"A Scandal in Bohemia"

[Steve Glover]

New member to the board here, hello to all and glad to be a part of the community keeping the memory of our favourite fictional detective and his medical friend alive.

Just read Sandrine Bessancort's take on "A Scandal in Bohemia" on Smashwords and other outlets - though not Kindle for some reason, though the review below was taken from a review on Goodreads. "It runs at about 25K words and Sandrine renamed it "REVISITING A SCANDAL IN BOHEMIA. I'm in complete agreement with the reviewer. I'm just hoping Sandrine (likely a pseudonym) decides to put her own unique period slant and style on all of Sir Arthur's Holmes & Watson catalogue as she has with her other re-imagined tales from antiquity.

Would love to hear the thoughts of any of you intrigued enough to want to read it.

January 27, 2021

Quote

 

This is a 2012 adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes short story, A Scandal in Bohemia. The story was made famous in the TV series Sherlock where it was adapted differently, but which also made the female nemesis an assertive woman.

This version precedes that. It's also much more subtle and in the Victorian style. The setting, the writing and the way characters interact are all in keeping with the spirit of the original and give it a sense of authenticity. As appropriate, the parts dealing with Irene Adler are more implied than anything else. This serves well and allows the Adler character to remain powerfully elusive and anticipated, to some extent haunting the story of with her activities teasing the detective. She is rather the source of the nefarious goings on and the puppeteer behind the events and as it begins to dawn on us that she is a woman with a sinister agenda and facts trickle out, the intrigue only deepens.

Do not expect an erotica novel with explicit scenes; the woman-power is more part of the story and what is happening and the mystery of what is unfolding behind closed doors. In those terms it is an excellent take on a vintage tale.

 

Great short story and version

 

.

 

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Hello, Steve, and welcome to Sherlock Forum!    

Sorry, to keep your post in limbo for so long -- the forum staff doesn't have a schedule, we're all volunteers who pop in whenever we have some free time.

I have some questions, but need to rush off again.  Maybe tomorrow.  Sorry!

 

[Steve Glover]

Hi Carol, 

No problem about the wait and look forward to hearing from you.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Hi again!  I checked the link you left, but didn't get very far because I'm not a Goodreads member, and don't seem much point in joining, since this is the first/only time I've come across anything on there that isn't accessible to everyone.  Found another link, though -- is this the same review?

That story does sound more my speed than the Sherlock episode.  Moffat & Gatiss claim that their adaptation has the equivalent shock value to what Doyle's original story did back then.  I have no idea whether that's true, but in any case I think whatever shock value the original may have had was sort of incidental, whereas it seems to be the main point of their episode.  Plus it means I need to issue a parental warning whenever I recommend Season 2 to people with kids.

Since the new story seems to have been professionally published, it's not fan fiction.  I'm going to move this thread to "Other Versions," and leave a temporary link here.

 

[Steve Glover]

Yes, it's the same as the review from KIndle on Goodreads and the one above I included in my post. 

It also contains adult content so will need a parental warning.

Steve.

[Carol the Dabbler]

OK, so nobody actually needed to follow either link, because the review is already in your post (as you mentioned).  I'm gonna clarify that a bit by enclosing that part of your post in a quote box (please let me know if I've put too much or too little into the box).  It's a good thing that you did quote the review, because my link no longer leads to the review, only to a very brief teaser-type description of the story.

Or I may be misremembering what my link used to lead to.  (We have a new kitten in the house, and I've been kinda distracted!)

 

[Steve Glover]

Good luck with the kitten and I'm sure whatever you add will be spot on.

Enjoy your weekend,

Steve.