''The Enola Holmes Mysteries'' is a
young adult fiction
Young adult fiction (YA) is a category of fiction written for readers from 12 to 18 years of age. While the genre is primarily targeted at adolescents, approximately half of YA readers are adults.
The subject matter and genres of YA correlate ...
series of
detective novel
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 ...
s by American author
Nancy Springer
Nancy Springer (born July 5, 1948) is an American author of fantasy, young adult literature, mystery, and science fiction. Her novel ''Larque on the Wing'' won the Tiptree Award in 1994. She also received the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers ...
, starring Enola Holmes as the 14-year-old sister of an already famous
Sherlock Holmes, twenty years her senior. There are seven books in the series, and one short story all written from 2006–2021.
When their mother disappears, Enola's much-older brothers, Sherlock and
Mycroft Holmes
Mycroft Holmes is a fictional character appearing in stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle from 1893 to 1908. The elder brother (by seven years) of detective Sherlock Holmes, he is a government official and a founding member of the Diogene ...
, decide to send her to a finishing school against her will. Instead, with the aid of her mother, who had provided hidden funds and an elaborate cipher for her daughter to communicate with her, Enola runs away to London, where she establishes a clandestine private detective career specializing in
missing persons investigations. Furthermore, Enola must keep ahead of her brothers who are determined to capture and force her to conform to their expectations.
This
pastiche series borrows characters and settings from the established
canon of Sherlock Holmes
Traditionally, the canon of Sherlock Holmes consists of the 56 short stories and four novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.Peter Haining, "Introduction" in Edited by Peter Haining. In this context, the term " canon" is an attempt to disti ...
, but the Enola character is Springer's creation and specific to this series. The first book, ''The Case of the Missing Marquess'', and the fifth, ''The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline'', were nominated for the
Edgar Award for Best Juvenile Mystery in 2007 and 2010, respectively.
In 2020, the literary series was adapted into a
film with
Millie Bobby Brown
Millie Bobby Brown (born 19 February 2004) is a British actress and producer. She gained recognition for playing Eleven in the Netflix science fiction series ''Stranger Things'' (2016–present), for which she received nominations for two Prim ...
in the title role and
Henry Cavill
Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill ( ; born 5 May 1983) is a British actor. He is known for his portrayal of Charles Brandon in Showtime's ''The Tudors'' (2007–2010), DC Comics character Superman in the DC Extended Universe (2013–2022), Gera ...
playing Sherlock Holmes, and in 2022 the duo reprised their roles for a
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...
.
Development
Before writing ''The Enola Holmes Mysteries'',
Nancy Springer
Nancy Springer (born July 5, 1948) is an American author of fantasy, young adult literature, mystery, and science fiction. Her novel ''Larque on the Wing'' won the Tiptree Award in 1994. She also received the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers ...
had already published books that reimagined
Mordred and
Robin Hood
Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is dep ...
.
Springer developed the idea for Enola Holmes alongside her editor, Michael Green. Green initially asked her to explore "deepest, darkest London at the time of
Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer w ...
."
After some research, she realized that Sherlock Holmes was based in the same time period as Jack the Ripper.
Springer rejected the idea of giving Holmes a daughter but thought the idea of a younger sister could work.
To write the series, Springer researched about
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...
England, both from historical research and through
coloring book
A coloring book (British English: colouring-in book, colouring book, or colouring page) is a type of book containing line art to which people are intended to add color using crayons, colored pencils, marker pens, paint or other artistic media ...
s, which, according to her, it helps "visualize the details" when writing.
She referred to ''The Annotated Sherlock Holmes'' by
William Baring-Gould William Stuart Baring-Gould (1913–10 Aug 1967) was a noted Sherlock Holmes scholar, best known as the author of the influential 1962 fictional biography, '' Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street: A Life of the World's First Consulting Detective''.
...
. She did not have too much difficulty in using the language of the time period since she was well versed with Victorian literature.
