A beautiful story, with a wonderful main character
This is such a brilliant story which had me invested in Madame Burova right from the outset. She is such a wonderful character and I couldn’t wait to learn more about her life as a tarot reader, palmist and clairvoyant.
We meet Madame Burova in the present as she is getting ready to retire and leave her booth on the Brighton seafront, after almost fifty years. She has become weary of other people’s lives and has spent so long keeping their secrets that it’s time for her to have some time for herself. Before she can do this however, she has to fulfil a promise she made to one of her patrons, many years ago. To do this she must deliver the contents of two brown envelopes, which she has kept safe for all this time.
In London, it is also time for Billie to make a fresh start. She has left her university job and marriage behind and is trying to come to terms with the passing of her father. When she discovers something which leaves the very essence of her identity in question, the trail leads her right to Madam Burova’s door and the contents of those two envelopes...
I thought it was really effective having the two timelines of Madame Burova in the present and then in 1972, through to 1974 and how these were linked. I really enjoyed getting to learn about Madame Burova’s family and upbringing and the people she met through her work in the 1970’s timeline. I particularly liked seeing her friendship with Ruby, whose sister Diamond owned the cafe near to Madam Burova’s booth and how this led to Madame Burova working at Larkins Holiday Park, as this is where Ruby worked. There were so many wonderful seaside entertainers at the holiday park including Sara-Jade the contortionist, Jeanie the singer, Dolly, Daisy and Dixie the mermaids and my personal favourite, Cillian the Wall of Death rider.
The relevance of this time to Billie’s discovery in the present was very clever and I liked being able to think and reflect on this as I was reading. I enjoyed seeing Billie and Madame Burova’s friendship develop and also getting an insight into the lives of other characters from the 1970’s in the present, especially that of Treasure, Ruby’s son.
The settings in this book came to life too and I could really picture the Brighton promenade, Larkins Holiday Park, Madame Burova’s booth and also St Pancras, a train station I have visited on many occasions. I also liked how Ruth’s beautiful writing created elements of suspicion and allowed me to have questions about certain characters in my head as I was reading. I was right to trust my instinct about one particular character but another character when their relevance was revealed, took me completely by surprise. It was so clever, and I didn’t see it coming at all!
Having enjoyed Madame Burova so much, I would definitely love to read Ruth Hogan’s previous books now!
We meet Madame Burova in the present as she is getting ready to retire and leave her booth on the Brighton seafront, after almost fifty years. She has become weary of other people’s lives and has spent so long keeping their secrets that it’s time for her to have some time for herself. Before she can do this however, she has to fulfil a promise she made to one of her patrons, many years ago. To do this she must deliver the contents of two brown envelopes, which she has kept safe for all this time.
In London, it is also time for Billie to make a fresh start. She has left her university job and marriage behind and is trying to come to terms with the passing of her father. When she discovers something which leaves the very essence of her identity in question, the trail leads her right to Madam Burova’s door and the contents of those two envelopes...
I thought it was really effective having the two timelines of Madame Burova in the present and then in 1972, through to 1974 and how these were linked. I really enjoyed getting to learn about Madame Burova’s family and upbringing and the people she met through her work in the 1970’s timeline. I particularly liked seeing her friendship with Ruby, whose sister Diamond owned the cafe near to Madam Burova’s booth and how this led to Madame Burova working at Larkins Holiday Park, as this is where Ruby worked. There were so many wonderful seaside entertainers at the holiday park including Sara-Jade the contortionist, Jeanie the singer, Dolly, Daisy and Dixie the mermaids and my personal favourite, Cillian the Wall of Death rider.
The relevance of this time to Billie’s discovery in the present was very clever and I liked being able to think and reflect on this as I was reading. I enjoyed seeing Billie and Madame Burova’s friendship develop and also getting an insight into the lives of other characters from the 1970’s in the present, especially that of Treasure, Ruby’s son.
The settings in this book came to life too and I could really picture the Brighton promenade, Larkins Holiday Park, Madame Burova’s booth and also St Pancras, a train station I have visited on many occasions. I also liked how Ruth’s beautiful writing created elements of suspicion and allowed me to have questions about certain characters in my head as I was reading. I was right to trust my instinct about one particular character but another character when their relevance was revealed, took me completely by surprise. It was so clever, and I didn’t see it coming at all!
Having enjoyed Madame Burova so much, I would definitely love to read Ruth Hogan’s previous books now!