Unabridged Chick

I'm Audra, a 30-something married lesbian. I love interesting heroines, gorgeous prose, place as character, and the occasional werewolf.

Raymond Chandler isn't Philip Marlowe

The Kept Girl - Kim Cooper

I just finished Kim Cooper's novel of Raymond Chandler, The Kept Girl.  Set in 1929 before the crash, when Chandler was an oil executive and not a writer, it's based on the real life involvement of his colleague in the Great Eleven cult.  

 

While the cult -- and their murders and scandals -- are over-the-top crazy, Cooper's novel is a little more pedestrian -- and I mean that in the best way.  Chandler is reedy and English, pipe-smoking and a tiny bit cowardly, in love with and petrified of his wife.  When he's asked by his boss to find out why the boss's son has lost his income, his wife's dowry, and some oil leases, Chandler's investigation is successful only because of his spunky secretary-slash-girlfriend Muriel and a beat cop who believes in a moral world.  (The beat cop is a historical figure thought to have inspired the Philip Marlowe character.)

 

Muriel is the star of the book, and absolutely steals the story.  She's fictional-ish -- in Cooper's words: "If you know your Raymond Chandler, you know he was worthless without a smart secretary at his side." -- but modeled on his secretary from Paramount.  

Most of the novel's action comes from Muriel's investigation and the witnesses recounting what the cult did; the heart of the novel, for me, is Cooper's unabashed love for LA and respect for the victims of the cult.  (The kept girl of the title, perhaps.)   I went into the book wanting the kind of ribald sexuality and macho bravado from pulp stories but got something more nuanced, quieter, and likely more accurate to Chandler the person.

 

My only complaint is the lack of an Author's or Historical Note.  I found out details via the author's blog, but would have loved some of that included in the novel.  

 

Cooper had first editions printed by subscription, with all kinds of fancy bonuses, but it's available as an inexpensive paperback or Kindle e-book.  For a self-published endeavor, it looks and reads wonderfully, and is worth splurging on for those who love Chandler, LA, or ripped-from-the-headlines stories.