Reviewing Mr. Timothy by: Louis Bayard

Review of Mr. Timothy

A Novel written by Louis Bayard

            Most are familiar with the classic Christmas tale written by Charles Dickens; whether you’ve actually read it or you have seen one of the many adaptations you probably know the story.  There is even a movie that tells a fictionalized version of how “A Christmas Carol” came about.  Tiny Tim is a secondary character at the heart of the story.  He is the crippled son of Bob Cratchit, Scrooge’s underpaid clerk, and the boy is a saintly as an angel.  He says things like, and I’m paraphrasing, “I hope people will see me so they’ll be reminded of how God heals the sick”.  Of course, we have the famous ending line “God Bless us, everyone”, but this novel debunks that.  Dickens was known for writing angelic children if they were a main character, and I imagine back then it was not as big of a deal, but by today’s standards for literature it is annoying.  

            In “Mr. Timothy” Tiny Tim and is not so tiny and trying desperately to escape his childhood reputation and not be dependent on his Uncle N aka Scrooge.   In Scrooge’s story, Tiny is only a secondary character, but one that is the catalyst that is the turning point for Scrooge, but in this story, Scrooge is a background character in Tim’s life.  He played a role in Tim’s growing up but as an adult Tim wants to live his own life. Scrooge is definitely overcompensating for his greedy and cruel ways from the original.  He has been making sure the best doctors take care of Tim and is constantly giving money to charities, but it leaves the rest of the Cratchit children in the dust.  This aspect is only the secondary plot as Tim gets mixed up in criminal activity.  Preteen girls are being prostituted and found dead.  Tim comes across a potential next victim, ten-year-old Philomena, and he takes her under his protective care.

            As I said, this debunks Tiny Tim’s saintly persona, which you realize he resents and felt pressured to live up to.  Now he lives at a brothel and offers to teach the Matron of the house to read for free room and board.  The thriller part of the story shows the darker of London.  We know it’s bad in “A Christmas Carol”, but this story is actually active in showing the underbelly of London, not just brief glimpses.  Philomena is only ten years of age and so are the other girls being sold to old men as brides.  One of the women helping with the “business” hides behind a religious guise so no will believe that she guilty of such disgusting crimes as prostituting young girls.  There are sightings of ghosts in this story, but their presence is only hints of them with little involvement in the character’s lives.  They do not need the same kind of guidance Scrooge did. Bayard does not shy away from vulgar and suggestive language such as the F word and of course, showing the “business” of prostitution.  He pays homage to Dickens beautiful writing with his sentences having a similar flair, but written in a modern way that’s not as long winded.   Bayard shows his love for “A Christmas Carol” and Dickens but does his own thing  with his characters.