When creating the character of Enola, Springer decided to have her as Holmes' sister, as she did not see it fitting for Holmes to be her father. The age discrepancy between Enola and Sherlock is explained as Enola being a "mistake child".
For the main character's name, she researched romantic names of the era, and set on the one of a town near where she resided at the time.
Sherlock's status as a
bachelor
A bachelor is a man who is not and has never been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". ().
Etymo ...
and being "clueless about women" also played a role on the creation of Enola Holmes, as it allowed Springer to write a character that "could blindside him time after time."
Springer has also stated that Enola is partially based on her own life. She herself is much younger than her two older brothers, who left for college before she reached puberty. Springer, too, had an artist for a mother, who was talented with painting watercolor flowers. Due to
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
,
menopause
Menopause, also known as the climacteric, is the time in women's lives when menstrual periods stop permanently, and they are no longer able to bear children. Menopause usually occurs between the age of 47 and 54. Medical professionals often ...
and an early-onset form of
dementia
Dementia is a disorder which manifests as a set of related symptoms, which usually surfaces when the brain is damaged by injury or disease. The symptoms involve progressive impairments in memory, thinking, and behavior, which negatively affe ...
, Springer's mother spent less time with her after she turned 14 years old. Further, like Enola, Springer "was a scrawny, bony, gawky tree-climbing tomboy with hair that needed to be washed" and was "solitary and bookish."
In the
film Enola explains that her name spelled backwards is "alone", which describes her solitary nature.
Series overview
On Enola's fourteenth birthday, her mother disappears, and Sherlock and Mycroft, Enola's brothers, conclude that her mother voluntarily left. Enola is devastated but eventually discovers elaborate ciphers her mother wrote, which lead her to conclude that she left to live with the
Romani people
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sig ...
and escape the confines of Victorian society. Enola finds that her mother left money to fund her escape. When Mycroft, the eldest sibling, insists that Enola attend boarding school and learn to be a proper lady, she runs away to London instead. Throughout the series, Enola solves numerous
missing persons
A missing person is a person who has disappeared and whose status as alive or dead cannot be confirmed as their location and condition are unknown.
A person may go missing through a voluntary disappearance, or else due to an accident, crime, de ...
cases, including a rescue of
Dr. John Watson, while eluding her brothers' efforts to recapture her.
''The Case of the Missing Marquess'' (2007)
When Enola's mother disappears, Enola calls on her older brothers Sherlock and Mycroft, who dismiss her as unimportant. Horrified by her brothers' plans to send her to a boarding school and the prospect of wearing a
corset, she escapes. Dressed as a widow, she runs across Inspector Lestrade, who is working on a case with Sherlock about the disappearance of a young Viscount, Lord Tewkesbury. Nearly blowing her cover, she finds a secret hiding place that seems to be the young Viscount's hideaway. Concluding that he ran away, she sets off to look for him. Upon arriving in London, Enola discovers the city is not the magical place of her imagination. The same people who have kidnapped the Viscount, who has no street smarts, kidnap Enola. After escaping with the Viscount, she bribes a woman to buy them clothing. Hiding in a police station right under Sherlock's nose, Enola runs away, leaving only a sketch of the suspect on the bench.
''The Case of the Left-Handed Lady'' (2007)
Enola tries to find Lady Cecily Alistair, who disappeared from her bedroom. Enola, after disguising herself, talks to Lady Cecily's family, who think she has run off with the son of a tradesman. Enola finds some strange paintings that make her doubt that notion, and goes to find their daughter.
''The Case of the Bizarre Bouquets'' (2008)
Sherlock's companion, Dr. John Watson, has gone missing. Enola discovers a bouquet of flowers intended for Watson. Using the
language of the flowers, she detects a threat and sets out to find the missing doctor and his kidnapper. She finds him in an insane asylum. Two policemen had been told he was an insane man, and his claims to being Watson only exacerbated their belief. But is he insane or are they lying?
