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Summary: Dorothy Gilman Butters's Mrs. Pollifax
Review: Emily Pollifax is the elderly heroine of many of Dorothy Gilman's adult novels. Mrs. Pollifax is average height with a tight bun of gray hair at the back of her head. She wears thin-framed glasses, and dresses according to fashion. She is in her mid-seventies right now, according to author Dorothy Gilman. Despite her age, however, she is a part-time CIA agent. The novels about Mrs. Pollifax describe her exciting adventures in far-off lands. Despite her enormous traveling experience, she is a member of the local Garden Club, and has a beautiful garden in her backyard in New Jersey. She was a widow, but is now married to Cyrus Reed, who is often away on business trips. She is very lonely and bored with her life, probably due to the fact that she is often alone in her home without her husband. This is why she became a CIA agent. In one of her books, Mrs. Pollifax Pursued, the story starts in her garden in New Jersey. She was planting basil while getting ready for her Garden Club meeting the next day. Her time is spent working in her garden and doing other various things, all without much excitement. Of course, when she is working as a CIA agent, she gets many more thrilling predicaments! Emily Pollifax is always sympathetic to those in need. In her book Mrs. Pollifax Pursued, she meets a young woman named Kadi Hopkirk. Kadi had been hiding in her closet for the past three days, so you can imagine Mrs. Pollifax's surprise when she found her! However, when she realized that Kadi was in immediate danger, Mrs. Pollifax helped her out in every way possible. Unfortunately, that made her take part in a highway chase from New Jersey to Connecticut! Mrs. Pollifax is a thoroughly thrilling person! Her experiences in the various corners of the earth are extremely exciting. She is unpredictable (as many bandits find out sooner or later), and clever in puzzling situations. For instance, also in Mrs. Pollifax Pursued, she finds out that thieves are sneaking into her house to search for Kadi Hopkirk. She and Kadi leave the house for a while to go shopping, but beforehand, she does several things that would prove to her that the thieves had indeed been inside the house. For instance, she puts tiny slips of sticky tape in between the doors that lead to the outside and the door frames. When she comes back to her home, she finds that the tape had been torn from the door frame by a person other than herself. Plus, Emily is a genius. Her styles of observing little clues help her to solve the big picture. For instance, in Mrs. Pollifax Pursued, she puts together the clues of a beard made white with talcum powder, a splotch of blood, and the fact that only one person working at a carnival had a whole beard, to save the life of one of her friends. She observes the smallest details to lead her to the most important conclusions! Now that I have introduced you to Emily Pollifax, I must also acquaint you with her creator, Dorothy Gilman Butters. Mrs. Butters is 75 years old and lives in Portland, Maine. Dorothy goes under the name Dorothy Gilman Butters when writing some books, but for her Mrs. Pollifax series, she is known as Dorothy Gilman. Mrs. Butters was born July 25, 1923 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. She married the handsome and charming Edgar A. Butters on September 15, 1945, but sadly divorced him twenty years later. She has two wonderful sons, Christopher and Jonathon, whom she loves very much. She was educated at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia for five years. Her art teacher there had said that she had some talent, but, "it was never a consuming thing," Dorothy says. She then attended the University of Pennsylvania and Art Students' League, where she thought that she could write and illustrate children's books. However, she says that she wasn't even that good in art. For her, that must have been a tough decision. Imagine that you are she. You must make the decision of whether to be an author or an artist... or both. What would you do? Fortunately, Mrs. Butters chose to be an author. Because of that decision, she gave us many remarkable books. Dorothy is a member of the Author's Guild, and the Unitarian Universalist church. She greatly enjoys traveling. Dorothy says that she has been to most of the places that she has written about! The list of countries she's visited includes Bulgaria, China, Burma, Thailand, Morocco, Zambia, and many others. Mrs. Butters has written thirty-two books, thirteen of which make up the Mrs. Pollifax series. She wrote some children's fiction (such as Ragamuffin Alley, Papa Dolphin's Table, and Enchanted Caravan), but mostly mystery, crime, and suspense novels for adults (such as the Mrs. Pollifax series, The Clairvoyant Countess, Incident at Badamya, and The Tightrope Walker). She has won the Catholic Book Award for A Nun in the Closet, published in 1975. Dorothy is actually a very accomplished writer. One of Mrs. Pollifax's books (The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax) was made into a movie called "Mrs. Pollifax - Spy," starring Rosalind Russell. This film was made in 1970. Now imagine that you are Dorothy Gilman. You are lying in bed one night, just thinking about the world in general. Then, all of a sudden, you think of this phenomenal character for your new book! Well, maybe you weren't writing just then. So what? When you think of this great idea, you jump up and start typing away on your computer. What would your character be like? When you try to think out all of the details, you will be able to appreciate the gift the Mrs. Gilman has for creating interesting characters and placing them in fascinating situations. Who knows? Maybe one day you'll be the author of the hottest new series!
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Summary: A few too many coincidences, but still fun
Review: For a change, trouble finds Mrs. Pollifax instead of the other way around, when she finds a young woman hiding out in her closet. An extended chase ensues, ending up with Mrs. Pollifax and Kadi, the young woman, hiding out in a carnival subsidized by Mrs. P's CIA friends for just such a purpose. The threads are complex, and there are a few more coincidences than are comfortable, but it all boils down to a plot to take over the African country where Kadi grew up and where her friend Sammy has a politically prominent position.It's another enjoyable Pollifax romp, weakened a bit by the coincidences, but again brilliantly read by Barbara Rosenblat, whose skill I admire ever more increasingly with each new voice she comes up with.
