Etiquette and Espionage

Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Alt 1854, young girl is shipped off to "finishing school," where she learns important lessons in deportment, manners, and the intricacies of assassination, among other relevant topics. All in pursuit of goals never explained for political purposes never elucidated because guys, that is so not the point.

I feel like this book is almost deep. Like this twisted portrait of nineteenth-century education – the juxtaposition of fashion with poison, the way lessons in eyelash fluttering serve both social and spy agendas – is almost a slyly brilliant commentary on women's constructed gender roles. I mean, there comes a point in this book where the girls are learning some fine point of social manipulation, and you really can't tell if it's in service of catching a husband, or in service of lining someone up to stick a knife in them. It's almost genius.

Except it's Carriger, so it skips merrily past genius and settles for paper thin froth instead.

Also, someone really needs to have a talk with her about the ways she is handling racism in this alternate historical context, because it is violently not working for me right now. She keeps lightheartedly lining up white characters to say horrifically racist things to the single black character. It's supposed to be funny? I think? Like, hahaha, historical racism, how hilarious? Tee hee, making jokes out of racism totally means you aren't perpetuating it, right? …Oh wait.



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