She Fell Among Thieves

She Fell Among Thieves is a 1935 adventure novel by the English author Dornford Yates (Cecil William Mercer), the fifth in his 'Chandos' thriller series. It was serialised in Woman's Journal (December 1934 to April 1935, illustrated by Forster).

She Fell Among Thieves
1942 H&S dustjacket
AuthorDornford Yates
SeriesChandos books
GenreNovel
PublisherHodder and Stoughton[1]
Publication date
1935[1]
Media typePrint
Pages320[1]
Preceded byFire Below 
Followed byAn Eye for a Tooth 

Plot

The story is set in the Pyrenees. Chandos, recently widowed, and Mansel have to rescue a drugged young woman who has been held captive at Château Jezreel by a villainous elderly matriarch called Vanity Fair.

Background

She Fell Among Thieves was written shortly after Mercer's second marriage, to Elizabeth, and was dedicated "To Jill" – the name he always used for her.[2]

Critical reception

The novel was not quite as well received as the earlier 'Chandos' books had been. Although it was accepted for UK serialisation in the Woman's Journal, appearing in five parts between December 1934 and April 1935, the US Saturday Evening Post declined it, female villains not being to American taste.[3]

The original dustjacket included the following quotes -

  • Punch: "For speed of action, ingenuity of situation and breathless excitement, I do not believe Mr. Yates has an equal to-day"
  • Daily Mail: Compton Mackenzie wrote "I would give a great deal to discover the secret of writing a book of adventure like this."
  • Queen: "Breathless adventure follows breathless adventure with tremendous rapidity."

Dramatisation
  • In 1978 the BBC produced a TV film based on the novel
  • On 15th May 2004 BBC Radio 4 broadcast a Saturday Play based on the book, dramatised by Michelene Wandor and directed by Chris Wallis, with Honor Blackman as Vanity Fair, Nicholas Boulton as Chandos, Tim Frances as Mansel, Jessica Lloyd as Virginia, David Thorpe as Gaston, Robert Whelan as Acorn, Jane Collingwood as Jenny and Harry Myers as Bell. [4]
gollark: If you count all my devices, I probably have... 80 tabs or so?
gollark: However many you consider too many, I have more.
gollark: I bet a few silly, silly people decided that they wanted some specific gender-neutral pronoun and not just a generic one.
gollark: I think they should stop with the madness and just let people use gender-neutral stuff like "they".
gollark: Conspicuously refer to them by their chosen pronoun *every sentence*.

References
  1. "British Library Item details". primocat.bl.uk. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  2. Smithers 1982, pp. 164, 165.
  3. Smithers 1982, p. 166.
  4. "The Saturday Play: She Fell among Thieves". Genome. 15 May 2004. Retrieved 15 May 2020.

Bibliography
  • Smithers, AJ (1982). Dornford Yates. London: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 0 340 27547 2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Usborne, Richard (1974). Clubland Heroes. London: Barrie & Jenkins. ISBN 0 214 20012 4.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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