There was a temptation in writing this review to make
an attempt in emulating Lawrence Miles’ style of writing The Adventuress of
Henrietta Street. Instead of a
typical prose fiction narrative, this novel is presented as a non-fiction work as
an attempt to chronicle mysterious, esoteric, and the often occult goings on in
the year leading up to the marriage of the titular adventuress, Scarlette from
recollection, public record, and speculation on the part of the author between 1782
and 1783. As is typical with Lawrence
Miles’ work, this novel is often obfuscating its normal plot in layers upon
layers of commentary and intrigue and while it is perhaps the most difficult
book by Miles to read, it has perhaps the deepest reflections on Doctor Who
and essentially is one last goodbye, despite Miles saying he would never write
for the universe again after Interference (apparently he needed the
money for LEGO sets). The difficulty in
reading The Adventuress of Henrietta Street, at least in a physical
copy, is not due to Miles, however, but BBC Books and their 288 page count
restriction for their published books.
This means that the font size of the novel is incredibly small, which had
made it physically difficult for my eye to follow the actual words on the page,
especially when the format switched to reprinting interviews from the
characters and other quotations further indenting the formatting. Again, this is not due to Miles, yes he did
have a book that was split into two for Interference, however, that
simply wouldn’t have worked here as it would have split up a story that is
meant to be experienced as one piece that is brought together. It’s also something where the format means
that not everything is answered and the unreliable nature of the narrator, not named
but presumably an academic from Earth, adds conjecture and speculation to
events.
The Adventuress of Henrietta Street
described in one word is visceral, Miles’ prose brings the London setting to life
with this sense of mystery and danger as the wedding of Scarlette and the setting
of the house are mired with explorations of society and especially of the lives
of the sex workers living in the house.
Some have said this is not so much a Doctor Who book, but a book
with the Doctor in it and that is something I have to disagree with
emphatically. Miles is drawing on the absence
of typical Doctor Who trappings and Doctor light stories that the New
Adventures would do to explore what his view of the Doctor is in the novels
post The Ancestor Cell. The threat
largely mounting is one of an Old One breaking through the threads of Time itself,
unlocking the floods of creatures being held back by an authority that is now
missing from the universe. This leakage
into the universe is also reflected in the occult and magical themes that The
City of the Dead began which The Adventuress of Henrietta Street continues
to explore with wonder. The wedding
itself is ceremony, there are thirteen parties invited, twelve accept, and the
reception makes use of a thirteen-sided table.
The bride is a human, the groom is not, and in addition to the wedding
it feels like a coronation, binding the groom to humanity as its lord and protector. If you haven’t already guessed at this point,
the groom is the Doctor and there is something utterly beautiful and fascinating
about what his place in the universe is now that everything has changed. Miles puts him in this unfamiliar territory
and under responsibility. For the first
time, Miles’ anger at the revived series feels justified actually reading the
book that is essentially a precursor to the emotional core of Series 1.
As this is a novel written in the style of non-fiction,
and the Doctor, Fitz, and Anji are time travelers, we don’t get their direct
perspective. Both companions fulfill more
minor roles in the novel, Anji especially being sidelined the most as Miles
clearly doesn’t like her character, but this really isn’t their story, it’s the
story of the house and the universe. The
many women of the house all live fascinating lives and have a role to
play. Scarlette feels the perfect
compliment to the Doctor, both filling and transcending the typical ‘companion’
role, forming this understanding of who the Doctor is and providing the avenue
to confront the babewyns. Once again
like The City of the Dead before it the emotions of the characters are
highlighted through intimacy in a very tasteful way. The mysterious nature of the actual events
and characters, especially at the wedding, are also integral to what The Adventuress
of Henrietta Street is doing. This
is the first time the character of Sabbath appears and is identified, being set
up as the villain of the novel and he both is and isn’t. Hypnotic is perhaps the best way to describe
the character as it’s one of the many unanswered questions as to what he is trying
to accomplish but the goal itself is motivated clearly. The unanswered questions clearly have answers
in Miles’ mind but they are intentionally left vague. There is a man with a rosette who is one of
the four surviving elementals and whose identity is obvious. One guest never arrives or even responds to
the invitations despite the other twelve arriving and its clear who this entity
is. And the book ends with Sabbath performing
a surgery.
The Adventuress of Henrietta Street
is not a novel to be read lightly and perhaps to be fully appreciated may have
to be read more than once, but it is a statement on Doctor Who and
really what it means. It asks a lot of questions
and the answers are there if you look very carefully. It manages to be both typical and completely
atypical given its paradoxical nature and one of the transcendent pieces of Doctor
Who media that honestly changed trajectory of the franchise and the
eventual show’s return. 10/10.
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