Style of writing
Focalisers & Pattern of Narrative
Atkinson focuses on the lives of the characters before the crime itself so as to allow the readers to
connect with the characters who they will then see as sympathetic on a deeper level, heightening the
horror of the crime especially in the case of the victim.
- The novel is unconventionally character-driven instead of plot-driven..
- Atkinson narrates the first chapter ‘Harvest’ which depicts the original tragedy involving the death
of Joanna’s family through the children as the focaliser in free indirect style as suggested by the
use of “their mother” to refer to Gabrielle Mason.
- The children describe Andrew Decker as having made “a funny huffing, puffing noise”
which is a reference to the big bad wolf of ‘Little Red Riding Hood’, signifying their naive
worldview.
- Atkinson’s choice of using children as the focaliser emphasises the purity of the
victims of the original crime, conforming to the crime convention of portraying the
innocent as the victims to heighten the horror of the crime.
- The similarity of portraying violence committed against children between
the original tragedy and real-life cases, such as the Rachel Jane Nicole
and Russell cases in the 1990s, suggest that the novel is an outcry in
response to the barrage of negative news coverage in the 21st century.
- In terms of being a commentary on society, the novel is a
conventional crime text.
- The novel’s use of (different) focalisers other than the conventional choice of the detective
to give a different perspective to the crime through a third person narrative brings about a
sense of subjectivity which conforms to postmodernism and a complex narrative that
subverts the crime genre.
Convention of red-herring - an irrelevant topic often used in detective novels to mislead readers.
Atkinson adopts the conventional crime fiction technique of red herring in ironically saying Joanna has
“Bad luck” when she is the only one who survives the original tragedy, confusing the reader about her
luck.
- By pointing out that Joanna is not perfect, Atkinson makes the novel more realistic.
Similarly, Atkinson misdirects readers into focusing on Andrew Decker who is “Out and free” in ‘Grave
Danger’, a title that connotes a sense of vulnerability with regards to Joanna, as the criminal behind
Joanna’s disappearance.
- As it is actually Neil Hunter’s thugs who kidnapped Joanna, Atkinson can be seen as using the
conventional crime fiction technique of red-herring to add to the mystery of the novel by causing
the reader to make false conclusions about Joanna’s disappearance.
Unconventional - Overuse of subplots
Dilutes the power of the main story, opposing the convention of having plotting and calculation as central
ingredients of crime fiction.
For instance, refer to Howard Mason’s five wives and Billy, who have no connection with the original
tragedy or Joanna’s disappearance and thus can be seen as irrelevant to the main plot.
- Atkinson is more concerned with the individual lives of her characters and the presentation of
themes, such as the conventional portrayal of criminals and culpability in crime, than logical
plotting which subverts the crime genre.
Unconventional - Display of flippancy
Coincidences
The amount of coincidences Atkinson uses in the novel displays a sense of flippancy which is
unconventional of the crime genre. Atkinson’s use of anti-realism displays a sense of postmodernism.
,The novel employs fate and coincidences as a motif to advance the plot through a chaotic sequence of
events.
- In the epigraph at the start of the novel, Atkinson laments how “Fate following behind” causes
people to “accost no more” through the words of Emily Dickinson to highlight the idea that fate
ultimately prevails man despite their egotistic belief that they can control fate, foreshadowing that
someone will fall into an irreversible state of helplessness.
- JB’s train happens to crash in Edinburgh where Reggie and Joanna live and allows him to be
saved by Reggie who performs “CPR, artery compression” on him.
- Through this coincidence, Atkinson draws JB and Reggie together and advances the plot
for them to investigate Joanna’s disappearance as the detectives.
However, it can be argued that Atkinson makes the novel more realistic by attempting to rationalise the
idea of chance through repeating the phrase “A coincidence is just an explanation waiting to happen”.
Comedy
Atkinson employs an element of comedy in JB’s physical journey in ‘Ad Augusta per Angusta’ as part of
her ‘rambling’ style of narrative.
- He encounters a woman who he describes as looking like a “librarian” and thus confuses him,
reflecting his sarcastic characterisation which conforms to that of a cynical stock sleuth.
- He struggles to get a “ragged-looking sheep” to move out of the road for his car to pass,
symbolising the obstruction JB is destined to face in his life.
- The hardship Atkinson foreshadows JB will face echoes to the title ‘Ad Augusta per
Angusta’ which is Latin for ‘through difficulties to honours’.
- The novel’s lack of seriousness adheres to postmodernist convention of calling attention
to the fictional aspect of a text using metafiction.
