning of the story) with four lost souls tempted by personal tragedies to betray the murderer. Forgiveness is at the core of the novels theme. Elizabeth Myers is completely unread these days it seems although her first novel A Well Full of Leaves sold extremely well in the 1940's and biographical info is hard to come by however this article is well worth reading. http://eveningnews.atwebpages.com/eli...