Dorothy L. Sayers
Born	13 June 1893 Oxford, England
Died	17 December 1957 Witham, Essex, England
Occupation	Novelist, Playwright, Essayist, Translator, Copywriter, Poet
Genres	crime fiction
Literary movement	Golden Age of Detective Fiction

Dorothy Leigh Sayers (IPA: usually pronounced /ˈseɪɜrz/, although Sayers herself preferred /ˈsɛːrz/ and encouraged the use of her middle initial to facilitate this pronunciation^[1]) (Oxford, 13 June 1893–Witham, 17 December 1957) was a renowned British author, translator and Christian humanist. Events 1525 - Martin Luther marries Katharina von Bora, against the Celibacy rule decreed by the Roman Catholic Church for Year 1893 ( MDCCCXCIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Oxford is currently bidding for the 2010 Wikimania Conference Oxford () is a city, and the County town of Oxfordshire, England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Events 546 - Gothic War (535–554: The Ostrogoths of King Totila Year 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar) This article refers to the town in Essex, England. For the village in Somerset, England see Witham Friary. Essex is a county in the East of England. The County town is Chelmsford, and the highest point of the county is Chrishall Common England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or Drama. This article is an abbreviated list of Essayists - individuals notable for writing essays on various topics Translation is the interpreting of the meaning of a text and the subsequent production of an equivalent text likewise called a " translation Copywriting is the use of words to promote a Person, Business, Opinion, or Idea. A poet is a person who writes Poetry. Etymology From the Ancient greek: ποιέω, poieō: "I make or compose" A literary genre is a category of literary composition Genres may be determined by Literary technique, tone, Content, or even (as in the case of fiction Crime fiction is the Genre of Fiction that deals with Crimes their detection criminals and their motives It is usually distinguished from This is a list of modern literary movements: that is movements after the Renaissance. The Golden Age of Detective Fiction was an era of classic murder mystery novels produced by various authors all following similar patterns and style The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA is a system of phonetic notation based on the Latin alphabet, devised by the International Phonetic Oxford is currently bidding for the 2010 Wikimania Conference Oxford () is a city, and the County town of Oxfordshire, Events 1525 - Martin Luther marries Katharina von Bora, against the Celibacy rule decreed by the Roman Catholic Church for Year 1893 ( MDCCCXCIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common This article refers to the town in Essex, England. For the village in Somerset, England see Witham Friary. Events 546 - Gothic War (535–554: The Ostrogoths of King Totila Year 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar) The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located An author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created Translation is the interpreting of the meaning of a text and the subsequent production of an equivalent text likewise called a " translation Christian Humanism is the belief that human freedom and individualism are intrinsic (natural parts of or are at least compatible with Christian doctrine and practice She was also a student of classical and modern languages. She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between World War I and World War II that feature English aristocrat and amateur sleuth Lord Peter Wimsey. A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story The short story is a literary genre of Fictional Prose Narrative that tends to be more concise and to the point than longer works of fiction such World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Aristocracy is a form of Government, where rule is established through an internal struggle over who has the most status and influence over society and internal relations Detective fiction is a branch of Crime fiction in which a Detective (or detectives either professional or amateur investigate a crime usually Murder Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey, a Fictional character, is a bon vivant sleuth in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy However, Sayers herself considered her translation of Dante's Divina Commedia to be her best work. Translation is the interpreting of the meaning of a text and the subsequent production of an equivalent text likewise called a " translation The Divine Comedy She is also known for her plays and essays. Dorothy L Sayers, known as a novelist also wrote many plays The plays Busman's Honeymoon Dorothy L

Biography

Childhood, youth and education

Christ Church, Oxford, where Sayers' father worked

Sayers, who was an only child, was born at the Head Master's House, Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, on 13 June 1893, where her father, the Rev. Not to be confused with Christchurch, a city in New Zealand. Christ Church (Ædes Christi the temple or house of Christ and thus sometimes known as Christ Church Cathedral is the Cathedral of the Diocese of Oxford, which includes the City of Oxford England, and the surrounding countryside as far Events 1525 - Martin Luther marries Katharina von Bora, against the Celibacy rule decreed by the Roman Catholic Church for Year 1893 ( MDCCCXCIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Henry Sayers, M. A. , was chaplain of Christ Church and headmaster of the Choir School (when she was six he started teaching her Latin). Not to be confused with Christchurch, a city in New Zealand. Christ Church (Ædes Christi the temple or house of Christ and thus sometimes known as Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. ^[2] She grew up in the tiny village of Christ Church in Cambridgeshire, after her father was given the "living" there as clergyman. After she had left home for the Godolphin School,^[3] a boarding school, her father moved to the much more luxurious living of Bluntisham, also in Cambridgeshire, where the church graveyard features the surnames of several characters in what some call her best mystery, The Nine Tailors. The Godolphin School is an Independent school for 400 girls situated in Salisbury, founded in 1707 and established in 1726 by Charles and Elizabeth Godolphin The Nine Tailors is a 1934 Mystery novel by British writer Dorothy L The sheer size and elegance of the Regency Rectory she called home is worthy of her description of Duke's Denver, Lord Wimsey's family seat, while the proximity of the River Great Ouse explains her detailed knowledge of a massive flood around the village described in her Fenchurch mystery.

In 1912, she won a scholarship to Somerville College, Oxford,^[4] studying modern languages and medieval literature. Somerville College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England, and was one of the first Women's colleges to She finished with first-class honours in 1916. Although women could not be awarded degrees at that time, Sayers was among the first to receive a degree when the situation changed a few years later, and in 1920 she graduated MA. In the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin, the degree of Master of Arts or Master in Arts ( MA) is awarded to Bachelors Her personal experience of Oxford academic life is evident in her novel Gaudy Night. Gaudy Night is a 1935 Lord Peter Wimsey detective story by Dorothy L

Dorothy's father was from a line from Littlehampton, West Sussex, and her mother (Helen Mary Leigh - hence the 'L' in Dorothy's full name) was born at The Chestnuts, Millbrook, Southamptonshire, to Frederick Leigh, a solicitor, whose family roots were in the Isle of Wight. Settlements Most settlements in West Sussex are either along the south coast or are situated in the M23 corridor Wildlife Hampshire has wildlife typical of the island of Great Britain Helen's sister Amy married Henry Richard Shrimpton, and is mentioned below.

