This week we are discussing The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, Ch. 1-21.
Trigger Warning!!! This book contains situations and subjects related to: murder, death, suicide, fatphobia, rape, gun violence, knife violence, poisoning.
Spoiler Warning!!! This post is full of spoilers for The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton.
Discussion:
Michaela: Hello friends and welcome to our first discussion of The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. I was expecting a murder mystery, obviously, but this one is wild. This book is so different from all the other mysteries I’ve read before. I’m really enjoying it even though I am incredibly confused at this point. There’s so much information being thrown at us at all times that it's hard to know what I’m meant to be paying attention to. Even just opening to the first couple pages of the book before we get to the story is the map and invitation. I’m very grateful for both because otherwise I would forget everybody and where everything is.
Jacilyn: This book is wild. It’s like Clue, but ratchet it up by a hundred, and add some sort of… paranormal influence? I’m not even sure what to consider the Plague Doctor, but he clearly has some sort of power to be able to trap Aiden and these other people in this time loop. Is he some magical being masquerading as a real human, someone the Hardcastles know? Or is he truly someone they know? And, why is he concerned about Evelyn’s murder? So many questions, and that’s not even the half of it. I’m glad we got Aidan’s real name during this first section, otherwise it would have made this conversation even more confusing to have!
Michaela: I think the Plague Doctor might be Death, but in this world Death is unaware how the people he collects dies. So he’s basically just experimenting with his powers to solve the mystery because of eternally doing the same thing. That’s my current theory anyway.
So I suppose we should start with Aiden’s first day as Sebastian Bell. It is fascinating that Aiden is affected by each host's own personality and feelings, which makes his kindness and worry as Bell really interesting. Bell is a dope dealer, which for this kind of time period would be laudanum, and yet Aiden as Bell cares very deeply about those around him and is horrified by his profession. Also the cowardice that comes through when his profession can be rather dangerous is also interesting. His friendship with Michael is sad, we can only assume it's because, at some point, if not right now, Michael met him through his profession. But honestly it would not surprise me, this family clearly needs an immense amount of therapy. Evelyn tells Bell that her parents blame her for her little brother’s death and she believes this party is to humiliate her or to do something to her. Right now I most suspect her mother of Evelyn’s murder but really it could be almost anyone at this point.
I wonder if Aiden was left with the name, Anna, on his mind as he wakes up as Bell was given to him by the Plague Doctor or if it was from so many recurrences of this 8 day mission.
Jacilyn: I’m wondering that too, or if Aiden and Anna perhaps knew each other from before…. This began. Whenever that may have been. I also suspect Evelyn’s mother most at this point, but also recognize that we’re being led that way. I don’t have any better suspects as of yet, but I’d be shocked if Evelyn’s mother wasn’t a red herring. My assumption was initially that none of Aiden’s hosts could be responsible for the murder, but honestly I trust nothing at this point.
I keep going back to where the book began, with Aidan waking up as Bell in the forest, and sees someone chase after a woman and shoot a gun. And then, someone arrives to give him the compass. I suspect the Plague Doctor was the one with the compass, and maybe the man chasing the woman was the Footman? But then who was the woman who was running? I have a lot of questions, clearly. But that’s what makes this book so intriguing!
Here’s where I have an issue. The fatphobia in the chapters where Ravencourt is Aiden’s host. Absolutely unnecessary. You can write a very fat person without all of those atrocious, shaming, and degrading passages. Ravencourt could have been the very same character without all of that. Aiden could have even described the difficulties of Ravencourt being his host, the difficulties with mobility, the way he’s treated by others, without the fatphobia the author implemented. Those chapters were difficult to read, which is really unfortunate because Ravencourt is an interesting character and I really enjoyed the cunning that Aiden gained from that host.
Michaela: Aiden says he felt a friendship history with Anna when he finally got to have a real conversation with her. He could feel that he missed her and she also felt that she missed him, even though neither of them can remember anything besides the name of the other. I was actually thinking that the compass could have been given to Bell by Aiden’s last host, Daniel, or one of the other hosts since the Daniel timing could be a little off. My, out of nowhere, suspect is Michael, but his reaction to her death felt very genuine, as did all their loving interactions throughout this section so he seems rather unlikely.
I’m assuming that the woman running through the woods was indeed Lady Hardcastle or her maid since they were attacked that morning. But then why were they even out there in the first place, a morning walk? Seems unlikely considering her history with the property. But then again they are holding the party at this house in the first place. I don’t know who would be attacking them though, the Footman is capable but has no reasoning that I can see. The Footman is crazy, leaving dead rabbits, following people down hallways, leaving threatening messages. What is his problem? If he’s solved the mystery then why not just escape, why toy with the other hosts. I wonder if the Footman isn’t trapped to solve the mystery but just a threat to hurry Aiden along. Something to encourage him to solve it.
The Ravencourt chapters are horrendous because of the writing treatment against his size. It’s completely unnecessary. Like you said, it all could have been written the same without the fatphobia. Ravencourt is the most interesting host we’ve had so far and all we get is fatphobic centric narration. Why? One line of all of that would have sufficed and then we could continue with the mystery. If it had just been how the other characters perceive Ravencourt, it would have made sense because all these people are horrible. But it’s very obviously written in a fatphobic frame of mind from the author because he won’t let it go to just get on with the story. It’s almost every other sentence we hear about how hard it is to move or breath or whatever. There are so many respectful ways to represent this character and the author took none of those paths. Very disappointing when the rest of the writing so far has been quite good.
I appreciate that we have Ravencourt’s valet, Cunningham, as an assistant who knows what's happening and isn’t just entirely freaked out about it. I was prepared to be annoyed by him not wanting to help and him being a completely unnecessary character. He is being very suspicious, but I think it might be because he’s helping another host or he's connected to Lady Hardcastle somehow. Either way I don’t think he’s the murderer, though it wouldn’t be too far fetched if his feelings for Lady Hardcastle let him be convinced into doing it for her. We’ll just have to wait and see on that one. He was conveniently missing before Evelyn reappeared, which I’m glad we finally got to go to the party.
Jacilyn: I enjoyed the interactions between Ravencourt and Cunningham once Aiden has let Cunningham in on the secret. I have some trust concerns with him, too, but it’s been refreshing to see someone treat a “servant” a bit more as an equal and with slightly less disregard. Honestly, I don’t really fully like anyone but Evelyn. I’m rooting for Aiden, but I also don’t fully know who he is since we’re meeting him in other hosts.
At the very beginning, I was suspecting Daniel of being the Big Bad, but now that we know he’s the 8th host, that blows that theory out of the water. And there must be more going on between the artist, Gold, and the butler. Perhaps it’s because Gold is another person trapped in a host, and knows that the butler is, too? I am not yet sure, but I’m sure we will find out soon.
That’s all for this discussion, friends. There’s so many little details that we could probably go on and on about for hours, but it’s all speculation for now. We’ll see you again next week for discussion two!
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