Who is Amelia Peabody?
In her own words:
"Give it up, Mr. Fletcher, you cannot flatter me; I know the catalogue of my faults too accurately. I am too tall, I am too lean in some regions and too amply endowed in others. My nose is too large, my mouth is too wide, and the shape of my chin is positively masculine. Sallow complexions and jetty black hair are not in fashion this season; and I have been informed that eyes of so deep a gray, set under such forbidding black brows, strike terror into the beholder even when they are beaming with benevolence - which my eyes seldom do. Now, I think I have dealt with that subject. Shall we turn to business?" (Crocodile on the Sandbank)
By current standards I am not beautiful. Fortunately for me, Emerson's tastes in this area, as in most others, are highly original. My complexion, which others find sallow and dark, he described (on one memorable occasion) as resembling the honey of Hymettus; my coarse, jet-black hair, which refuses to remain confined in braids, buns, or nets, arouses in him a peculiar variety of tactile enjoyment; and his remarks about my figure, which is unfashionably slender in some areas and overly endowed in others, cannot be reproduced, even here. (The Mummy Case)
Amelia Peabody Emerson, her husband Emerson and in later novels their son Ramses and ward Nefret are the protagonists of this series of books. Narrated from Amelias point of view, they stumble from one adventure to the next, digging for undiscovered Egyptian tombs, finding and loosing mummys, getting imprisoned in ancient pyramids and being followed by misterious villains.
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What Amelia thinks about...
...marriage and Emerson:
I never meant to marry. In my opinion, a woman born in the last half of the nineteenth century of the Christian era suffered from enough disadvantages without willfully embracing another. That is not to say that I did not occasionally indulge in daydreams of romantic encounters; for I was as sensible as any other female of the visible attractions of the opposite sex. But I never expected to meet a man who was my match, and I had no more desire to dominate a spouse than to be ruled by him. Marriage, in my view, should be a balanced stalemate between equal adversaries.
I had resigned myself to a life of spinsterhood when, at a somewhat advanced age, I met Radcliffe Emerson. 0ur first encounter was not romantic. Never will I forget my initial sight of Emerson, as we stood face to face in that dismal hall of the Boulaq Museum - his black beard bristling, bis blue eyes blazing, his fists clenched, his deep baritone voice bellowing invectives at me for dusting off the antiquities. Yet even as I answered his criticism in kind, I knew in my heart that our lives would be intertwined.
I have several logical, sensible reasons for accepting Emerson's offer of marriage. Emerson was an Egyptologist; and my first visit to the realm of the pharaohs planted seeds of affection for that antique land that were soon to blossom into luxuriant flower. Emerson's keen intelligence and acerbic tongue-which had won him the title "Father of Curses" from his devoted Egyptian workman-made him a foeman worthy of my steel. And yet, dear Reader, these were not my real reasons for yielding to Emerson's suit. I deplore cliches but in this case I must resort to one. Emerson swept me off my feet. (The Mummy Case)
Amelia Peabody Links:
Another Shirt Ruined. A lot of Infos about Amelia and E.P.
An Amelia Page as part of more about E.P.
Amelia Peabody Books
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