Hello Bookworms!,
I’ve
recently finished reading a lovely book about the first family of Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle, the author of the Sherlock Holmes Stories, the Brigadier Gerard
Stories, The White Company, and so much more.
Summary
There
have been many skewed biographies of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, his family, and
his career. Over the years many myths have been taken and fact, and many facts
and been believed to be myths. Arthur’s first family, His wife Louise Hawkins,
and their two children Mary and Kingsley Conan Doyle, were, for a time, all but
erased from the history of the family…Until now. Family member Georgina Doyle
(Daughter-in-law of Arthur Conan Doyle’s baby brother Innes Hay Doyle) has
spent years compiling the facts and has published Out of the Shadows: The Untold Story of Arthur Conan Doyle’s First
Family setting the record straight for the first time in years.
Review
Out of the Shadows has been a joy to
read. I’ll start out by saying that I highly recommend it to all who will read
it. Why do I love it so much? I’m so glad you asked ;-) .
The
first pleasant surprise was the author of the forward. In looking for a book
about what happened to Mary and Kingsley Conan Doyle, I reached out to author
Alistair Duncan (author of Close to Holmes, Eliminate the Impossible, and An
Entirely New Country). Alistair put me into contact with Doug Wrigglesworth
from whom, after several pleasant online interactions, I bought my copy of Out
of the Shadows. As soon as I opened the
book, I found that the forward was written by none other than, Douglass
Wrigglesworth, whom I may add did a lovely job and I suggest that you take the
time to read the short forward at the beginning of the book.
Next
was the lovely prologue by Georgina Doyle in which she explains her reasons for
doing the book. For me this section (only about a page and a half long) really
set the tone for the rest of the biography. You really get a sense of
Georgina’s lovely character and her intention not to hurt anyone, but to help
everyone understand the whole story of the Conan Doyle family as it actually
happened. She evens mentions that the time of publication ( © 2004) was best because now anyone who might be hurt
by the truth had passed on, which I found extremely thoughtful.
The
book gives the history of the Doyle and Hawkins side of the family and then
goes into how Louise and Arthur met and married and subsequently had children,
Mary and Kingsley. It continues all the way to Mary Conan Doyle’s golden years
detailing the life of her and her family from family documents, first and
second-hand accounts from family members, and even statements from Mary Conan
Doyle herself.
I
found it beautiful to read Mary’s own words. I loved getting to hear her story
from her perspective in many places. I also loved Georgina Doyle’s writing. She
had an easy style that makes it easy to read. It reminded me a lot of movies
that have a person telling a story in conversation and then slowly slips into a
flashback. That’s how it feels reading Mrs. Doyle’s writing. It was wonderful.
I found myself becoming so attached to the family members through Georgina’s
writing that I began to grieve each time a family member died, especially at
the deaths of Louise Hawkins “Touie” Doyle, Kingsley Conan Doyle, and Innes Hay
Doyle.
I
really enjoyed the book. It was easy to read, enjoyable, plus there were
pictures and several discrepancies from earlier biographies set straight. I
highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about the family of
Arthur Conan Doyle. This is easily the most reliable book in existence. It is
hard to find a copy now, but if you can find one, borrow one from a friend, or
check one out at the library, it is well worth it!
A special thanks to Alistair Duncan and Doug
Wrigglesworth for helping me in obtaining a copy of Out of the Shadows.
Until next time,
Lizzie
<3
1 comment:
I found this book to be phenomenally partisan, the author clearly had it in big-time for Jean Leckie and her children and relied mostly on one source beyond Mary's letters, her late husband who was only a teenager when ACD died and never knew his first wife at all. Some of the speculation about people's motives and characters is unjustified unless the primary motive is getting people to take the side you want them to take.
When I got to the "Louise was beautiful... but Jean just wasn't" statements it killed it for me. We do have photographs. Louise was obviously a lovely person (and Mary comes across likewise) but this sort of statement stretches credulity beyond what it can bear. It's not even necessary.
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