Atkinson uses dark humour in depicting Reggie imagining God causing “A drowning in a hotel swimming
pool today” because “We haven’t had that one in a while”, revealing Reggie’s scepticism in God through
her mocking tone which can be justified by her sense of injustice that has been served to her family.
- Reggie’s dark humour creates a sense of flippancy in both her worldview and the novel, which
can be seen as a postmodern feature.
Unconventional - Intertextuality
Creates a new culture of crime fiction by unconventionally presenting the novel as a product of many
other texts, separating a group of readers from another.
The reference to ‘Great Expectations’ in the chapter title ‘Satis House’ develops the comic motif of Ms
MacDonald as an eccentric Miss Havisham and Reggie as the Dickensian orphan Pip, displaying a
sense of flippancy and postmodernism through the use of metafiction which sets the novel as an
unconventional crime text.
- As Dickens uses Dickensian orphans to comment on the faults of society, the reference to ‘Great
Expectations’ reveals Atkinson to use intertextuality to confront readers with similar matters,
adhering to the convention of using crime texts as a commentary on the real world.
- Atkinson can also be seen as echoing to Reggie’s complicated personal life by likening her to a
Dickensian orphan, depicting her as a conventional detective.
Atkinson likens Patrick to “The king” who “sits in Dunfermline town” in a reference to ‘Sir Patrick Spens’
through Louise as the focaliser, setting the novel as an unconventional and postmodern crime text
through the use of intertextuality.
- Atkinson uses free indirect style to reflect Louise’s pessimistic view of her marriage as doomed
and inescapable as following the tragic ending of ‘Sir Patrick Spens’, introducing a notion of fate
operating in the novel as well as an element of tragedy.
, - Louise’s aggrandisement of Patrick as a “king” creates a comedic effect and sarcastic tone which
hints at the inequalities of the patriarchy that extend into interpersonal relationships, such as
Louise’s marriage in which she feels a lack of control. Atkinson also presents Patrick as an
oppressive force to Louise.
- The novel thus puts forward a Feminist agenda, conforming to the convention of crime
texts being a commentary on society.
Moral purpose
Atkinson attempts to remove the common male-centred narrative through her subversion of the crime
genre with the portrayal of female-dominated characters.
Atkinson displays her Feminist agenda through the portrayal of strong and resourceful women’.
- Louise and Reggie’s idealisation of Joanna
- Louise assumes Joanna can fend for herself as a ‘stronger’ woman than Alison Needler
and dismisses Andrew Decker’s disappearance as him “probably just trying to escape”,
suggesting that she does not see the need to protect Joanna.
- The strong image Joanna has managed to portray for herself after the crime
committed against her family contrasts with the conventional expectations for a
victim to be helpless and enables Atkinson to put forward her Feminist agenda.
- Louise’s display of resilience as a police officer and a single mother with a troubled childhood.
- The title ‘She Would Get the Flowers Herself’ stresses Louise as an independent woman
through hinting at a sense of resistance to the patriarchy.
- Louise’s question “Could you need a flower?” symbolises her discontent with her
marriage while rejecting the patriarchal norm of women receiving flowers from
men.
- As the question parallels the contemporary poem ‘Valentine’ by Duffy
which prefers an “onion” to a “rose” as a symbol of love, Atkinson can be
seen as reflecting the prevalent Feminist agenda of the post-2000 era.
- Louise displays a strong maternal instinct through her simple declaration “Archie is my
principles” which demonstrates her resilience as someone who had a “drunken old cow”
as a mother and hence a lack of a good maternal role model.
- Reggie as a resourceful amateur detective
Nature of crime
Unexpected
The original tragedy takes place in a neighbourhood with “thick hedges that towered above their heads
like battlements” which Joanna’s mother likens to “the maze at Hampton Court”.
- Atkinson creates an ominous atmosphere which she suggests overwhelms Joanna’s family
through the word “towered”, foreshadowing their vulnerability in the face of Andrew Decker.
- However, Atkinson’s alienation of Joanna’s family from the rest of the world arguably creates a
sense of safety, given the connotations of defence of the word “battlements” which also
generates a sense of unease due to its military connotations at the same time.
- By portraying the original tragedy to take place in an isolated place, Atkinson conforms to the
Golden Age convention of depicting unspeakable crimes done in isolated settings whilst reflecting
the idea that isolation leads to violence.
The criminal of the original tragedy “seemed to come out of nowhere” and be a stranger as he is
unnamed by Atkinson as “He”, creating a sense of ominous mystery.
- The unexpected nature of the crime committed against Joanna’s family somewhat conforms to
the crime convention of depicting a murder happening somewhere one would expect to be safe
as it is unexpected to Joanna’s family as the victims.
- Atkinson heightens the horror of the crime.