Great Britain in the 1920s was in a time of social change and upheaval. The massive mobilization of able-bodied men in World War I had sent many women into the paid workforce. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All While the men returning from war expected to return to their old positions, the women who enjoyed self-sufficiency were not ready to leave. In addition, many women had to be self-supporting due to family left disabled or dead by the war. Legally, some women were first able to vote in 1918, although full suffrage was not granted until the Representation of the People Act of 1928. The Representation of the People Act 1918 was an Act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in the United Kingdom. The Representation of the People Act 1928 is an act of parliament of the United Kingdom.

Motherhood

At age 29, Sayers fell in love with novelist John Cournos, the first intense romance of her life. John Cournos (1881 - 1966 was an American writer from a Russian Jewish background his family emigrated when he was aged He wanted her to ignore social mores and live with him without marriage. She wanted to marry and have children. After a year of agony between 1921 and 1922, she learned that Cournos had claimed to be against marriage only to test her devotion, and she broke off with him.

Her heart broken, Sayers rebounded by becoming involved with Bill White, an unemployed motor car salesman. After a brief, intense, and mainly sexual relationship, Sayers discovered that, in spite of contraception, she was pregnant. Birth control, sometimes synonymous with contraception, is a regimen of one or more actions devices or Medications followed in order to deliberately prevent White reacted badly, storming out "in rage & misery" when Sayers admitted her pregnancy.

Fearing how her pregnancy might affect her parents, then in their 70s, Sayers opted to hide from friends and family. She continued to work until the beginning of her last trimester, at which point she pleaded exhaustion and took an extended leave. She went alone to a "mothers' hospital" under an assumed name, and the child, John Anthony, was born January 3, 1924, at Tuckton Lodge, Iford Lane, Southbourne, Southamptonshire. Events 1431 - Joan of Arc is handed over to the Bishop Pierre Cauchon. Year 1924 ( MCMXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Wildlife Hampshire has wildlife typical of the island of Great Britain She remained with John for three weeks, nursing and caring for him.

Sayers was unable to return to her life or work with a child. Her aunt and cousin, Amy and Ivy Amy Shrimpton, were supporting themselves by fostering children. Sayers' mother had been to visit the Shrimptons and wrote a glowing account to Dorothy of the good job they did with their charges. Sayers wrote to Ivy, relating a sad story about "a friend" and inquiring about boarding fees and whether Ivy had room for an additional baby. After Ivy agreed to take the child, Sayers sent her another letter in an envelope marked "Strictly Confidential: Particulars about Baby"^[5] which revealed the child's parentage and swore her to silence. Neither Sayers' parents nor Aunt Amy were to know. Sayers' family learned of John Anthony's existence only after her death in 1957, when he was the only beneficiary under his mother's will. However, Sayers communicated regularly with her son by mail, and shortly before he died in 1984, John Anthony said that his mother "did the very best she could. "^[6]

Ivy continued to raise 'John' to adulthood at her house "The Sidelings", Wooton Barton, Oxfordshire, but he became known by his second forename - abandoning the use of 'John' except for legal purposes - but preferred to be known as 'Tony' to friends and family. He assumed the surname of 'Fleming' after his mother married, although nothing formal was ever attempted to register that change. Tony regarded Ivy as his mother for all practical purposes, and when she died on 29 March 1951 at Horton General Hospital, Banbury, he undertook the burial arrangements. Events 1461 - Wars of the Roses: Battle of Towton - Edward of York defeats Queen Margaret to become King Year 1951 ( MCMLI) was a Common year starting on Monday. Events of 1951 January

In 1924-1925, Sayers wrote 11 letters to John Cournos about their unhappy relationship, her relationship with White, and her son. The letters are now housed at Harvard University. Both Sayers and Cournos would eventually fictionalize their experience: Sayers in Strong Poison, published in 1930, and Cournos in The Devil is an English Gentleman, published in 1932. Strong Poison is a 1931 novel by Dorothy L Sayers, her fifth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey.

Marriage and later life

Two years later, by which time she had published her first two detective novels, Sayers married Captain Oswald Atherton "Mac" Fleming, a Scottish journalist whose professional name was "Atherton Fleming. " They married on 8th April, 1926 at the Register Office in Holborn. Mac was divorced with two children, which in those days meant they could not have a church wedding. Despite this disappointment, her parents welcomed Mac into the fold. They lived in Dorothy's apartment at 24 Great James Street, St. Pancras, that she continued to hold for the rest of her life.

The marriage began very happily, with a strong partnership at home. Both were working a great deal - Mac as an author and journalist, Dorothy as an advertising copywriter and author. Over time, Mac's health worsened (largely due to his World War I service), and he became unable to work. As a result, his income dwindled while Sayers's fame continued to grow, and he began to feel eclipsed.

Although he never lived with them, Tony was told "Cousin Dorothy" and Fleming had adopted him when he was ten. (As the legal parent, Dorothy had no need to adopt him. Fleming had agreed to adopt her son when they married, but it was never officially done. ) Sayers continued to provide for his upbringing, although she never publicly acknowledged him as her biological son.

