Special Note: The question that first appeared on this post, involving Henry Baker’s hat, was–well, it was just wrong. As the post was just up, I have substituted a new question. However, if you have an answer for that one, or the reason why I was wrong, you will also be entered into the drawing. Thanks so much to Resa Haile, who pointed out my error!
It’s the last day of Winter Break. The day that–if you’re a stay-at-home-mom–craaawwwwwlllllls by, and is filled with little voices declaring that they’re bored, hungry (when they just ate), and “telling” on their siblings. It is the day when you would love to get away, but as the grocery store is the only real option, you might as well stay home. Oh, how you would love a Great Hiatus!
You know this is where Holmes really went. No afghans necessary!
There is a theory–which I don’t subscribe to, by the way–that in the moments after the Fall from Reichenbach, Holmes saw the opportunity most of us want at least once in our lives: the chance to go off and reinvent his life. To escape others’ needs and expectations and do things he’d always wanted to do.* I mean really, coal tar derivatives. Who can resist?
Because Holmes just doesn’t say much, and Watson never writes about them, the Hiatus Years are a favorite topic for pasticheurs. After all, they really have carte blanche. If you can make it believable, well, who’s to say you’re wrong? So today, in honor of Escape and the Freedom of Imagination,** we’ve got another anthology, also edited by Michael Kurland–Sherlock Holmes: The Hidden Years. Authors like Carolyn Wheat, Carole Buggé, Peter Beagle and Rhys Bowen take Holmes off to Burma, Norway, Tibet, and New Orleans, among other exotic locales. The book also includes Gary Lovisi’s “The Adventure of the Missing Detective,” which was an Edgar Award finalist.
Sound interesting? Then just answer the question below (via blog comment, FB PM, or Twitter DM–which seems to be working again) for your chance to win.
Why did Henry Baker’s wife “cease to love him,” at least according to Holmes? (Canon or Granada)
Sorry it’s not a cruise, but it’s the best we can do.
Best of luck, and here’s hoping your 2013 is off to a good (and quiet, tattle-free) start!
Day Nine Winner!
Congratulations to Mary Loving, who won the drawing after submitting the answer that Moffatt and Gattiss’ “Golem,” (“The Great Game”), was an homage to the Rathbone/Bruce villain, “The Hoxton Creeper,” in “The Pearl of Death.”
Footnotes:
*I really think he knew he stil had a few Moriarty-ish loose ends to tie up (like the guy who was still trying to kill him), and didn’t want to endanger Watson and his wife. I also think that Mycroft used the Hiatus to his own advantage, lengthening it somewhat.
**Feel free to do the SpongeBob thing with your hands. If you get a rainbow, let us know.
The Well-Read Sherlockian 
Henry Baker’s wife ceased to love him due to some sort of moral regression along with a decrease in wealth (both likely caused by drinking).
Love the blog, by the way!
According to Granada, Mrs. Baker ceased her affections because of Henry’s lack of employment: “Yes, she is still somewhat irked with me, I’m afraid, However, thing may doubtless improve when I am once more in gainful employment.”
In the Canon, Holmes sees the results of love’s loss: “This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear Watson, with a week’s accumulation of dust upon your hat, and when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife’s affection.” Holmes does speculate on why Henry is on the outs with the missus: ” He had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that his wife has ceased to love him.”
I am intrigued with the 12thNG.10 question in my email–different from the one in the post: “How do Granada and the Canon differ in their versions of how Henry Baker copes with losing his hat?” This one I’m not sure of the answer. In both Granada and the Canon Baker says, ” I am much indebted to you, sir, for a Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity.” We don’t see Baker wear in on the show (It is in his hand), so my theory is that you missed that in the show, thought there was a difference–no hat in Granada, bonnet in the Canon–then later realized your mistake, changed the question in the post, but not the email. If this is correct, then I expect to do better than 100% on the 12thNG questions. Assuming that I get the next two right, of course.
didn’t she cease to love him because of his drinking? and my pastiche deals with the hiatus at least in part lol