''Laura'' (1943) is a detective novel by

Vera Caspary Vera Louise Caspary (November 13, 1899 – June 13, 1987) was an American writer of novels, plays, screenplays, and short stories. Her best-known novel, '' Laura'', was made into a successful movie. Though she claimed she was not a "real" myste ...

. It is her best known work, and was adapted into a popular film in 1944, with

Gene Tierney Gene Eliza Tierney (November 19, 1920 – November 6, 1991) was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed for her great beauty, she became established as a leading lady. Tierney was best known for her portrayal of the title character in the ...

in the title role.

Publication history

Originally, ''Laura'' ran in '' Colliers'' from October to November 1942 as a seven-part serial titled ''Ring Twice for Laura''.

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

republished ''Laura'' in book form the next year; afterwards, Caspary sold the film rights to

Twentieth Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

, resulting in a 1944 hit movie starring

and

Dana Andrews Carver Dana Andrews (January 1, 1909 – December 17, 1992) was an American film actor who became a major star in what is now known as film noir. A leading man during the 1940s, he continued acting in less prestigious roles and character parts ...

. In 1946, Caspary sold the story for a fourth time, this time co-writing a theatrical version with George Sklar. ''Laura'' achieved an international readership and has been translated into German, Italian, Japanese and Dutch, and it was released as an

Armed Services Edition Armed Services Editions (ASEs) were small paperback books of fiction and nonfiction that were distributed in the American military during World War II. From 1943 to 1947, some 122 million copies of more than 1,300 ASE titles were distributed to s ...

for the American military during World War II. Since its original publication, the novel has been reissued many times. I Books released an edition in 2000, billing it as a "lost classic;" however, this edition is out of print. An edition from

Feminist Press The Feminist Press (officially The Feminist Press at CUNY) is an American independent nonprofit literary publisher that promotes freedom of expression and social justice. It publishes writing by people who share an activist spirit and a belief in ...

became available in 2006. In 2015, it was included as part of the

Library of America The Library of America (LOA) is a nonprofit publisher of classic American literature. Founded in 1979 with seed money from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation, the LOA has published over 300 volumes by authors rang ...

's ''Women Crime Writers'' omnibus collection.

Plot introduction

Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist and playwright known especially for ''The Woman in White (novel), The Woman in White'' (1859), a mystery novel and early "sensation novel", and for ''The Moons ...

' novel '' The Woman in White'' (1859), ''Laura'' is narrated in the first person by several alternating characters. These individual stories all revolve around the apparent murder of the title character, a successful New York advertiser killed in the doorway of her apartment with a shotgun blast that obliterated her face. Detective Mark McPherson, assigned to the case, begins investigating the two men who were closest to Laura: her former lover, a narcissistic middle-aged writer named Waldo Lydecker, and her fiance, the philandering Shelby Carpenter. As he learns more about Laura, Mark – not the most sentimental of men – begins to fall in love with her memory. When Laura turns out to be very much alive, however, she becomes the prime suspect. The novel has some autobiographical elements; Caspary, like Laura, was an independent woman who earned her living as an advertiser and who struggled to balance career and romance.

Major characters

* Laura Hunt, a smart and beautiful New York advertiser whose career is thriving * Mark McPherson, the young homicide detective assigned to the Laura Hunt (later the Diane Redfern) murder case * Waldo Lydecker, an obese middle-aged writer with expensive tastes and Laura's former lover * Shelby Carpenter, Laura's fiance, an undistinguished philanderer * Diane Redfern, a struggling young model and the actual murder victim

Discussion

''Laura'' often is identified, controversially, as a noir novel, and the lead character as a femme fatale. Laura Hunt, true, is smart, independent, beautiful and desirable; she has discarded the effete Waldo Lydecker to marry Shelby Carpenter; the body of Shelby's lover is found in her apartment, wearing her clothes; and, when questioned, she answers evasively. All these things throw suspicion on her; nonetheless, the plot's main tendency is to show that while circumstances have pushed Laura dangerously close to emotional chaos, she has more innate integrity than every other character in the novel, male or female: Laura's fiance, for example, is unfaithful to her even on the eve of their wedding, while her "best friend" Waldo uses insidious methods to drive her lovers away. Morally, Laura's only equal is Mark McPherson, the

hardboiled Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence o ...

detective who begins by investigating Laura's murder; then investigates Laura ''for'' murder; and finally becomes her true love and savior. The falsely impugned heroine, her rescue by her lover, and the happy ending arguably put ''Laura'' in the romantic suspense genre. What sets it apart is that Laura is no helpless virgin: she has a successful career and a considerable sexual history, but still emerges as sincere and lovable, with domestic urges so strong that she is prepared to marry an unworthy man to fulfill them.Ng, Laura Ellen. "Feminist hardboiled

detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator or a detective—whether professional, amateur or retired—investigates a crime, often murder. The detective genre began around the same time as s ...

as a political protest in the tradition of women proletarian writers of the 1930s" (Dissertation). Morehead State University, January 31, 2005, pp. 112-114
(full text)
/ref>

References

External links

*''Women Crime Writers: Four Suspense Novels of the 1940s'' at

.
full text
. *A ''

Napa Valley Register The ''Napa Valley Register'' is a daily newspaper located in Napa, California. The paper began publication on August 10, 1863. By 1864, the newspaper had dropped “Valley” from its name, becoming simply the ''Napa Register'', until returning ...