Sayers was a good friend of C. S. Lewis and several of the other Inklings. Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963 The Inklings was an informal literary discussion group associated with the University of Oxford, England, for nearly two decades between the early On some occasions, Sayers joined Lewis at meetings of the Socratic Club. Lewis said he read The Man Born to be King every Easter, but he claimed to be unable to appreciate detective stories. The Man Born to be King is a Radio drama based on the life of Jesus, produced and broadcast by the BBC during the Second World War J. R. R. Tolkien, however, read some of the Wimsey novels but scorned the later ones, such as Gaudy Night. Gaudy Night is a 1935 Lord Peter Wimsey detective story by Dorothy L

Mac Fleming died June 9, 1950, at Sunnyside Cottage, and nearly a decade later, Dorothy died suddenly of a stroke 17 December 1957 at the same place. Events 53 - Roman Emperor Nero marries Claudia Octavia 62 - Claudia Octavia commits Year 1950 ( MCML) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 546 - Gothic War (535–554: The Ostrogoths of King Totila Year 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar) She had purchased numbers 20-24 Newland Street Witham (subsequently known as Sunnyside) in 1925 for her mother to live, following the death of her father, but she occupied it herself following the death of her mother on 27 July 1929 at The County Hospital, Colchester. Events 1214 - Battle of Bouvines: In France, Philip II of France defeats John of England. Year 1929 ( MCMXXIX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Mac was buried in Ipswich, whilst Dorothy was cremated and her ashes buried beneath the tower of St Anne's Church, Soho, where she had been a churchwarden for many years. Saint Anne's Church in the Soho section of London was consecrated on 21 March 1686 by Bishop Henry Compton as the Parish church A churchwarden is a lay official in a Parish church of the Anglican Communion, usually working as a part-time volunteer Tony died 26 November 1984 at age 60, in St. Events 43 BC - The Second Triumvirate alliance of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus ("Octavian" later "Caesar Augustus" Year 1984 ( MCMLXXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar) Francis's Hospital, Miami Beach, Dade, Florida.

Career

Poetry, teaching, and advertisements

One of the Guinness Toucan advertising posters.

Dorothy Sayers' first book, of poetry, was published in 1916 as Op. I by Blackwell Publishing in Oxford. Blackwell Publishing Ltd was a Learned society publishing company based in Oxford, England. Later Sayers worked for Blackwell's and then as a teacher in several locations including Normandy, France, just before World War I began.

Sayers' longest employment was from 1922-1931 as a copywriter at S. Copywriting is the use of words to promote a Person, Business, Opinion, or Idea. H. Benson's advertising agency in London. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. This was located on the Victoria Embankment overlooking the Thames; Benson's subsequently became Ogilvy & Mather. Ogilvy & Mather is a preeminent international advertising marketing and public relations agency based in New York City and owned by the WPP Group. Sayers was quite successful as an advertiser. Her collaboration with artist John Gilroy resulted in "The Mustard Club" for Colman's Mustard and the Guinness "Zoo" advertisements, variations of which still appear today. John Thomas Young Gilroy ( May 30 1898 &mdash April 11 1985) was an English artist and illustrator best know for his advertising Colman's is a UK manufacturer of mustard, based in Norwich, Norfolk. One famous example was the Toucan, his bill arching under a glass of Guinness, with Sayers' jingle:

Sayers is also credited with coining the phrase "It pays to advertise. Toucans are a family Ramphastidae, of Near-passerine Birds from the Neotropics (i " She used the advertising industry as the setting of Murder Must Advertise. Murder Must Advertise is a Lord Peter Wimsey mystery novel by Dorothy L

Detective fiction

Paperback edition cover of the Lord Peter Wimsey novel Murder Must Advertise

Sayers began working out the plot of her first novel sometime in 1920–1921. Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey, a Fictional character, is a bon vivant sleuth in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy Murder Must Advertise is a Lord Peter Wimsey mystery novel by Dorothy L The seeds of the plot for Whose Body? can be seen in a letter Sayers wrote on January 22, 1921:

"My detective story begins brightly, with a fat lady found dead in her bath with nothing on but her pince-nez. Whose Body? is a 1923 novel by Dorothy L Sayers (ISBN 0-380-39966-0 which introduced the character of Lord Peter Wimsey. Events 565 - Eutychius is deposed as Patriarch of Constantinople by John Scholasticus. Year 1921 ( MCMXXI) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1921 calendar of the Gregorian calendar Now why did she wear pince-nez in her bath? If you can guess, you will be in a position to lay hands upon the murderer, but he's a very cool and cunning fellow. . . " (p. 101, Reynolds)

Lord Peter Wimsey burst upon the world of detective fiction with an explosive "Oh, damn!" and continued to engage readers in ten novels and two sets of short stories; the final novel ended with a very different "Oh, damn!". Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey, a Fictional character, is a bon vivant sleuth in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy Sayers once commented that Lord Peter was a mixture of Fred Astaire and Bertie Wooster, which is most evident in the first five novels. Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 &ndash June 22, 1987) was an American Academy Award Bertram Wilberforce "Bertie" Wooster is a recurring Fictional character in the Jeeves novels of British Author However, it is evident through Lord Peter's development as a round character that he existed in Sayers' mind as a living, breathing, fully human entity. Sayers introduced detective novelist Harriet Vane in Strong Poison. Harriet Deborah Vane, later Lady Peter Wimsey, is a fictional character in the works of British writer Dorothy L Strong Poison is a 1931 novel by Dorothy L Sayers, her fifth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. Sayers remarked more than once that she had developed the "husky voiced, dark-eyed" Harriet to put an end to Lord Peter via matrimony. But in the course of writing Gaudy Night, Sayers imbued Lord Peter and Harriet with so much life that she was never able to, as she put it, "see Lord Peter exit the stage. Gaudy Night is a 1935 Lord Peter Wimsey detective story by Dorothy L "

Sayers did not content herself with writing pure detective stories; she explored the toll on World War I veterans in The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club, discussed the ethics of advertising in Murder Must Advertise, and advocated women's education (a then-controversial subject) in Gaudy Night. The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club is a 1928 novel by Dorothy L Murder Must Advertise is a Lord Peter Wimsey mystery novel by Dorothy L Gaudy Night is a 1935 Lord Peter Wimsey detective story by Dorothy L

