The Franchise Affair (novel): Difference between revisions
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==Plot== |
==Plot== |
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Robert Blair, a small-town lawyer, is called on to defend two women, Marion Sharpe and her mother, who are accused of kidnapping and beating a |
Robert Blair, a small-town lawyer, is called on to defend two women, Marion Sharpe and her mother, who are accused of kidnapping and beating a fifteen-year-old war orphan named Betty Kane. Set in Milford, the novel opens with the Sharpes about to be interviewed by local police and Scotland Yard, represented by Inspector Alan Grant (who is the protagonist of five other Tey novels). Marion calls Blair and, though his firm does not do criminal cases, he agrees to come out to their home, "The Franchise", to look out for their interests during the questioning. |
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Betty's account is that during the Easter holidays, she went to stay with her aunt and uncle, the Tilsits, near Larborough. After a week, she wrote to her adoptive parents, the Wynns, to say she was enjoying herself and would spend another three weeks with the Tilsits. Then one evening, waiting for a bus, the Sharpe women approached her in their car and offered her a lift. They took her to the Franchise, demanded that she become a [[domestic worker]], and, upon her refusal, imprisoned her. Betty alleged that they starved and beat her until she managed to escape. |
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When Blair meets Marion and Mrs. Sharpe, who are sensible and forthright, he believes them innocent, and he distrusts Betty. Yet Betty does have bruises from a beating, and she describes items and rooms inside the Franchise accurately. |
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| ⚫ | Later in the week, a local tabloid newspaper runs a long story from Betty's side, based on an interview with her vengeful brother, Leslie. Robert Blair now finds that the townspeople of Milford are mostly against the Sharpes. An exception is Stanley Peters, a local auto mechanic and friend of Blair, who says that Betty reminds him of an ex-girlfriend who was promiscuous and deceitful. |
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Blair is assisted in his search for clues against Betty Kane by his cousin, Nevil Bennet, who also works at the law firm, and his friend Kevin Macdermott, a flamboyant London lawyer. |
Blair is assisted in his search for clues against Betty Kane by his cousin, Nevil Bennet, who also works at the law firm, and his friend Kevin Macdermott, a flamboyant London lawyer. |
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The clues that they chiefly uncover are in the manner of [[character evidence]], and Tey supplies a colorful variety. Examples include the facts that Betty has an [[eidetic memory]]; when Betty returns home after the alleged kidnapping, the only item she has with her is lipstick; Betty's mother was promiscuous, "a bad mother and a bad wife," according to a neighbor; Betty had befriended a teen girl who had once worked for the Sharpes as a cleaner, whom Betty had bullied. |
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The book maintains the suspense of the Sharpes' guilt or innocence for the first half, and then, when the reader feels certain they are innocent (though all the evidence points to them) the tension comes from how they will avoid being wrongfully incarcerated. Things go right down to the wire, with a lot of detailed investigative work paying off in a satisfying fashion at the trial. |
The book maintains the suspense of the Sharpes' guilt or innocence for the first half, and then, when the reader feels certain they are innocent (though all the evidence points to them) the tension comes from how they will avoid being wrongfully incarcerated. Things go right down to the wire, with a lot of detailed investigative work paying off in a satisfying fashion at the trial. |
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Revision as of 17:05, 3 August 2014
 1948 first edition cover | |
| Author | Josephine Tey |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Mystery novel |
| Publisher | Peter Davies |
Publication date | 1948 |
| Media type | Print book (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Preceded by | Miss Pym Disposes (1946) |
| Followed by | Brat Farrar (1949) |
The Franchise Affair is a 1948 mystery novel by Josephine Tey about the investigation of a mother and daughter accused of kidnapping a local young woman.
Plot
Robert Blair, a small-town lawyer, is called on to defend two women, Marion Sharpe and her mother, who are accused of kidnapping and beating a fifteen-year-old war orphan named Betty Kane. Set in Milford, the novel opens with the Sharpes about to be interviewed by local police and Scotland Yard, represented by Inspector Alan Grant (who is the protagonist of five other Tey novels). Marion calls Blair and, though his firm does not do criminal cases, he agrees to come out to their home, "The Franchise", to look out for their interests during the questioning.
Betty's account is that during the Easter holidays, she went to stay with her aunt and uncle, the Tilsits, near Larborough. After a week, she wrote to her adoptive parents, the Wynns, to say she was enjoying herself and would spend another three weeks with the Tilsits. Then one evening, waiting for a bus, the Sharpe women approached her in their car and offered her a lift. They took her to the Franchise, demanded that she become a domestic worker, and, upon her refusal, imprisoned her. Betty alleged that they starved and beat her until she managed to escape.
When Blair meets Marion and Mrs. Sharpe, who are sensible and forthright, he believes them innocent, and he distrusts Betty. Yet Betty does have bruises from a beating, and she describes items and rooms inside the Franchise accurately.
Later in the week, a local tabloid newspaper runs a long story from Betty's side, based on an interview with her vengeful brother, Leslie. Robert Blair now finds that the townspeople of Milford are mostly against the Sharpes. An exception is Stanley Peters, a local auto mechanic and friend of Blair, who says that Betty reminds him of an ex-girlfriend who was promiscuous and deceitful.
Blair is assisted in his search for clues against Betty Kane by his cousin, Nevil Bennet, who also works at the law firm, and his friend Kevin Macdermott, a flamboyant London lawyer.
The clues that they chiefly uncover are in the manner of character evidence, and Tey supplies a colorful variety. Examples include the facts that Betty has an eidetic memory; when Betty returns home after the alleged kidnapping, the only item she has with her is lipstick; Betty's mother was promiscuous, "a bad mother and a bad wife," according to a neighbor; Betty had befriended a teen girl who had once worked for the Sharpes as a cleaner, whom Betty had bullied.
The book maintains the suspense of the Sharpes' guilt or innocence for the first half, and then, when the reader feels certain they are innocent (though all the evidence points to them) the tension comes from how they will avoid being wrongfully incarcerated. Things go right down to the wire, with a lot of detailed investigative work paying off in a satisfying fashion at the trial.
Inspiration
Although given a contemporary (post-WW2) setting, it is inspired by the 18th-century case of Elizabeth Canning, a maidservant who claimed she had been kidnapped and held prisoner for a month. It is most probably based on a reading of Arthur Machen's non-fiction account of the case The Canning Wonder (1925) as the plot follows a similar line to Machen's thinking.[1]
Adaptations
The novel was adapted for the film The Franchise Affair in 1951, starring Michael Denison as Blair, Dulcie Gray as Marion Sharpe, Marjorie Fielding as Mrs. Sharpe, and Ann Stephens as Betty Kane. It has also been adapted twice for television, in 1962 and 1988, and once for radio in 2005.
The 1962 version featured Michael Aldridge as Blair, Rosalie Crutchley as Marion Sharpe, Meg Wynn Owen as Betty Kane, and Veronica Turleigh as Mrs. Sharpe.
The 1988 version starred Patrick Malahide as Blair, Joanna McCallum as Marion Sharpe, Rosalie Crutchley as Mrs. Sharpe, Kate Emma Davies as Betty Kane, Alex Jennings as Nevil Bennett, and Bryan Murray as Kevin Macdermott.
In 1990, the UK Crime Writers' Association named it one of The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time.
External links
- The 1962 TV adaptation of The Franchise Affair at IMDb
- The 1988 TV adaptation of The Franchise Affair at IMDb
References
- ^ Judith Moore – The Appearance of Truth: The Story of Elizabeth Canning and 18th Century Narrative (1994), p. 225
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