''The Case of the Peculiar Pink Fan'' (2008)
Enola helps an old acquaintance, Lady Cecily, escape a
forced marriage
Forced marriage is a marriage in which one or more of the parties is married without their consent or against their will. A marriage can also become a forced marriage even if both parties enter with full consent if one or both are later force ...
to the young Lady's
cousin
Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...
(such things were common then, to keep property within the family). While escaping an evil man and his mastiff, Enola runs right into trouble. Meanwhile, little does she know, Sherlock is only a few steps behind her.
''The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline'' (2009)
Enola returns to her lodgings to find that somebody has kidnapped her landlady, Mrs. Tupper. After investigating the ransacked lodgings, she
abduces that the kidnappers were after a secret message hidden in Mrs. Tupper's old
crinoline
A crinoline is a stiff or structured petticoat designed to hold out a woman's skirt, popular at various times since the mid-19th century. Originally, crinoline described a stiff fabric made of horsehair ("crin") and cotton or linen which was ...
dress. Enola traces the dress to
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during the Crimean War, i ...
, who met Mrs. Tupper in the Crimean War. After several visits to Nightingale, Enola discovers that Nightingale conducted espionage during the war. As such, Nightingale asked Mrs. Tupper to smuggle a note in her crinoline back to England but did not know that the war widow was deaf and did not understand her. Enola also realizes that Nightingale pretends to be an invalid to avoid attending social functions expected of a wealthy woman. She realizes that the functions would take time away from writing letters to achieve social reform for the needy. During her visits to Nightingale, Enola suspects someone is following her. As the person could be related to the case and a danger to Mrs. Tupper's and her own safety, she relocates to the Professional Women's Club.
After solving the case, she takes Mrs. Tupper and herself back to her home. Enola packs her things as she gets ready to leave. After figuring this out, Mrs. Tupper does the same. Mrs. Tupper ends up going with Enola. She escapes upon seeing Sherlock approach. Sherlock converses with Nightingale, and she reveals the reason behind Enola's escape from her brothers by describing the horrors of boarding schools and corsets.
''The Case of the Gypsy Goodbye'' (2010)
Finally, in Enola's sixth case, Sherlock concludes that Enola has matured rapidly into a capable young woman and helps his sister not only to find her quarry but also to finally convince their older brother Mycroft of her skill.
In the end, the Holmes siblings fully reconcile with the help of a final coded message from their mother, a Spartan
skytale decoded using bicycle handlebars. With that resolution, Mycroft, further impressed with Enola's sophisticated business arrangements and satisfied with her residence at the Professional Women's Club, grants Enola her liberty and agrees to fund her education. Enola in turn forgives Mycroft, accepts his offer while announcing she is likely continuing her career as a private investigator. For his part, Sherlock accepts Enola as a colleague in his profession and notes that he eagerly awaits her future accomplishments.
''Enola Holmes and the Black Barouche'' (2021)
Enola works with Sherlock to uncover the truth behind the death of Flossie Rudcliff, Countess of Dunhench (''
née'' Glover).
''Enola Holmes and the Boy in Buttons'' (2021)
Enola Holmes, the much younger sister of Sherlock and Mycroft, owns a building in the heart of 19th century London, a place she uses under pseudonyms to front for her investigative work. Employed there is a porter - Joddy, a young boy in a uniform festooned with buttons - whose even younger brother substitutes for him when he's sick. But Paddy disappears after one day at the job and Enola Holmes is alerted to this by the still ill Joddy.
Determined to find the missing porter, Enola travels to the rough part of London where the boys live and starts searching Aldgate Pump area for the missing boy. When she finds the missing buttons - but not the boy - she decides that drastic action is essential if she's to save the missing boy.
This title is only available as an ebook or audiobook.
''Enola Holmes and the Elegant Escapade'' (2022)
Released in September 2022, Enola is once again trying to help her friend, Lady Cecily.
