Channeling Amelia

As a former English teacher and church worker, one might think it easy to predict what great literature I reach for in times of trouble and need: the Bible? Well…..sometimes, but it’s a lot of work to get through and discomforting more often than comforting. Shakespeare? I think he’s great, but he’s not exactly relaxing, and all those bodies! No, my guilty secret is that many of my sustaining beliefs, especially those I turn to in difficult times, come from Elizabeth Peter’s Amelia Peabody Emerson mystery series (bodies aren’t so bad when there’s a mystery attached).

The first book, Crocodile on the Sandbank, hooked me with its strong female characters as well as its almost slapstick humor. In the second, The Curse of the Pharaohs, Amelia’s son Ramses is introduced and then left at home while Amelia and her handsome husband head to Egypt to help a beautiful widow. In Lion in the Valley, Ramses begins to come into his own, and a pesky master criminal is introduced. The eighteen books progress through the years, becoming both more complex and well-written, while still maintaining their trademark sly humor, romance, and breathless adventure. In He Shall Thunder in the Sky, the Great War has begun and the now-grown Ramses goes undercover to expose a traitor in Egypt. My inability to put the book down and go to bed before 6:00 a.m. showed me how attached I had become to the characters and how deeply I cared what happened to them. It was in this book that the concept of weathering pain and tragedy first struck me; those are not words heard in a time and country where people just want pain to stop. We often feel angry and indignant over undeserved trouble and look around for whom to blame. But the Emersons weather the storm. The war does come to a close, but the political intrigue continues and so does the hunt for untouched tombs. The series ends—at least for the present—with the “true” story of the discovery of King Tut’s tomb in Tomb of the Golden Bird.

It would be easy, especially if one has only read the early books, to categorize this series as light mystery set in an intriguing place. But over the years I have found myself returning to them regularly for strength and solace. When a close friend was terminally ill, I sent her the first four and told her she needed to read them. A few weeks later, she called to tell me they had made her feel stronger and were there more? I knew they would help because they had the same effect on me. That’s when I realized there are life lessons to be taken to heart in this series. In a whimsical moment, I decided to write down what I called “Amelia’s Words of Wisdom”, a list that is posted in my house and referred to regularly:

—The right man is worth waiting for.

—A good cat can be a lifesaver.

—Even when chasing Master Criminals, you wash the donkeys first.

—Do what you love.

—Disregard silly social conventions, but uphold those that matter.

—Side by side and back to back.

—Ethical behavior, both personal and professional, is hard when so many choose other ways. You still do it.

—We all struggle with racism deep down inside.

—It is pointless to complain that the world is not what we want it to be; sometimes you have to compromise on what you accept from others and from life itself.

—The world has always been scary, and present problems have been a long time in the making.

—None of us is perfect, and people can be hurt by that. Accept it, try to fix it, and go on.

—There is humor even in the midst of tragedy.

—We can weather this.

—Sometimes I would like to beat someone over the head with a parasol.

My friend died, my struggles as a single parent continue, recession threatens, and war continues. I’m still waiting for the right man, but I have four cats who keep me sane when they aren't making me crazy. I remember Amelia’s insistence on washing the donkeys first when the house starts descending into disorder. I work to behave ethically, even when it doesn’t pay. The world and my life is what it is, but I CAN weather this and laugh about it as well. And though I’ve never beat anyone over the head with a parasol, I’ve sure daydreamed about it.