I feel so lucky to have got an early copy of the latest Stacey Halls – what a privilege and what a treat! I’ve read 2 of her previous books and loved both of them. I find that whilst they are beautifully written, they are gripping and easy reads. And they are like a door to the past.
This novel is similar to her first, The Familiars, as it is about real historical characters, with a few anonymous ones that ‘could’ have lived similar lives in the past, rubbing alongside those who are real. This novel is based on the true story of one of Victorian England’s wealthiest women, Angela Burdett-Coutts, who along with a few others (including Charles Dickens) opened a home for ‘fallen women’. Women who had been in prison for theft or prostitution, to give them a new start and skills that would help them in society. They were to be trained for service and then were to be shipped off to the colonies. So interesting, but so alien to the social mores of the 21st Century.
We follow Angela and her unrequited feelings for another very famous man, her problems with a stalker and her developing relationships with the women and their matron. We have two other points of view: Josephine, a lesbian inmate of a prison who doesn’t want to be separated from her lover and Martha a young woman who’s missing one sister and hasn’t been able to confess the truth to her other sister. Occasionally we also see from the point of view of Mrs Holdsworth, the matron of the Home/Household and her son, Frank.
All of these women are unique and fascinating, there wasn’t one I was more interested in, as I thought they were all well drawn and captivating. Stacey Halls also captures the time period really well, and there are things about living in a 19th century household that aren’t immediately apparent to modern minds that she includes, adding to the verisimilitude. There is never a dull moment and whilst we have Angela’s passion for an older, unreachable man, as well as her terror that she will find the stalker again, we also have the hunt for Martha’s younger sister, and the character development of Josephine.
Josephine has no family and hasn’t lived in a secure home for a long time, so she struggles to adjust to the luxury of having a warm bed and enough food, as well as warm and caring relationships with Martha. She is wise and canny and can manipulate a situation to suit herself. I felt her redemption was really worthwhile and enjoyable.
There is a big twist towards the end that I didn’t see coming but was totally gripped by. It made sense in the story, rather than shoe-horned in for effect.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and wholeheartedly recommend it. If you enjoy history, popular fiction that is not too high brow but that is still carefully written, then this is the book for you.
This novel is similar to her first, The Familiars, as it is about real historical characters, with a few anonymous ones that ‘could’ have lived similar lives in the past, rubbing alongside those who are real. This novel is based on the true story of one of Victorian England’s wealthiest women, Angela Burdett-Coutts, who along with a few others (including Charles Dickens) opened a home for ‘fallen women’. Women who had been in prison for theft or prostitution, to give them a new start and skills that would help them in society. They were to be trained for service and then were to be shipped off to the colonies. So interesting, but so alien to the social mores of the 21st Century.
We follow Angela and her unrequited feelings for another very famous man, her problems with a stalker and her developing relationships with the women and their matron. We have two other points of view: Josephine, a lesbian inmate of a prison who doesn’t want to be separated from her lover and Martha a young woman who’s missing one sister and hasn’t been able to confess the truth to her other sister. Occasionally we also see from the point of view of Mrs Holdsworth, the matron of the Home/Household and her son, Frank.
All of these women are unique and fascinating, there wasn’t one I was more interested in, as I thought they were all well drawn and captivating. Stacey Halls also captures the time period really well, and there are things about living in a 19th century household that aren’t immediately apparent to modern minds that she includes, adding to the verisimilitude. There is never a dull moment and whilst we have Angela’s passion for an older, unreachable man, as well as her terror that she will find the stalker again, we also have the hunt for Martha’s younger sister, and the character development of Josephine.
Josephine has no family and hasn’t lived in a secure home for a long time, so she struggles to adjust to the luxury of having a warm bed and enough food, as well as warm and caring relationships with Martha. She is wise and canny and can manipulate a situation to suit herself. I felt her redemption was really worthwhile and enjoyable.
There is a big twist towards the end that I didn’t see coming but was totally gripped by. It made sense in the story, rather than shoe-horned in for effect.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and wholeheartedly recommend it. If you enjoy history, popular fiction that is not too high brow but that is still carefully written, then this is the book for you.