Analysis
''The Enola Holmes Mysteries'' has been classified as an example of
neo-Victorian literature for young adults, in part due to the author's use of Victorian woman's clothes as a method to show female empowerment through the main character. According to Amy Montz, Nancy Springer rewrites the "social and personal expectations for fashion". For Montz, the corset is one of the main pieces of clothing for Victorian era stories, as "it is both public and private, masculine and feminine, utilitarian and ornamental, necessary and reviled." In the Enola Holmes series, the corset is a piece of "protection,
..masquerade
..and storage space," and is highlighted throughout the various books.
In a paper about
Libba Bray
Martha Elizabeth "Libba" Bray (March 11, 1964) is an American writer of young adult novels including the Gemma Doyle Trilogy, '' Going Bovine'', and '' The Diviners''.
Early life
Martha Elizabeth Bray was born in Montgomery, Alabama. Her father ...
's ''
Gemma Doyle Trilogy
The ''Gemma Doyle Trilogy'' is a trilogy of fantasy novels by American writer Libba Bray. They are told from the perspective of Gemma Doyle, a girl in the late nineteenth century. The ''Gemma Doyle Trilogy'' consists of three books: ''A Great and ...
'' and Springer's ''Enola Holmes Mysteries'', Sonya Fritz also classifies these series as part of the neo-Victorian movement, and talks about how those stories explore the concept of
girl power
Girl power is a slogan that encourages and celebrates women's empowerment, independence, confidence and strength. The slogan's invention is credited to the US punk band Bikini Kill, who published a zine called ''Bikini Kill #2: Girl Power'' i ...
. For Fritz, in Springer's books the characters conform to the social norms in public, but "
neath this veneer of respectability and conformity
..is a completely different life, one filled with courage, autonomy, and action." According to Fritz, Enola is described to the reader as having an "unconventional independence" since the start of the story, where she is described as wearing her brother's old clothes, marking her as a
tomboy
A tomboy is a term for a girl or a young woman with masculine qualities. It can include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and actively engage in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men. W ...
. She also notes how, when faced with the prospect of being sent to a
finishing school, Enola chooses to run away, which frames her as "a specimen of one of the feminine ideals that can be found in girl power".
The various disguises used by Enola throughout the series demonstrates the character's understanding of femininity as something "performative rather than essential," specially through her usage of the corset as a place to stash her money, or as a piece of armor. For Fritz, this subversion of female fashion as disguises or as secret communication offers "simultaneously a representation of the Victorian period and a contemporary model of girl power".
Reception
The first book, ''The Case of the Missing Marquess'', and the fifth, ''The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline'', were nominated for the
Edgar Awards
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...
for Best Juvenile Mystery in 2007 and 2010, respectively. Karen MacPherson in the ''
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the Alle ...
'' called Enola a "highly appealing heroine". In a review for the first book, ''Children's Book and Play Review'' echoed the statement, calling Enola "a bright and endearing character". The review also praised the novel for being "fast-paced and suspenseful" as well as its integration of Victorian culture but noted that it "wrap
edup a bit briskly". Carthage College's Center for Children's Literature described the second book as a "solid historical mystery" with a "satisfying and surprising ending" despite being "a bit slow at the beginning".
Adaptations
Graphic novel
The series has been adapted in France as graphic novels by writer and artist Séréna Blasco and published by Jungle! in their collection ''Miss Jungle''. The first three graphic novels have been published in the United States by
IDW.
Film
On January 9, 2018, it was announced that
Millie Bobby Brown
Millie Bobby Brown (born 19 February 2004) is a British actress and producer. She gained recognition for playing Eleven in the Netflix science fiction series ''Stranger Things'' (2016–present), for which she received nominations for two Prim ...
would produce and star as the title character in a film series based on the Enola Holmes books. On February 8, 2019, media reported
Harry Bradbeer
Harry Bradbeer is a British director, producer, and writer. He is known for his work on the television series ''Fleabag'' and '' Killing Eve'', and the films '' Enola Holmes'' and ''Enola Holmes 2''.
