Fiction

Poison for Teacher

Poison for Teacher

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-06-05 08:51:05
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Nancy Spain
  • ISBN：0349013985
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Summary


'Her detective novels are hilarious。 They are high camp and less about detecting than delighting， with absurd farce and a wonderful turn of phrase 。 。 。 Nancy Spain was bold， she was brave， she was funny， she was feisty。 I owe her a great deal' Sandi Toksvig

A nasty attack of murder has broken out at Radcliff Hall， a Sussex girls' boarding school。 Enter， in the unlikely guise of schoolteachers， two unorthodox detectives: revue-star Miriam Birdseye and the Russian ballerina， Natasha Nevkorina。

'An either intense or sombre approach to crime is to Miss Spain foreign: in her world an inspired craziness rules 。 。 。 Her wit， her zest， her outrageousness， and the colloquial stylishness of the writing are quite her own' Elizabeth Bowen

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Reviews

Sara Eames ，

A fun cosy mystery with well-written characters and a plot that moves at a steady pace。 Well worth a read。

Alwynne ，

I was really looking forward to this but it turned out to be a major disappointment。 I’d heard a lot about Poison for Teacher before I finally picked up a copy， originally published in 1949 it’s the best-known crime novel of British author Nancy Spain。 Spain was a journalist whose appearances on television and radio made her a household name and a not-so-secret lesbian icon。 Over the years Poison for Teacher’s acquired a （minor） cult status as a showcase for the kind of knowing but playful sensi I was really looking forward to this but it turned out to be a major disappointment。 I’d heard a lot about Poison for Teacher before I finally picked up a copy， originally published in 1949 it’s the best-known crime novel of British author Nancy Spain。 Spain was a journalist whose appearances on television and radio made her a household name and a not-so-secret lesbian icon。 Over the years Poison for Teacher’s acquired a （minor） cult status as a showcase for the kind of knowing but playful sensibility Sontag made famous with Notes on Camp。 It briefly reappeared in the early 90s， as part of Virago’s short-lived ‘Lesbian Landmarks’ series， where it was proclaimed as a canonical lesbian text and it’s set to be reissued by Virago yet again， along with another of Spain’s detective novels。 Spain’s story centres on a series of strange occurrences at the once-tranquil seaside campus of Radcliff Hall School for Girls， modelled on Spain’s alma mater， exclusive boarding-school Roedean。 Shaken headmistress Miss Lipscombe calls in actress and amateur sleuth Miriam Birdseye （based on Hermione Gingold） along with her friend/sidekick Russian ballerina Natasha DuVivien。 The pair go undercover as teachers but too late to prevent a series of malicious pranks progressing to murder。 Spain introduces a large cast of eccentric staff members and disgruntled schoolgirls， whose every feature is exaggerated for maximum effect， she mixes in lightly-coded representations of contemporary lesbian and gay culture alongside some surprisingly frank references to abortion， adultery， under-age affairs and romance between teachers。 Spain’s attention to detail provides some mildly-entertaining glimpses of prevailing cultural tastes and social mores， last and of least interest to Spain， it seems， are crime and detection。 But Poison for Teacher also has a more unsavoury reputation grounded in Spain’s ‘awkward’ construction of the Jewish Dr Lariat and biracial maths teacher Miss Lesarum。 Alison Hennegan’s introduction， in my vintage Virago edition， frames Spain’s possibly anti-Semitic and racist content as essentially satirical， part of Spain’s overall intention to lampoon all of her characters equally。 It seems this becomes evident as the novel progresses， whether that’s the case or not， isn’t something I can comment on， I only made it halfway through this before admitting defeat， and getting that far was extremely hard-going。 From my perspective the only interesting aspect of Poison for Teacher is its publishing history and its marginal cultural/socio-historical significance。 I didn’t find Spain's depiction of Lesarum or Lariat remotely amusing， and if this leaden， overly-packed narrative passes for satire then satire’s clearly not my thing。 As for Spain's prose style， it struck me as akin to the by-product of some curious， ill-fated collision between Wodehouse and Gertrude Stein。 。。。more

Pipkia ，

Very lovely and British。 I believe that one's enjoyment of it is in direct correlation with one's familiarity with that era's queer in-jokes， boarding-school fetishes and the all the staple detective novels。 Alison Hennegan's introduction in the Virago Lesbian Landmarks reprint is highly recommended--it helped me to understand this as more than just a （very） mildly homoerotic British detective satire。 Very lovely and British。 I believe that one's enjoyment of it is in direct correlation with one's familiarity with that era's queer in-jokes， boarding-school fetishes and the all the staple detective novels。 Alison Hennegan's introduction in the Virago Lesbian Landmarks reprint is highly recommended--it helped me to understand this as more than just a （very） mildly homoerotic British detective satire。 。。。more