Sayers' Christian and academic interests also shine through in her detective stories. In The Nine Tailors, one of her most well-known detective novels, the plot takes place largely in and around an old church dating back to the Middle Ages, and the writer's familiarity with and affection for such a milieu is very evident. The Nine Tailors is a 1934 Mystery novel by British writer Dorothy L Change ringing of bells also forms an important part of the novel. Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a series of mathematical patterns called "changes" In Have His Carcase, the Playfair cipher and the principles of cryptanalysis are explained. Have His Carcase is a 1932 novel by Dorothy L Sayers, her seventh featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and her second novel in which Harriet Vane The Playfair cipher or Playfair square is a manual symmetric Encryption technique and was the first literal digraph substitution cipher Cryptanalysis (from the Greek kryptós, "hidden" and analýein, "to loosen" or "to untie" is the study of methods for Her short story Absolutely Elsewhere refers to the fact that (in the language of modern physics) the only perfect alibi for a crime is to be outside its light cone, while The Fascinating Problem of Uncle Meleager's Will contains a literary crossword puzzle. In Special relativity, a light cone (or null cone) is the pattern describing the temporal evolution of a flash of Light in Minkowski spacetime

Sayers also wrote a number of short stories about Montague Egg, a wine salesman who solves mysteries. Montague Egg is a fictional amateur detective who appears in eleven short stories by Dorothy L

Translations

Dante shown holding a copy of the Divina Commedia, next to the entrance to Hell, the seven terraces of Mount Purgatory and the city of Florence, with the spheres of Heaven above

Sayers herself considered her translation of Dante's Divina Commedia to be her best work. The Divine Comedy Translation is the interpreting of the meaning of a text and the subsequent production of an equivalent text likewise called a " translation The Divine Comedy The baldly titled Hell appeared in 1949, as one of the recently introduced series of Penguin Classics. Design Penguin Books have paid particular attention to the design of its books since recruiting German typographer Jan Tschichold Purgatory followed in 1955. Unfinished at her death, the third volume (Paradise) was completed by Barbara Reynolds in 1962. Barbara Reynolds (born 13 June 1914) is an English scholar lexicographer and translator wife of the philologist and translator Lewis Thorpe

On a line-by-line basis, Sayers' translation can seem idiosyncratic. For example, the famous line usually rendered "Abandon hope, all ye who enter here" turns, in the Sayers translation, into "Lay down all hope, you who go in by me. " As the Italian reads "Lasciate ogni speranza, o voi ch'intrate", both the traditional and Sayers' translation add to the source text in an effort to preserve the original length: "here" is added in the first case, and "by me" in the second. It can be argued that Sayers' translation is actually more accurate, in that the original intimates to "abandon all hope". Also, the addition of "by me" draws from the previous lines of the canto: "Per me si va ne la città dolente;/ per me si va ne l'etterno dolore;/ per me si va tra la perduta gente. " (Longfellow: "Through me the way is to the city dolent;/ through me the way is to the eternal dole;/ through me the way is to the people lost. ")

The idiosyncratic character of Sayer's translation results from her decision to preserve the original Italian terza rima rhyme scheme, so that her "go in by me" rhymes with "made to be" two lines earlier, and "unsearchably" two lines before that. Terza rima is a rhyming verse Stanza form that consists of an interlocking three line rhyme scheme Umberto Eco in his book Mouse or Rat? suggests that, of the various English translations, Sayers "does the best in at least partially preserving the hendecasyllables and the rhyme. Umberto Eco (born 5 January 1932 is an Italian Medievalist, semiotician, Philosopher, literary critic and Novelist, best "^[7]

Sayers' translation of the Divina Commedia is also notable for extensive notes at the end of each canto, explaining the theological meaning of what she calls "a great Christian allegory. The Divine Comedy Theology is the study of a god or the gods from a religious perspective "^[8] Her translation has remained popular: in spite of publishing new translations by Mark Musa and Robin Kirkpatrick, as of 2008 Penguin Books was still publishing the Sayers edition. Mark Musa is a graduate of Rutgers University (BA 1956 the University of Florence (as Fulbright Scholar 1956-1958 and the Johns Hopkins University Penguin Books is a British Publisher founded in 1935 by Allen Lane. ^[9]

In the introduction to her translation of The Song of Roland, Sayers expressed an outspoken feeling of attraction and love for

"(. The Song of Roland (La Chanson de Roland is the oldest remaining major work of French literature. . . ) That new-washed world of clear sun and glittering colour which we call the Middle Age (as though it were middle-aged) but which has perhaps a better right than the blown rose of the Renaissance to be called the Age of Re-birth".

She praised "Roland" for being a purely Christian myth, in contrast to such epics as Beowulf in which she found a strong Pagan content. Beowulf is an Old English Heroic epic poem of anonymous authorship dating as recorded in the Nowell Codex manuscript from between Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "country dweller rustic" is a word used to refer to various religions and religious beliefs from across the world

Other Christian and academic work

Cover of Are Women Human?, which contains two of Sayers' feminist essays

Sayers' most notable religious book is probably The Mind of the Maker (1941) which explores at length the analogy between a human Creator (especially a writer of novels and plays) and the doctrine of The Trinity in creation. Feminism is a discourse that involves various movements theories, and Philosophies which are concerned with the issue of Gender difference, advocate The Mind of the Maker (1941 is a Christian theological book written by Dorothy L SSC RF "Troitsk Institute of Innovative and Termonuclear Research" or TRINITY for shprt Троицкий Институт инновационных и термоядерных She suggests that any human creation of significance involves the Idea, the Energy (roughly: the process of writing and that actual 'incarnation' as a material object) and the Power (roughly: the process of reading/hearing and the effect it has on the audience) and that this "trinity" has useful analogies with the theological Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

In addition to the ingenious thinking in working out this analogy, the book contains striking examples drawn from her own experiences as a writer and elegant criticisms of writers when the balance between Idea, Energy and Power is not, in her view, adequate. ^[10] She defends strongly the view that literary creatures have a nature of their own, vehemently replying to a well-wisher who wanted Lord Peter to "end up a convinced Christian". "From what I know of him, nothing is more unlikely . . . Peter is not the Ideal Man" ^[11]

Her very influential essay The Lost Tools of Learning has been used by many schools in the US as a basis for the classical education movement, reviving the medieval trivium subjects (grammar, logic and rhetoric) as tools to enable the analysis and mastery of every other subject. The Classical education movement advocates a form of education based in the traditions of Western culture, with a particular focus on education as understood and taught In medieval universities, the trivium comprised the three subjects taught first Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric.

