Line #16 Literature/SherlockInLove


1	[[quoteright:265:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sherlock_in_love.jpg]]
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3	''Sherlock in Love: A Novel'' is a Sherlockian pastiche by Sena Jeter Naslund, which deals with such aspects of Literataure/SherlockHolmes's life as his Stradivarius, his love life, and his eventual fate. It's an atmospheric, gripping tale, and while some Sherlockians reject it outright, others regard it as SoBadItsGood.
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5	The year is 1922. Literature/SherlockHolmes has been dead for two years, and an enfeebled [[TheWatson Dr. Watson]] is living his twilight years with his old landlady and her nurse. Watson misses his old friend so much that he decides to write a biography for Holmes and puts a notice in the paper. The responses that he gets drives him to dig an old case back up, that of the unhappy Victor Sigerson.
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7	From there, the narrative goes back and forth between 1922 and 1886, taking quite a bit of ArtisticLicense with the original canon. Holmes takes violin lessons from Victor Sigerson and is eventually hired to uncover Sigerson's origins. While Watson is inexplicably blind to the fact, Holmes discovers that Victor is actually ''Violet'', and Holmes's heart is awakened to the possibility of romantic love. Alas, the Great Detective is never said by Sir Creator/ArthurConanDoyle to have been married or even to have had a lover, and in this regard, Naslund stays true to the canon. The TwistEnding is astonishing and even [[{{Squick}} squicky]] for some, and makes the entire story either dreadfully tragic or tragically out-of-character.
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9	----
10	!!The Novella Provides Examples Of:
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12	* ActionGirl: Violet turns out to be this - at least, as much as she could realistically get away with it in the Victorian Era.
13	* AlternateUniverse: The story is obviously not intended to be one, but it just as obviously ''is'' to any Sherlockian who knows their stuff.
14	* AscendedExtra: Wiggins, who turns up in 1922 as a consulting psychiatrist.
15	%%** [[spoiler: Also, Irene Adler.]]
16	* BittersweetEnding: Watson is remarried in the end to a familiar face, but Sherlock is still dead and so is Violet.
17	* BondingOverMissingParents: Sherlock and Violet do this, briefly, over a MissingMom - unfortunately, we don't get a very clear depiction of that scene because Watson was half-asleep and it was from his PointOfView.
18	%%* TheCameo: Mycroft.
19	%%* CanonForeigner: Victor (Violet) Sigerson.
20	* CelibateHero: Holmes is shown to be this BecauseDestinySaysSo, essentially, not because he wants to be.
21	* ClothesMakeTheLegend: More than once, a debilitated Watson mistakes a person for his deceased friend simply because they dress like him - [[MemeticMutation deerstalker and Inverness sometimes included.]]
22	* {{Crossdresser}}: Violet poses as "Victor" in order to perform in the all-male UsefulNotes/{{Munich}} Opera Orchestra.
23	* CuriosityIsACrapshoot: Depending on the reader, Holmes and Violet might have been happier if they'd never found out/figured out the truth about Violet's origins.
24	* DarkerAndEdgier: The second half of the book to the first half (which, though mysterious and even sad, is not actually ''dark'').
25	* {{Determinator}}: Holmes - so much so that it's heartbreaking.
26	* [[spoiler: DisneyDeath[=/=]FakingTheDead: Violet.]]
27	* DysfunctionalFamily: Sherlock's, quite obviously.
28	* {{Flanderization}}: Watson, unfortunately. He has his good - even cute - moments, but his characterization can often be a bit cringe-worthy. Most obviously, when he absolutely fails to realize that Violet is a woman and that Holmes is in love with her (in the past - he figures it out in hindsight).
29	* {{Foil}}: Violet to Sherlock - she's essentially [[DistaffCounterpart the feminine version]] of the Great Detective.
30	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: King Ludwig II of Bavaria. It's an interesting case of NoCelebritiesWereHarmed, because the novella shows the Mad King's death as it actually happened... barring one character.
31	* ItsPersonal: When Holmes goes after Ludwig II [[BigBrotherInstinct because of Violet.]]
32	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold[=/=]InsufferableGenius: "Victor" Sigerson.
33	* LoveHurts
34	* MeaningfulName: Violet's surname provides a ''world'' of meaning to Holmes's canonical alias during the Great Hiatus.
35	** Also, the woman named "Nannerl".
36	** Plus, the title of the novella itself - there is a reason why it is '''''Sherlock''''' ''in Love'', and not ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' or ''Holmes''.
37	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: The King of Bohemia is called the King of Bohemia, and the author never attempts to pin his character to an actual historical person.
38	* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler: Tragically, Holmes never knew (not that the reader is shown, anyway) that Violet had [[FakingTheDead faked her death]].]]
39	%%* NotSoStoic: Holmes.
40	%%** [[spoiler: And Violet at the end.]]
41	%%* OnlySaneMan: Poor, poor Watson...
42	%%** Also "Victor", in Ludwig II's court.
43	* RedOniBlueOni: Surprisingly, Sherlock's red to Violet's blue (Literature/SherlockHolmes is typically blue to Watson's red).
44	* TheReveal: ''Two'' of them, actually.
45	** The first is fairly obvious and takes place in the first half of the story - [[IncrediblyLamePun namely]], that "Victor" is actually ''Violet''.
46	** The second is the TwistEnding, occurring for Holmes in the middle of the story but occurring for Watson and the reader at, you guessed it, the end. [[spoiler: Violet turns out to be Sherlock's half-sister, abandoned as an infant by their mother and left to be raised by her father's relatives.]]
47	%%* ParentalAbandonment: Violet by both her (unmarried) parents.
48	* SecretRelationship: Holmes managed to keep ''most'' of his feelings for Violet secret from Watson... and Violet most definitely kept ''hers'' secret from the Doctor.
49	* ShoutOut: To ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'' - "Holmes was dead: to begin with"...
50	* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Averted, actually, for a Literature/SherlockHolmes pastiche, never mind the title. There are several participating female characters.
51	* [[spoiler: SurpriseIncest: Holmes and Violet did not realize their half-sibling relationship until they were already in-love. Violet then tries to end the relationship entirely.]]
52	* TallDarkAndSnarky: Victor.
53	* TwistEnding
54	* VictorianLondon
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Context Literature / SherlockInLove