All Men Glad and Wise Receives Kirkus Review
A changing British social structure provides the backdrop for Stevenson’s mystery, set in 1919.
Set in the Cotswolds region of England during the months following the end of World War I, this tale focuses on Harriet “Harry” Green, a girl who’s been passing as a “stable lad” on the estate of baronet Sir Thomas Chandace Willingford for her entire life. After she discovers the bludgeoned corpse of Willingford’s steward, John Vanter, in the woods of the estate, her investigation reveals a number of secrets. She also discovers that the changes she has noticed on the estate since the war (“five horses in the stable instead of twenty…seven servants…at dinner instead of fourteen; one gardener and a boy…instead of five”) all signal the end of the “whole wretched system” of primogeniture. Harry’s motive for helping to bring the murderer to justice is partly self-interest. The exposure of the truth about her gender puts her at risk: “Bright stable boys are generally accepted by other men, whereas women…well, the wretched class system isn’t the only one that represses without meaning to be unjust.” But if she helps to solve the crime, perhaps she’d be “Somebody. A girl…whose brain and bravery had given her some say in her future.” Overall, Stevenson delivers a tight historical mystery that feels realistic and believable throughout. The author makes great use of the setting of the aftermath of the Great War, and the changing social structure effectively serves as an engine that motivates major characters’ actions over the course of the narrative. Her use of period patois (“You don’t plow a field in an aaternoon,” says Barth Goodwin, a local plowman) also helps to create a convincing portrait of England during a time of great transformation.
A well-researched and convincing period whodunit.