Sayers also wrote three volumes of commentaries about Dante, religious essays, and several plays, of which The Man Born to be King may be the best known. Dorothy L Sayers, known as a novelist also wrote many plays The plays Busman's Honeymoon Dorothy L The Man Born to be King is a Radio drama based on the life of Jesus, produced and broadcast by the BBC during the Second World War

Her religious works did so well at presenting the orthodox Anglican position that in 1943 the Archbishop of Canterbury offered her a Lambeth doctorate in divinity, which she declined. Anglicanism is a tradition of Christian faith Churches in this tradition either have historical connections to the Church of England or have similar beliefs The Archbishop of Canterbury is the chief bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the Lambeth degrees are Academic degrees conferred by the Archbishop of Canterbury under the authority of the Ecclesiastical Licences Act 1533 (25 Hen VIII c 21 (Eng In 1950, however, she accepted an honorary doctorate of letters from the University of Durham. Doctor of Letters ( Latin: Litterarum doctor; DLitt; or Litt D Durham University is a University in Durham, England. It was founded as the University of Durham (which remains its official and legal name

Criticism of Sayers

Criticism of background material in her novels

The literary and academic themes in Sayers' novels have not appealed to all readers. A savage attack on Sayers' writing ability came from the prominent American critic and man of letters Edmund Wilson in a well-known 1945 article in The New Yorker called Who Cares Who Killed Roger Ackroyd?^[12] He briefly writes about her famous novel The Nine Tailors, saying "I set out to read [it] in the hope of tasting some novel excitement, and I declare that it seems to me one of the dullest books I have ever encountered in any field. The word critic comes from the Greek el κριτικός ( el-Latn kritikós) "able to discern" which in turn derives from the word Edmund Wilson ( May 8, 1895 &ndash June 12 1972) was an American Writer and The New Yorker is an American Magazine that publishes reportage commentary criticism essays fiction satire cartoons and poetry The Nine Tailors is a 1934 Mystery novel by British writer Dorothy L The first part is all about bell-ringing as it is practised in English churches and contains a lot of information of the kind that you might expect to find in an encyclopedia article on campanology. I skipped a good deal of this, and found myself skipping, also, a large section of the conversations between conventional English village characters. . . . " Wilson continues "I had often heard people say that Dorothy Sayers wrote well. . . but, really, she does not write very well: it is simply that she is more consciously literary than most of the other detective-story writers and that she thus attracts attention in a field which is mostly on a sub-literary level. "

Criticism of major characters

Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane, the two main characters in Sayers' novels, have also been criticised. Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey, a Fictional character, is a bon vivant sleuth in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy Harriet Deborah Vane, later Lady Peter Wimsey, is a fictional character in the works of British writer Dorothy L Wimsey has been criticized for being too perfect; over time the various talents he displays grow too numerous to be believed. Edmund Wilson also expressed his distaste for Lord Peter in his criticism of The Nine Tailors: "There was also a dreadful stock English nobleman of the casual and debonair kind, with the embarrassing name of Lord Peter Wimsey, and, although he was the focal character in the novel. Edmund Wilson ( May 8, 1895 &ndash June 12 1972) was an American Writer and The Nine Tailors is a 1934 Mystery novel by British writer Dorothy L . . I had to skip a good deal of him, too. "^[12]

Wimsey is rich, well-educated, charming, and brave, as well as an accomplished musician, an exceptional athlete, and a notable lover. His only flaws are what other characters regard as silly prattling, a nervous disorder (shell-shock) and a fear of responsibility. The latter two both originate from his service in World War I. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All

The character Harriet Vane, featured in four novels, has been criticized for being a mere stand-in for the author. Harriet Deborah Vane, later Lady Peter Wimsey, is a fictional character in the works of British writer Dorothy L Vane, like Sayers, was educated at Oxford (unusual for a woman at the time) and is a mystery writer. Vane initially meets Wimsey when she is tried for poisoning her lover (Strong Poison); he insists on participating in the defense preparations for her re-trial, where he falls for her but she rejects him. Strong Poison is a 1931 novel by Dorothy L Sayers, her fifth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. In Have His Carcase she collaborates with Wimsey to solve a murder but still rejects his proposals of marriage. Have His Carcase is a 1932 novel by Dorothy L Sayers, her seventh featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and her second novel in which Harriet Vane She eventually accepts (Gaudy Night) and marries him (Busman's Honeymoon). Gaudy Night is a 1935 Lord Peter Wimsey detective story by Dorothy L Busman's Honeymoon is a 1937 novel by Dorothy L Sayers, her eleventh (and last featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. After Sayers' affairs with Cournos and White were revealed, the comparisons between Sayers and Vane became more emphatic (neither Sayers' affairs with Cournos or White were publicly known during her lifetime).

Many of the themes and settings of Sayers' novels, particularly those involving Harriet Vane, seem to reflect Sayers' own concerns and experiences. ^[13] However, McGregor and Lewis suggest that Vane and Wimsey's discussions about mystery in story versus real life—within the context of a mystery story—merely reflect Sayers' sense of fun.

Alleged Racism and Anti-Semitism in Sayers' writing

The characters in Sayers' novels reflect the culture of their time, and some of them express explicit racist, or anti-Semitic views. List of racism-related topics|Racism by country Racism, by its simplest definition is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism; also rarely known as judeophobia) is the Prejudice against or hostility In particular, the portrayal of Jews in Sayers' fictional work has been criticized by some for being stereotypical. In Gaudy Night, one of the characters (Padgett, the porter) even says "Wot this country wants is a 'Itler. Gaudy Night is a 1935 Lord Peter Wimsey detective story by Dorothy L " However, another character (Miss Barton) writes a book attacking the Nazi doctrine of Kinder, Kirche, Küche, which restricted women's roles to family activities, and in many ways the whole of Gaudy Night can be read as an attack on that doctrine, having been described as "the first feminist mystery novel. Kinder Küche Kirche (ˈkɪndɐ ˈkʏçə ˈkɪʁçə or the 3 K’s, is a German slogan translated “children kitchen church” Gaudy Night is a 1935 Lord Peter Wimsey detective story by Dorothy L "^[14] Though confronting to the modern reader, the views expressed by characters in the novel must thus be taken as a reflection of the 1930s English society in which the novel was set, rather than as the author's own view. Some critics consider Sayers to be subtly criticizing misogyny, anti-Semitism, racism, and class distinctions in her novels. Even Lord Peter Wimsey does not necessarily reflect Sayers' own point of view: in Unnatural Death the author briefly criticises her detective for condemning another character's "greediness" with "the unconconscious brutality of one who never lacked for money". Unnatural death is a category used by Coroners and Vital statistics specialists for classifying all human deaths not properly describable as Death by natural causes

