[No. 24] Hello World Literature by Concierge Kawade, "Unsuitable Jobs for Women" by PD James, published by Hayakawa Publishing
Detective Cordelia Gray"Professions not suitable for women"
Can you say "Phyllis Dorothy" and write it as "James"? I can. That is the official name of the extraordinary author, generally written as "PD James". So, what do you think of when you hear "PD James"? The series of works starring poet and detective Adam Dalgliesh (especially the fourth and subsequent works, which become more profound, are good, but I think the third work in the series, "Unnatural Corpse," is a great whydunit), or perhaps the sci-fi novel "Children of Men," which was made into a film by Alfonso Cuaron. No, no, most people probably remember PD James as the author of "Unsuitable Job for Women."
This book was published in 1972. This year, 2022, marks the 50th anniversary of the publication of this special book.
The protagonist of this book is Cordelia Gray. She is 22 years old, female, and a private detective. Left alone after the suicide of her partner at the detective agency, she is asked to investigate the reason why a scientist's son committed suicide, and she begins her own investigation...
Cordelia Gray is famous as the pioneer of female detectives, but she only appears as the protagonist in this book and its sequel, The Skull Beneath the Skin (she is mentioned in the Adam Dalgliesh series, which James continued to write). So what kind of detective was Cordelia Gray, who left her mark on mystery history with just two books?
"You're going to look for a new job, aren't you? There's no way you could run that office by yourself. It's not a job for a woman." (p.25)
After her partner's death, she is told these words as she visits each of the shady people surrounding the dead young man. When one of them teases her about her name being the same as the youngest of the three sisters in "King Lear," she responds with these words.
"When people make jokes about my name, they usually ask about my sister. It's so annoying." (p.108)
This shows her strong and courageous character. Another memorable line is this one:
"But what's the point of trying to make the world a beautiful place if the people who live in it can't love one another?" (p. 248)
Let's turn this line around. If the people of this world cannot love each other, there is no point in making the world beautiful. In other words, the world is only worthy of being beautiful if people love each other. To say this line requires faith in humanity. It requires the will to value love. So Adam Dalgliesh, the protagonist of another of James's series, would not be able to say this line. Dalgliesh has witnessed more than enough horrific human activities, so he would not be able to believe in humanity and value love so openly. But Cordelia can. Because she has not given up on humanity.
The difference between these two determines the course of the story. If Dalgliesh had been the one investigating the case, the story would have undoubtedly unfolded in a completely different way. What made this book interesting was that it happened precisely because Cordelia was there.
This book, which was published fifty years ago and has a charming female protagonist, still teaches us something that has not aged at all even now. There is no such thing as a "job unsuitable for a woman."
