Solange

[Toby Levy]

I found the following on a web site concerning the history of mystery and
crime fiction.   Could Pynchon have gotten the name Solange from this writer?

Toby

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F. Tennyson Jesse

The Solange stories are a set of murder tales about a Frenchwoman Detective
whose psychic powers allow her to sense the presence of evil. The stories
are written with very detailed characterizations, which
show the rich gifts of a writer who could create complex people. The
content of the characterizations are perhaps not in a style or
direction which I find especially believable, at least not at
first, but the author's imagination and inner consistency and logic
ultimately carry the day here. Jesse is also very good at her
descriptions of environments, especially the South of France. Jesse was a
prolific mainstream novelist and occasional true crime
writer who apparently only wrote three crime fiction books. There are two
sets of stories about Solange, an uncollected series from
1918, the second from 1929, collected as The Solange Stories; there is also
a novel, A Pin to See the Peepshow (1934). There is
also a final Solange tale from 1930, and a number of non-series short
stories. Her technique and approach remind one greatly of
Somerset Maugham. Like him, she features exotic settings populated by
English characters. Also like him, her characters are deeply
embroiled in complex and often unconventional romantic relationships, which
can lead to murder. Solange, the detective and point of
view character, often intrudes on the lives of these characters just as
Maugham himself does in his own stories, socializing with them,
observing them, learning their secrets and watching their tragedies. 

The psychic stuff does not intrude too much on the detection. Occasionally
it gives Solange clues that she would not normally have
been able to attain through traditional investigations. What the psychic
elements do achieve in the stories is to aid the
characterization. They let Solange sense the inner lives of her
acquaintances, getting deep into their emotions and personalities. They
also can add a symbolic richness to the story, an extra dimension for the
plot to inhabit. I am not a big fan of supernatural fiction,
usually, but here the psychic theme is handled with delicacy and restraint. 

Early in "Lot's Wife" (1929), Solange becomes enthralled with another
woman's beauty. The scene is hard to interpret. It could be
meant as a purely aesthetic reaction. But it can also feel like a vivid,
emotionally charged look at a lesbian heroine. This sympathetic
look at lesbianism is quite unusual in early 20th Century writing. 

by Michael E. Grost
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