The Other Typist by
Suzanne Rindell
Published by Penguin
2nd January 2014
Paperback Edition
New York City, 1924: the height of Prohibition and the whole
city swims in bathtub gin.
Rose Baker is an orphaned young woman working for her bread as a typist in a police precinct on the Lower East Side. Every day Rose transcribes the confessions of the gangsters and murderers that pass through the precint. While she may disapprove of the details, she prides herself on typing up the goriest of crimes without batting an eyelid.
But when the captivating Odalie begins work at the precinct
Rose finds herself falling under the new typist’s spell. As do her bosses, the buttoned up Lieutenant
Detective and the fatherly Sergeant. As the two girls’ friendship blossoms and
they flit between the sparkling underworld of speakeasies by night, and their
work at the precinct by day, it is not long before Rose’s fascination for her
new colleague turns to obsession.
But just who is the real Odalie, and how far will Rose go to
find out?
They said the
typewriter would unsex us.
One look at the device itself and you might
understand how they – the self-appointed keepers of female virtue and morality,
that is – might have reached such a conclusion. Your average typewriter, be it Underwood, Royal, Remington, or
Corona, is a stern thing, full of gravity, its boxy angles coming straight to
the point, with no trace of curvaceous tomfoolery or feminine whimsy. Add to
that the sheer violence of its iron arms, thwacking away at the page with
unforgiving force. Unforgiving. Yes; forgiving is not the typewriter’s duty.
I don’t suppose I know much about the business of forgiveness, either, as my job ha so much to do with the other end of it. Confessions, I mean. Not that I extract them – that is for the Sergeant to do. Or for the Lieutenant Detective to do. But it is not for me to do. Mine is a silent job. Silent, that is, unless you consider the gunshot clacking of the typewriter that sits before me as I transcribe from a roll of stenotype paper. But even then I am not the originator of this ruckus, as after all, I am only a woman – a phenomenon the Sergeant seems to observe only as we are exiting the interrogation room, when he touches my shoulder gently and says with great and solemn dignity, “I am sorry, Rose, that as a lady you must hear such things.” He means the rape, the robbery, whatever it is we have just heard confessed. At our precinct, located in the borough of Manhattan in what is known as the Lower East Side, we are rarely left wanting for more crimes to hear.
Suzanne Rindell’s debut novel is a mix of The Great Gatsby combined with the
thriller elements of Alfred Hitchcock and Patricia Highsmith, which transport
you to America in the 1920s. The First
World War has just ended and the 20somethings are living it up. However, the Volstead Act, introduced in
1920, to control the production, importation and distribution of intoxicating
beverages, intends to stop this. As a result the criminal underworld latches on
to it, and the world of the speakeasy emerges - secret bars to consume
prohibited drinks.
Rose Baker is a well-brought up, straight-laced girl. Raised by nuns, she wouldn’t dream of
visiting a speakeasy, or of even consuming a drink. That is, until she meets the
other typist, the glamorous, flirtatious Odalie. Determined from the start to dislike her flamboyant ways, Rose is
soon drawn to Odalie, and a friendship quickly develops which takes Rose to
places she has never dreamed of. But
how much control does Rose actually have over the situation. Is Odalie really all she seems?
From the beautiful cover, in both hardback and paperback
editions, this book is a steady-paced but well written story right from the
start. Rindell manages to bring America
in the 1920s to life, especially the environment of the police precinct, and
that characters that both work there, and are brought there. I loved The
Other Typist with its contrast of glamour and seediness and think this
could be an ideal book for group discussion.
Happy Reading
Another good read. I love the '20's era.
ReplyDeleteI have just finished "You Belong to Me" by Mary Higgins Clark. I found some books by her in the local Hospice shop when I was dropping off some bits. I have not come across her before so picked one up. It was a very fast moving novel, kept me turning the page. I shall pop back and see if the others are still there.
How do you fit in all those reads???
ReplyDeleteI will find one a month hard...but don't forget to add in costume plays ,make clothes to wear, crochet projects,restore stuff, go charity shopping...shall i go on and on...dx