Characters in Unnatural Death also display racist attitudes. Unnatural death is a category used by Coroners and Vital statistics specialists for classifying all human deaths not properly describable as Death by natural causes For instance, a maid who refused to serve a person of colour voices many racist sentiments, but the overall story upholds the person of colour as a paragon of virtue (a minister, no less). Within the story, Miss Climpson, a sympathetic character, roundly condemns the maid's racism, although her own choice of language implies that she has (consciously or unconsciously) adopted some racist tendencies herself. Later in the book, the murderer tries to blame the crimes upon a non-existent gang composed of Blacks and Jews, and the book shows how some policemen initially take up the racist canard and how it is eagerly picked up by the popular press; in her essay The Other Six Deadly Sins, Sayers comments that to "foment grievance and to set men at variance is the trade by which agitators thrive and journalists make money. "^[15] In the end, the alleged plot is shown to have been a red herring fabricated by the real culprit.

The 1923 novel Whose Body? involves several Jewish characters, notably the murder victim, Levy. Whose Body? is a 1923 novel by Dorothy L Sayers (ISBN 0-380-39966-0 which introduced the character of Lord Peter Wimsey. Several other characters express anti-Semitic attitudes towards these Jews. The victim's butler, for example, states "I don’t hold with Hebrews as a rule. " The medical students who dissect the victim's body refer to him by the highly racist term Sheeny. This list of ethnic slurs by ethnicity compiles ethnic slurs that are or have been used in the English language. However, once again such views should be taken as a reflection of contemporary English society, and not as the author's own view. A more positive attitude is taken by one of Sayers's recurring (and sympathetic) characters, the Hon. Frederick Arbuthnot, who falls in love with the victim's daughter, to the cheerful acceptance of best man Lord Peter Wimsey. Participants in wedding ceremonies, also known as the wedding party, include the bride and groom (or bridegroom) the maid of honor Both Arbuthnot and Wimsey are also shown to have positive contacts with Jews on a professional level.

Sayers herself had a number of personal and professional associations with Jewish people. Her original publisher was Jewish, and the Chief Rabbi was a frequent visitor at her salons. She had had an unsuccessful relationship with a Jewish man (novelist John Cournos), and Barbara Reynolds, her friend and biographer, suggests that Whose Body? was influenced by thoughts of how society would have treated her as the wife of a Jew. John Cournos (1881 - 1966 was an American writer from a Russian Jewish background his family emigrated when he was aged Whose Body? is a 1923 novel by Dorothy L Sayers (ISBN 0-380-39966-0 which introduced the character of Lord Peter Wimsey. ^[16]

Other biographers of Sayers have disagreed as to whether Sayers was anti-Semitic. In Sayers: A Biography,^[17] James Brabazon argues that Sayers was anti-Semitic. This is refuted by Carolyn G. Heilbrun in Dorothy L. Sayers: Biography Between the Lines. ^[18] McGregor and Lewis argue in Conundrums for the Long Week-End that Sayers was not anti-Semitic but used popular British stereotypes of class and ethnicity. Anti-Semitism was common in Sayers' social class before the Second World War, and Sayers may not have regarded herself as anti-Semitic. In 1936, a translator wanted "to soften the thrusts against the Jews" in Whose Body?; Sayers, surprised, replied that the only characters "treated in a favorable light were the Jews!"^[19]

Legacy

Sayers' work was frequently parodied by her contemporaries (and sometimes by herself). Whose Body? is a 1923 novel by Dorothy L Sayers (ISBN 0-380-39966-0 which introduced the character of Lord Peter Wimsey. A parody (ˈpɛɹədiː US, [ˈpaɹədiː] UK) in contemporary usage is a work created to mock comment on or poke fun at an original work its subject McGregor and Lewis suggest that some of the character Harriet Vane's observations reveal Sayers poking fun at the mystery genre - even while adhering to various conventions herself. Harriet Deborah Vane, later Lady Peter Wimsey, is a fictional character in the works of British writer Dorothy L A genre (ˈʒɑːnrə also /ˈdʒɑːnrə/ from French "kind" or "sort" from Latin: genus (stem gener-) is a loose set

Her characters in others' works

Jill Paton Walsh completed and published two novels about Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane: Thrones, Dominations, based on Sayers's manuscript, left unfinished at her death; and A Presumption of Death, based on the "Wimsey Papers", letters ostensibly written by various Wimseys and published in The Spectator during World War II. Jill Paton Walsh CBE (born 29 April 1937) is an English novelist and children's writer Thrones Dominations is a Lord Peter Wimsey murder mystery novel that Dorothy L A Presumption of Death is a Mystery novel by Jill Paton Walsh, based loosely on The Wimsey Papers by Dorothy L For other uses see Spectator. The Spectator is a weekly British Magazine first published on 6 July World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

E. C. Bentley, the author of the early modern detective novel Trent's Last Case, a work which Sayers admired, wrote a parody entitled "Greedy Night" (1938). E C Bentley ( July 10, 1875 &ndash March 30, 1956) was a popular English novelist and humorist of the early twentieth century Trent's Last Case is a detective novel written by E C Bentley and first published in 1913.

