I've just learned of Veronica Speedwell's addiction to the adventures of Arcadia Brown, Lady Detective.
What a wonderful idea, it fills out Veronica's character, provides an in-joke for readers and makes Stoker seem boorish (if still eye-catching) by his I-don't-read-low-fiction snobbish response.
I look forward to hearing Veronica's first shout of "Excelsior!"
I am a little puzzled as to why Stoke found the name Veronica so unusual.
I was raised as a Catholic and Veronica was a well-known name, if not often chosen. She's completely absent from the Gospels but appears in the Stations of the Cross where she wipes the face of Christ as he carried the cross to Calvary and was left with a perfect impression of his face on the cloth. The cloth became a great Relic of the Church.
Would Stoke not have known of this because he wasn't Catholic?
Did Raybourne pick the name because it comes from a Saint who is probably a fiction and a major source of revenue?
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