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Summary: Not Gilman's greatest, i'm afraid
Review: I had read a Mrs. Pollifax novel before and not enjoyed it at all. This is the first time i've tried one after reading two other Gilman novels, and i expected to like it. I do. It is a funny thing, however, that i do not enjoy it as much as her other, non-series novels. Somehow it is a little forced, a bit as thought she feels she really needs to write this to satisfy the readers who love Mrs. Pollifax. It is far less believable a story than "Thale's Folly" was, for instance, though the characters are, perhaps, less exotic than "Thale's". There is something about the set-up, some fashion in which Gilman is saying, "I know none of this is at all true to life, but here you are ~ you wanted it ~ hope you like it." Several of the characters ~ Kadi, Willie, Boozy Tim, Mrs. Pollifax herself ~ are nice, believable, real even; it must be the situation they find themselves in which displeases me. The plot relies on coincidence too much for its resolution, and does not carry the ring of truth a perect novel makes echo in my mind. Looking back onto it, i feel that all it is is some real charactes interacting on a cardboard plot; i was never drawnn in the way i want to be by any book i read. Nevertheless, a fun read; i will try another Mrs. Pollifax, to be sure ~ along with any non-Pollifax Gilmans i can find.
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Summary: Not Gilman's greatest, i'm afraid
Review: I had read a Mrs. Pollifax novel before and not enjoyed it at all. This is the first time i've tried one after reading two other Gilman novels, and i expected to like it. I do. It is a funny thing, however, that i do not enjoy it as much as her other, non-series novels. Somehow it is a little forced, a bit as thought she feels she really needs to write this to satisfy the readers who love Mrs. Pollifax. It is far less believable a story than "Thale's Folly" was, for instance, though the characters are, perhaps, less exotic than "Thale's". There is something about the set-up, some fashion in which Gilman is saying, "I know none of this is at all true to life, but here you are ~ you wanted it ~ hope you like it." Several of the characters ~ Kadi, Willie, Boozy Tim, Mrs. Pollifax herself ~ are nice, believable, real even; it must be the situation they find themselves in which displeases me. The plot relies on coincidence too much for its resolution, and does not carry the ring of truth a perect novel makes echo in my mind. Looking back onto it, i feel that all it is is some real charactes interacting on a cardboard plot; i was never drawnn in the way i want to be by any book i read. Nevertheless, a fun read; i will try another Mrs. Pollifax, to be sure ~ along with any non-Pollifax Gilmans i can find.
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Summary: Terrific :)
Review: I think this is one of the best books yet. It was exciting, funny and a great summertime novel.
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Summary: My Least Favorite Pollifax Adventure
Review: Mrs. Pollifax is an senior citizen who works for the CIA. When Mrs. Pollifax finds a college student hiding in her storage closet, she soon becomes the target of hitmen. Can Mrs. Pollifax elude her pursuers and protect Kadi (the college student) from harm? I am a big fan of Mrs. Pollifax, but I found Mrs. Pollifax Pursued to be a bit disjointed, and cluttered with too many annoying minor characters. I liked the circus theme, but I found Kadi very irritating and too helpless for my taste. She acts like an infant, rather than a college age adult. I also wished the author had stuck with the Circus theme. I found the dynamics of the sideshow much more interesting than the farfetched African theme. Overall, while I enjoyed Mrs. Pollifax pursued, I wished it had been a tad more realistic. This novel was too farfetched for me to find it as enjoyable as the other adventures.
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Summary: Run, Emmyreed, Run!
Review: The story starts in medias res and the action never lets up! Gilman tries a little too hard to inject youth through her new character of Kadi Hopkirk, but the arc of the story still works. "Pursued" is very, VERY exciting!
Rating:
Summary: Run, Emmyreed, Run!
Review: The story starts in medias res and the action never lets up! Gilman tries a little too hard to inject youth through her new character of Kadi Hopkirk, but the arc of the story still works. "Pursued" is very, VERY exciting!
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Summary: Delightful Mrs. Pollifax adventure
Review: This time Mrs. Pollifax begins her adventure right in her own back yard when she discovers Kadi, a young woman who is fleeing her pursuers and is hiding in Mrs. P's house. She tries to help the girl get away, but the pursuers are right on her tail, so she appeals to Carstairs, her CIA contact, who sends her to a "safe house". Much to her surprise the safe house turns out to be a carnival and Mrs. Pollifax and Kadi learn some new skills to become part of their new environment. Someone who is also on the run and is hiding in the carnival is badly beaten and Mrs. Pollifax has a new angle to explore. This is all tied in with Kadi's friendship with a young man from a small African country and the disappearance of a wealthy American businessman. Before it's over, Mrs. P. and Kadi are whisked to Africa and new problems surface before a satisfactory ending is achieved. This is a delightful romp with the intrepid 60-something heroine and most of it is set in the United States, a nice change of pace from her other adventures.
Rating:
Summary: Delightful Mrs. Pollifax adventure
Review: This time Mrs. Pollifax begins her adventure right in her own back yard when she discovers Kadi, a young woman who is fleeing her pursuers and is hiding in Mrs. P's house. She tries to help the girl get away, but the pursuers are right on her tail, so she appeals to Carstairs, her CIA contact, who sends her to a "safe house". Much to her surprise the safe house turns out to be a carnival and Mrs. Pollifax and Kadi learn some new skills to become part of their new environment. Someone who is also on the run and is hiding in the carnival is badly beaten and Mrs. Pollifax has a new angle to explore. This is all tied in with Kadi's friendship with a young man from a small African country and the disappearance of a wealthy American businessman. Before it's over, Mrs. P. and Kadi are whisked to Africa and new problems surface before a satisfactory ending is achieved. This is a delightful romp with the intrepid 60-something heroine and most of it is set in the United States, a nice change of pace from her other adventures.
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