Lord Peter Wimsey appears (together with Hercule Poirot and Father Brown) in C. Northcote Parkinson's comic novel Jeeves (after Jeeves, the gentleman's gentleman of the P.G. Wodehouse canon). Father Brown is a fictional detective created Cyril Northcote Parkinson was a British naval historian and author of some sixty books the most famous of which was his bestseller Parkinson's Law Reginald Jeeves is a Fictional character in the short stories and novels of P Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE (15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975 (ˈwʊdhaʊs was an English Comic novelist who enjoyed enormous popular success

Lord Peter Wimsey makes a cameo appearance in Laurie R. For the "brief appearance" see Cameo appearance. For the "chemical emergency software" see Computer-Aided Management of Emergency King's A Letter of Mary, one of a series of books relating the further adventures of Sherlock Holmes, and his equally talented partner and spouse, Mary Russell. A Letter of Mary is the third in the Mary Russell mystery series of novels by Laurie R Sherlock Holmes is a famous fictional detective of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who first appeared in Publication in 1887

Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife, has claimed in interviews that her main characters, Henry and Clare, are loosely based on Sayers' Peter and Harriet. Audrey Niffenegger (born June 13, 1963 in South Haven Michigan) is an American Writer and Artist. The Time Traveler's Wife is a 2003 novel by Audrey Niffenegger.

Sayers in others' works

Sayers appears, with Agatha Christie, as a title character in Dorothy and Agatha [ISBN 0-451-40314-2], a murder mystery by Gaylord Larsen, in which a man is murdered in her dining room, and Sayers has to solve the crime. Agatha Mary Clarissa Lady Mallowan, DBE (née Miller; 15 September 1890 &ndash 12 January 1976 commonly known as Agatha Christie, was an English The title role in the Performing arts is the performance Part that gives the title to the piece as in Aida, Giselle, Gaylord Larsen (born 1932 is an American Crime writer. He is well known for his fictional murder mystery Dorothy and Agatha, incorporating the well-known

Sayers's god-daughter Barbara Reynolds has suggested that the character of Aunt Dot in Rose Macaulay's novel The Towers of Trebizond (1956) is based on Dorothy L. Barbara Reynolds (born 13 June 1914) is an English scholar lexicographer and translator wife of the philologist and translator Lewis Thorpe Dame Emilie Rose Macaulay, DBE ( 1 August, 1881 in Rugby Warwickshire, England &ndash 30 October, 1958) affectionately The Towers of Trebizond is a Novel published in 1956 by the English novelist biographer and traveller Rose Macaulay (1881-1958 Sayers. ^[20]

Bibliography

See also Plays of Dorothy L. Sayers

See also List of fictional books#Works invented by Dorothy L. Sayers

Poetry

• Op. Dorothy L Sayers, known as a novelist also wrote many plays The plays Busman's Honeymoon Dorothy L A Fictional book is a non-existent book created specifically for (i I (1916) [3]
• Catholic Tales and Christian Songs (1918) [4]

Lord Peter Wimsey novels and short stories

• Whose Body? (1923)
• Clouds of Witness (1926)
• Unnatural Death (1927). Whose Body? is a 1923 novel by Dorothy L Sayers (ISBN 0-380-39966-0 which introduced the character of Lord Peter Wimsey. Clouds of Witness is a 1926 novel by Dorothy L Sayers, the second in her series featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. Unnatural death is a category used by Coroners and Vital statistics specialists for classifying all human deaths not properly describable as Death by natural causes From the papers held by the Marion Wade Centre, it is clear that Sayers' original title was The Singular Case of the Three Spinsters.
• The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club (1928)
• Lord Peter Views the Body (1928) (12 short stories)
• Strong Poison (1930)
• Five Red Herrings (1931)
• Have His Carcase (1932)
• Hangman's Holiday (1933) (12 short stories, 4 including Lord Peter)
• Murder Must Advertise (1933)
• The Nine Tailors (1934)
• Gaudy Night (1935)
• Busman's Honeymoon (1937)
• In the Teeth of the Evidence (1939) (18 short stories, 4 including Lord Peter) (editions published after 1942 usually adds Talboys, the last story she wrote with Lord Peter)
• Thrones, Dominations (1998) (This Lord Peter novel was begun by Sayers in 1936, completed by Jill Paton Walsh and published in 1998. The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club is a 1928 novel by Dorothy L Lord Peter Views the Body, first published in 1928 was the first collection of short stories about Lord Peter Wimsey by Dorothy L Strong Poison is a 1931 novel by Dorothy L Sayers, her fifth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. Five Red Herrings is a 1931 Novel by Dorothy L Sayers. The first time it was published in the United States its title was Suspicious Characters Have His Carcase is a 1932 novel by Dorothy L Sayers, her seventh featuring Lord Peter Wimsey and her second novel in which Harriet Vane Hangman's Holiday is a collection of short stories mostly murder mysteries by Dorothy L Murder Must Advertise is a Lord Peter Wimsey mystery novel by Dorothy L The Nine Tailors is a 1934 Mystery novel by British writer Dorothy L Gaudy Night is a 1935 Lord Peter Wimsey detective story by Dorothy L Busman's Honeymoon is a 1937 novel by Dorothy L Sayers, her eleventh (and last featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. In the Teeth of the Evidence is a collection of short stories by Dorothy L Thrones Dominations is a Lord Peter Wimsey murder mystery novel that Dorothy L Jill Paton Walsh CBE (born 29 April 1937) is an English novelist and children's writer )

• Sayers also wrote the scenario for the film The Silent Passenger (1935), a Lord Peter story which was never published in book form, and whose script was altered greatly by the film company from her original. The Silent Passenger is a British black and white film made in 1935 at Ealing Studios, London. ^[21].

