Gaudy Night is a 1935 mystery novel by English author Dorothy L. Sayers and the tenth installment in Sayers' series of works featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. It draws heavily from Sayers' experience of academic and social life at the Somerville College, the first women's college founded at the prestigious University of Oxford, which inspired Gaudy Night's "Shrewsbury College". Sayers studied modern languages and medieval literature at Somerville and was one of the first women to be awarded a degree from the college. Gaudy Night contains strong messages in favor of women's education and against the Nazi doctrine relegating women to strictly familial/household roles.
One major aspect of life at Oxford that appears in Gaudy Night is the "gaudy"--a type of college feast in the U.K. usually serving as an alumni reunion. The protagonist of the novel, Harriet, is an Oxford alumna invited back to attend the annual Gaudy feast. A series of misfortunes occur during the celebration, and Lord Peter Wimsey is called upon to investigate.
Sayers has described the character of Lord Peter Whimsey as a "mixture of Fred Astaire and Bertie Wooster, the blissfully unaware protagonist of a series of comic novels who has to be guided through life by his butler, Jeeves." However, aspects of his character might have also been influenced by Sayers' own heritage, as her mother was descended from a family of landed gentry (the lower tier of the English aristocracy) from the Isle of Wight.
Gaudy Night received a mixed response from readers. While some hail the novel as the first feminist mystery novel, it was also deeply criticized by prominent authors such as George Orwell and J.R.R. Tolkein.
