The Secret Diary of Dr Watson

Review 1: It’s not a new idea to present the uncensored truth behind the published writings, but other writers have used it to parody the Canon; Ms Janda gives us a generally plausible and always entertaining account of what really happened in those case of the Severed Ears, the Phantom Hound, Black Jack of Ballarat and the rest. In addition she gives us a self-portrait of an intelligent, thoughtful, courageous and very likable man. It’s right that Watson’s name should be in the title: The Secret Diary of Dr Watson is his story, not Holmes’s, and the better for it. I wonder if Ms Janda will be tempted to continue the diary . . . I almost hope not.

Reviewed by: Roger Johnson, [District Messenger 217, 2001]

Review 2: All we are told about the author of this intriguing first novel is that “Anita Janda lives in New York City where she earns her living writing about wireless software applications. She earned her PhD in linguistics with a grammatical analysis of the dance language of the honey bee.” I would add that, acknowledged or not, this book surely arose from the mind and heart of a genuine Sherlockian.

Opening in 1888, The Secret Diary of Dr. Watson begins like a typical Holmes and Watson pastiche with a telegram followed by a visit to an eccentric client. Although the presentation of the famous pair as “etheric manipulators” is unfamiliar (and amusing), many elements of the new case gradually become recognizable as those in The Adventure of the Cardboard Box. The narrative is then uncharacteristically interrupted by the author’s comments, and it becomes clear that this is not a story, but an entry in Dr. Watson's writing journal. This project has been undertaken at the instigation of his wife, former governess Mary Morstan, to “give him back the writing habit.” Her rules for the blank journal, “Bound in real morocco leather, John!” are that he will not be allowed to tell her about his adventures with Holmes—he can only write them down, and she insists that she will never read what he has written. It must be a secret diary.

The premise thus established, we are treated to a delightfully different point of view. While I found the relationship between Holmes and Watson entirely consistent with my vision of the Canon, I was amused by the author's ability to capture Watson's subtle frustrations in dealing with his refractory colleague, who isn't always ready to release a story for publication. (“Really, sometimes Holmes tries my patience. Does he think this is easy? I should like to see him try his hand at this some time.”) I was charmed by the development of John’s relationship to his Mary—it gradually dawns on the reader that she is as good as Holmes at manipulating the good doctor. On the other hand, it is Mary's determined efforts at matchmaking that force Watson to beget the extraordinary Irene Adler as an excuse for Holmes' skepticism of marriage.

Meticulously phrased in 19th century language, The Secret Diary provides special insights into a writer’s mind. Sherlockians will delight in the games Watson plays with names and events as he struggles to disguise Holmes' clients as characters in his stories: “What it comes down to is that I am free to use the deductive chain in its entirety—I merely have to make up the people, the crime, and the conversation.”

It is entertaining to encounter back stories for HOUN, BLUE, SCAN, BOSC, and others. We are also treated to Watson’s trials with his publisher (Mary’s “cousin Nat” of the Strand Magazine), whose insistence on buying stories six at a time becomes a burden when Watson’s stories aren’t seasoned enough to print (“I can’t release [BOSC] for his family to read on the way home from his funeral.”)

The winning combination of witty speculation and Sherlockian scholarship flows along so brightly that the plot twist at Reichenbach chills the reader like a dip in the falls themselves. Foreshadowed in the title, the last chapters unfold with special poignancy as Watson comes to realize what Holmes’ friendship has really meant to him. In The Secret Diary of Dr. Watson, Anita Janda has created a sympathetic and unforgettable autobiography that would make a splendid gift for your favorite Sherlockian(s).

Reviewed by: Marilynne McKay (The Serpentine Muse, v. 19(1) Winter 2002)

Review 3: Credit for this journal and probably the entire publication of the Sherlock Holmes Canon belongs to Mrs. Mary Morstan Watson. Although an orphan, Mary Morstan had a secret horde of relatives. Her favourite cousin was Nat Fitscherton who just happened to be the editor of the Strand Magazine. One can only wonder if the Holmes stories would ever have been published without this contact. Watson had laboured for months on A Study in Scarlet and gotten nothing but rejects. A Study in Scarlet was a necessary precursor to any further stories. Its function was to introduce Sherlock Holmes to the world. Watson finally had to pay to have the first edition privately printed. Prior to publishing this case, Holmes was an unknown entity.

After watching her husband’s futile labours for months Mary bought him a journal and urged him to record his memoirs. Mary refuses to read her husband’s journal. She tells her husband, “There are two rules for keeping a journal: the entries must be dated and it must be kept from prying eyes.” Think for a second of the advantages this gave Watson. He can express his opinions without inhibition. He had no worries about offending Holmes or any living person. He had no worries about being sued or about documenting any story for which the world is not yet ready. He had no worries about betraying any obligations of confidentially. The dates assure accuracy and freedom from prying eyes allows him to express his true feelings without the possibility of contradiction of offending others. The Holmes Canon was written for public consumption, his private journal was his perception of the truth. In Dr. Watson’s own words, “ It is a heady experience, writing without fear of contradiction or reproof.” Which version of events would you consider to be the more accurate?

Watson had a contract with The Strand Magazine to provide one story a month for twelve months. Each story was to be 6000-9000 words each. If he failed to provide a story for any one month he did not get paid for the previous month. At the signing of the contract he had four stories completed. It sounds like he was well “ahead of the power curve.” Definitely the methodology of a prudent man.

Watson’s first submission is The Sign of Four. The Strand immediately rejects this as being too long. The Strand desires shorter stories that will hold the reader’s attention and can be read in one evening.

He has written Charles Augustus Milverton. Holmes refuses to let Watson publish this story. Although he has changed all the names in the story to protect the innocent (and guilty), its origins are too transparent. Holmes and Watson were not only guilty of a break-in but also of failing to stop and covering up the identity of a murder.

Another of Watson’s completed stories is The Adventure of the Speckled Band. Holmes has promised Helen Stoner (not her real name) confidentiality during her lifetime.

When Watson finally gets permission to publish A Case of Identity he is confronted with an upset Mary Morrison (the fictional Mary Sutherland) feeling betrayed because Holmes didn’t tell her whom the real Hosmer Angel was. Who can blame her? Mary Morstan is stunned; “she doesn’t look anything like Mary Sutherland”. Watson’s careers as a physician and writer are periodically punctuated by periods acting as Holmes eyes and ears. In The Hound of the Baskervilles he was left in Dartmoor as an observer and bodyguard to Sir Henry Baskerville. He recalls Bakskerville Hall as gloomy, Mrs. Barrymore’s cooking as inedible, the weather terrible and Sir Henry uncooperative. Life was not exactly rosy.

The journal ends in 1894 after the death of Watson’s baby son and of Mary Morstan Watson. Holmes has miraculously been reincarnated.

Hers is a totally different approach to the Holmes Canon. It is totally believable and a very human approach.

Originality, imagination and insight are the hallmarks of this work. What could be more natural than a writer writing about a writer?

Thank you Ms. Janda for providing a thoroughly enjoyable experience!

Reviewed by: Roger Kellogg, originally appeared in The Gaslight Gazette 2004