Note From the Past
The lure of new authors and new books keeps distracting me from some of the older books on my shelves. But I finally made the time to continue with my quest to read Dorothy Gilman’s non-Mrs. Pollifax books. Once, I picked it up, it wasn’t long before I got caught up in The Tightrope Walker.
No, the main character isn’t in a circus. Instead, the title is a metaphor about balancing safety with growing as a person in life. I’m not completely sure it works as intended, or maybe that’s just because it feels a bit heavy handed when it comes to the forefront of the book.
The story revolves around Amelia Jones, a woman in her early 20’s just trying to launch herself into adulthood after a difficult childhood. When she buys an antique shop, she is finding joy in all the things she finds there including an old instrument. But when the instrument stops playing one day, Amelia investigates to find a note inside. The letter was written by someone named Hannah who says someone is about to kill her. Amelia begins her quest to follow the trail of the instrument’s owners to see if she can figure out what happened to Hannah. What will she find?
The book gives us background on Amelia and sets up the story well. In other books, I might complain about the backstory slowing down the beginning, but here it is entertaining. It also helped that I went into this book with no real knowledge of where the story was going. That makes it easier to get caught up in what is on the page.
As soon as Amelia found the note, I was intrigued. This is the closest Dorothy Gilman has come to writing a traditional murder mystery that I’ve read so far. We get just enough of a trail for Amelia to follow and a wide opened mystery that kept me engaged even with some pacing issues in the first half. I couldn’t wait to see how things would turn out. And the ending made perfect sense.
As I said earlier, I’m not sure the metaphor the title tries to set up completely plays out, but I did love watching Amelia grow. This is as much a coming-of-age story as it is a murder mystery, and that growth is wonderful. There are some supporting players I also enjoyed getting to know, but Amelia is the star. This dual focus is also one reason why the opening works - it builds up the coming-of-age part before the mystery kicks into high gear in the second half.
This book originally came out in 1979, so some things are a little outdated. As long as you remember that, you’ll be fine with what is now a historical piece.
Also of interest, this book talks quite a bit about a book called The Maze in the Heart of the Castle. Turns out that Dorothy Gilman would publish a book with that title several years later. And yes, it does sound like it has the same plot as the book talked about here. I hadn’t paid attention to her books aimed at youth, but now I’m anxious to track down a copy of this book and read it.
I’m sad I put off reading The Tightrope Walker for so long, but I’m glad I finally read it. If you’ve missed out on this gem, fix that today.
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