Other crime fiction

• The Documents in the Case (1930) written with Robert Eustace
• The Floating Admiral (1931) (Written with members of The Detection Club, a chapter each)
• Ask a Policeman (1933) (Written with members of The Detection Club)
• Six against the Yard (1936) (Written with members of The Detection Club)
• The Sultry Tiger (1936) (Originally written under a pseudonym, republished in 1965)
• Double Death: a Murder Story (1939) (Written with members of The Detection Club)
• The Scoop and Behind the Screen (1983) (Originally published in The Listener (1931) and (1930), both written by members of The Detection Club)
• Crime on the Coast and No Flowers by Request (1984) (Written by members of The Detection Club, Sayers takes part in the second, originally published in Daily Sketch (1953)

Dante translations and commentaries

• The Divine Comedy, Part 1: Hell ISBN 0-14-044006-2
• The Divine Comedy, Part 2: Purgatory ISBN 0-14-044046-1
• The Divine Comedy, Part 3: Paradise (completed by Barbara Reynolds) ISBN 0-14-044105-0
• Introductory Papers on Dante: Volume 1: The Poet Alive in His Writings
• Further Papers on Dante Volume 2: His Heirs and His Ancestors
• The Poetry of Search and the Poetry of Statement Volume 3: On Dante and Other Writers

Essays and non-fiction

• The Mind of the Maker (1941) ISBN 0-8371-3372-6
• Unpopular Opinions (1947)
• Are Women Human? (two essays reprinted from Unpopular Opinions) ISBN 0-8028-2996-1
• Creed or Chaos?:Why Christians Must Choose Either Dogma or Disaster (Or, Why It Really Does Matter What You Believe) ISBN 0-918477-31-X
• The Man Born to be King, a cycle of 12 plays on the life of Jesus (1941)
• Sayers on Holmes ISBN 1-887726-08-X
• The Whimsical Christian ISBN 0-02-096430-7
• Les Origines du Roman Policier: A Wartime Wireless Talk to the French: The Original French Text with an English Translation (ed. The Documents in the Case is a 1930 novel by Dorothy L Sayers and Robert Eustace. The Detection Club was formed in 1930 by a group of British mystery writers including Agatha Christie, Dorothy L The Scoop & Behind The Screen are both collaborative detective serials written by members of the Detection Club which were broadcast weekly by See also New Zealand Listener and Listener (musician and The Listener (TV series The Listener was a weekly The Mind of the Maker (1941 is a Christian theological book written by Dorothy L The Man Born to be King is a Radio drama based on the life of Jesus, produced and broadcast by the BBC during the Second World War and trans. Suzanne Bray, Hurstpierpoint: Dorothy L. Sayers Society, 2003) ISBN 0-9545636-0-3

Unpublished work

• Smith & Smith Removals: I

Letters

Five volumes of Sayers' letters have been published, edited by Barbara Reynolds.

• The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers: 1899-1936: The Making of a Detective Novelist ISBN 0-312-14001-0
• The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers: 1937-1943, From Novelist to Playwright ISBN 0-312-18127-2
• The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers: 1944-1950, A Noble Daring ISBN 0-951-80051-5
• The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers: 1951-1957, In the Midst of Life ISBN 0-951-80006-X
• The Letters of Dorothy L. Sayers: Child and Woman of Her Time ISBN 0-951-80007-8

External links

• Dorothy L. Sayers at the Internet Movie Database
• The Dorothy L. Sayers Society
• Dorothy L Sayers in Galloway—the scene of her novel Five Red Herrings (1931)

Notes

References and scholarship

• Op. I by Dorothy Sayers (poetry): http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/sayers/opi/dls-opi.html
• The Lost Tools of Learning by Dorothy L. Sayers: http://www.gbt.org/text/sayers.html
• Brabazon, James, Dorothy L. Sayers: a Biography (1980; New York: Avon, 1982) ISBN 978-0-380-58990-6
• Brown, Janice, The Seven Deadly Sins in the Work of Dorothy L. Sayers (Kent, OH, & London: Kent State University Press, 1998) ISBN 0-87338-605-1
• Connelly, Kelly C. "From Detective Fiction to Detective Literature: Psychology in the Novels of Dorothy L. Sayers and Margaret Millar. " CLUES: A Journal of Detection 25. 3 (Spring 2007): 35-47
• Coomes, David, Dorothy L. Sayers: A Careless Rage for Life (1992; London: Chariot Victor Publishing, 1997) ISBN 978-0-7459-2241-6
• Dale, Alzine Stone, Maker and Craftsman: The Story of Dorothy L. Sayers (1993; backinprint. com, 2003) ISBN 978-0595266-03-6
• Dean, Christopher, ed. , Encounters with Lord Peter (Hurstpierpoint: Dorothy L. Sayers Society, 1991) ISBN 0-9518000-0-0
• -- Studies in Sayers: Essays presented to Dr Barbara Reynolds on her 80th Birthday (Hurstpierpoint: Dorothy L. Barbara Reynolds (born 13 June 1914) is an English scholar lexicographer and translator wife of the philologist and translator Lewis Thorpe Sayers Society, 1991) ISBN 0-9518000-1-9
• Gorman, Anita G. , and Leslie R. Mateer. "The Medium Is the Message: Busman's Honeymoon as Play, Novel, and Film. " CLUES: A Journal of Detection 23. 4 (Summer 2005): 54-62
• Kenney, Catherine, The Remarkable Case of Dorothy L. Sayers (1990; Kent, OH, & London: Kent State University Press, 1992) ISBN 0-87338-458-X
• Lennard, John, 'Of Purgatory and Yorkshire: Dorothy L. John Lennard is Professor of British and American Literature at the University of the West Indies, Mona and a freelance academic and writer Sayers and Reginald Hill's Divine Comedy', in Of Modern Dragons and other essays on Genre Fiction (Tirril: Humanities-Ebooks, 2007), pp. 33-55. ISBN 978-1-84760-038-7
• McGregor, Robert Kuhn & Lewis, Ethan Conundrums for the Long Week-End : England, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Lord Peter Wimsey (Kent, OH, & London: Kent State University Press, 2000) ISBN 0-87338-665-5
• Reynolds, Barbara, Dorothy L. Barbara Reynolds (born 13 June 1914) is an English scholar lexicographer and translator wife of the philologist and translator Lewis Thorpe Sayers: Her Life and Soul (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1993; rev. eds 1998, 2002) ISBN 0-340-72845-0
• Sørsdal, Randi, From Mystery to Manners: A Study of Five Detective Novels by Dorothy L. Sayers, Masters thesis, University of Bergen. [5]
• Young, Laurel. "Dorothy L. Sayers and the New Woman Detective Novel. "CLUES: A Journal of Detection 23. 4 (Summer 2005): 39-53