Leah ，

Very odd， and very enjoyable， though as noted in the introduction suffering from a serious case of 'that's just how people thought back then。。。' （see my review of Agatha Christie's Come， Tell Me How You Live for my stance on that objectionable opinion）。If the semi-frequent footnotes* are to be believed， this is not the first outing of at least one of our heroines。 The setup was frankly ridiculous， but in the vein of absurd comedy that Spain clearly mined heavily， it worked well。 If one believes Very odd， and very enjoyable， though as noted in the introduction suffering from a serious case of 'that's just how people thought back then。。。' （see my review of Agatha Christie's Come， Tell Me How You Live for my stance on that objectionable opinion）。If the semi-frequent footnotes* are to be believed， this is not the first outing of at least one of our heroines。 The setup was frankly ridiculous， but in the vein of absurd comedy that Spain clearly mined heavily， it worked well。 If one believes 20th-century detective novelists of any stripe， the antagonistic artistic type of suspect with wild black hair and improbably enormous beard was in a natural state of abundance throughout the British Isles （see The Mysterious Affair at Styles and Five Red Herrings， for instance）， and we are not let down here: co-chief suspect （along with the 'naturally socially inferior' Jewish doctor Lariat） is the improbably bearded other man who's name I have forgotten and the book is not handy， but anyway， you get the idea。 The cast of characters are absurd， and act accordingly。 Spain is sending up the genre is great queer style， and it is probably a mark of how much the world has changed that I am greatly reminded of the more recent David Suchet Poirot adaptations， with their obvious inferences to the sexuality and living arrangements of their characters。Alongside the detecting and the sending-up is a slightly surreal， modernist bent that catches the reader by surprise: at one point， during the classic 'she told her what was in the letter' misdirection， the narrator interrupts （as she is wont to do at odd intervals throughout） and tells us that， if we are clever enough， we ought to have worked it out， and therefore she will leave the rest of the page blank for those of us who have done so。 Elements of Edmund Crispin abound， and though I have never read any Wodehouse I have read enough quotes to know that "Miss Birch？ No， Miss bbirch。 Two lower-case 'b's，" harks happily back。The plot lags and the outcome is unimportant， but reading this book for the quirky modernism and the peppy one-liners alone would be well worth it。 But there really shouldn't be any question that a person can be a lesbian/comedian AND a racist， should there？ *Death goes on skis or something like that。 。。。more

Sally ，

'Detective stories。。。combine all the worst faults of the crossword puzzle and the Grand Guignol and none of the compensations'， 9 May 2014tVerified Purchase（What is this？）This review is from: Poison for Teacher （Hardcover）After a particularly nasty argument with her husband ， a 'big， craggy all-in wrestler in his fifties'， caused in part by Amy the Pekinese who had 'failed to be house-trained in the middle of Johnny's bed'， the lovely Natasha goes to visit her friend Miriam。 Owner of the 'Birdse 'Detective stories。。。combine all the worst faults of the crossword puzzle and the Grand Guignol and none of the compensations'， 9 May 2014tVerified Purchase（What is this？）This review is from: Poison for Teacher （Hardcover）After a particularly nasty argument with her husband ， a 'big， craggy all-in wrestler in his fifties'， caused in part by Amy the Pekinese who had 'failed to be house-trained in the middle of Johnny's bed'， the lovely Natasha goes to visit her friend Miriam。 Owner of the 'Birdseye et Cie' detective agency， she has just been called to investigate dastardly goings-on at the wonderfully-named Radcliff Hall Girls' School。。。。and Natasha accompanies her。There's a lot of wonderful characters in what turns out to be a multiple-murder mystery。 Could the culprit be womanizing Doctor Lariat？ The （possibly） homicidal new girl？ Former assistant-head， Miss bbirch？ What about poor Charity Puke， classics mistress， who has a 'thing' for one of the other mistresses？ Or even Roger Partick-Thistle， a stereotypical （but hilarious） homosexual and organ teacher （' "Rodgy would ride a lady's bicycle"， said Miriam， "so louche of him" '）。Wonderful moments abound:' "You are reading a thriller， I can see"， said Natasha cosily。 "Murder in the something。。。。is it funny？"。。。。。"It is 'Murder in the Cathedral' by TS Eliot。"I loved the tired policeman finally getting to bed， where 'his toes instantly uncurled and crimped like an oyster in hot milk。'Or a piece of land in Brunton-on-Sea， mentioned initially thus:' "That piece of waste ground， said Mrs Grossbody， lowering her voice，"is known as Lover's Loose" '。 "No？" said Miss Bound， "how AWFUL。"But later referred to: "On the edge of Lover's loose here， aren't you？" "Yes"， said Lariat easily， "Nice and handy。"I'm not sure I followed all the twists of the plot， but don't think it really mattered - the humour's the thing！ 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Poison for Teacher

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Poison for Teacher&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Poison for Teacher&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0