Early life and education
Bradbeer was brought ...
would direct the film project, and
Jack Thorne
Jack Thorne FRSL (born 6 December 1978) is a British playwright, television writer, screenwriter, and producer.
He is best known for writing the stage play '' Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'', the films '' Wonder'' and '' Enola Holmes'', ...
would adapt the script.
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May 1966) is an English actress. Known for her roles in blockbusters and independent films, particularly period dramas, she has received various awards and nominations, including a British Academy Film Award a ...
plays Enola's mother, and
Henry Cavill
Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill ( ; born 5 May 1983) is a British actor. He is known for his portrayal of Charles Brandon in Showtime's ''The Tudors'' (2007–2010), DC Comics character Superman in the DC Extended Universe (2013–2022), Gera ...
plays Sherlock Holmes. On April 21, 2020,
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
bought the distribution rights to the film, as opposed to a theatrical release
due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was released on September 23, 2020.
That month, Brown and Bradbeer acknowledged their intentions to develop a sequel, which was announced on May 13, 2021.
The story is an original story based on the
1888 matchgirls' strike and the life of labour activist
Sarah Chapman
Sarah Chapman (later Dearman; 31 October 1862 – 27 November 1945) was a British trade unionist who was one of the leaders of the 1888 Bryant & May Matchgirls' strike. Chapman and others involved in the strike have since been recognised as "pion ...
. Bradbeer thought it was an inspiring feminist tale that showed the power of working together — "Enola, to advance, has to work with others and not just be reliant on herself. It's a story that goes from 'I' to 'we,' and that is a story of sisterhood."
In November 2022, the sequel, ''
Enola Holmes 2
''Enola Holmes 2'' is a 2022 mystery film and the sequel to the 2020 film '' Enola Holmes'', both of which star Millie Bobby Brown as the title character, the teenage sister of the already-famous Victorian-era detective Sherlock Holmes. The fi ...
'' was released on Netflix. Brown and Cavill reprised their roles as Enola and Sherlock. Brown was reportedly paid $10 million for her role, making it the highest upfront salary for an actor under the age of twenty as of the release of the film.
Lawsuit
On June 23, 2020, the estate of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle brought a lawsuit in
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
against, among others, Nancy Springer, Legendary Pictures, PCMA Productions, and Netflix, citing both copyright and trademark infringement. This is in regard to the final ten stories produced by Doyle, which had not yet entered the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...
, although at the time of filing four actually had. The lawsuit specifically references Holmes' becoming more emotional in the final ten works, presenting a more "human" side to Sherlock, something that he was not known to present in the original works prior to the character's resurrection after ''The Final Problem''. According to the suit, ''The Enola Holmes Mysteries'' and adaptations violate the trademark and copyright on this particular depiction of Holmes, as the stories are still in a time of transition between copyright and the public domain.
The lawsuit was
dismissed with prejudice on December 18, 2020. Furthermore, the ''Sherlock Holmes'' property by
Arthur Conan Doyle fully entered the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...
in the United States as of 2023, which permanently ended any possibility of copyright challenges in the future.
[ ''This source is licensed under the Creative Commonsbr>Attribution 3.0]
License.
See also
*
The Boy Sherlock Holmes
*
''Young Sherlock Holmes'' (books)
*
Sherlock Holmes pastiches
Sherlock Holmes has long been a popular character for pastiche, Holmes-related work by authors and creators other than Arthur Conan Doyle.
Their works can be grouped into four broad categories:
*New Sherlock Holmes stories
*Stories in which H ...
*
Eurus Holmes – the sister of Sherlock and Mycroft in the 2010 television series ''
Sherlock''
References
External links
*
''Conan Doyle Estate Ltd. v. Springer''docket on
CourtListener
{{DEFAULTSORT:Enola Holmes Mysteries
Series of children's books
Sherlock Holmes pastiches
Children's mystery novels
Parallel literature
Spin-offs
Novels by Nancy Springer