Blast from the Past: "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin
As you can see from our bios, we were all big readers as kids, which probably is why we read so much now. When we started talking about what we wanted to do on She’s Full of Lit, rereading childhood faves came up again and again. To be honest, I was a little nervous — would it still hold up? would I still love these books? — and a little excited.
“The Westing Game” by Ellen Raskin
Synopsis: A bizarre chain of events begins when sixteen unlikely people gather for the reading of Samuel W. Westing’s will. And though no one knows why the eccentric, game-loving millionaire has chosen a virtual stranger—and a possible murderer—to inherit his vast fortune, on things for sure: Sam Westing may be dead…but that won’t stop him from playing one last game!
Pre-read recollections: I somewhat cheated one this one because I was inspired to read it by Alli at SSR Podcast, but I did stop the episode so as to not spoil myself! I read this book for the first time in middle school English, and I think I picked it at some point in college while babysitting a middle school student, and I remembered a few of the bigger broad strokes: Sam Westing was a wily old minx with a fondness for word play, there was something to do with cardinal directions, and all of these people were willing to move to this building with no idea why.
Adult review: I love a good who-dun-it, and even though this is a children’s book, I think this one is one of the better I’ve ever read. The plot is so clever, the ending is unexpected, the red herrings are plentiful - this book definitely is still a winner. Beyond the central mystery of the book, the characters and the world they inhabit are amazing - way to go, Ellen Raskin!
Sixteen eccentric characters are brought together, first as neighbors, and then as heirs to a great fortune ($200 million!) — but only if they can work with their teammates to solve the mystery of who killed Sam Westing. Character development is expansive; the way that Raskin wrote it, we could really get to know everyone in the building — slowly and steadily. I also loved the structure of the story; the short vignettes were perfect. We were able to get different points of view, and a more complete picture of how the mystery solving progressed.
“The heir who wins the windfall is the one who will find the fourth.” An innocuous line from the will that sets off the mystery, and it is one of the great injustices of our era that Turtle couldn’t crow (I’m sorry, I couldn't help it) how she was the only one who figured it out! She found the fourth identity of Windy WIndkloeppel: Sam Westing, Barney Northrup, Sandy McSouthers, and Julian Eastman. I remember identifying with Turtle when I first read it — we were about the same age, and I wished that I had braids like that — and as an adult, I still love her. However, I know have much more sympathy for the other characters in the book, like Chris and Angela (not Denton - he still sucks).
Of course, nothing is perfect. I know that it’s a central conceit of the book, but I do not understand how all of these people were willing and able to pick up their lives and move into Sunset Towers. Moving is absolutely the worst, and they didn’t know about the $200 million when they decided to uproot and move into this building. Also, this book was written in the late 1970s, and there are some cultural things that don’t really hold up in 2019. It’s at times a little racist and a little jingoistic, and that was jarring to me. It didn’t remove me from the story, but I did want to flag that.
I did learn that Ellen Raskin wrote this book without knowing the ending — she built a ship, and then she let her characters steer it to the appropriate ending. Holy forking shirtballs, that’s amazing. This book is Agatha Christie levels of mystery, and she just let the story go where it needed to go. And I think it ended the right way; I love that we were given a glimpse into how the characters progressed past the end of the game. The last 20 pages are a treat.
So…did it hold up?: Absolutely! This is a book I’m glad that I have in my collection, as I feel like it will only get richer on re-reads. Turtle is the hero we all need!
TL;DR: Totally one to pick up if you like a whodunit - part murder mystery, part treasure hunt, part character study - all tied up into one of the more clever endings I remember.
