When I first discovered this book I was keen to read it, it sounded very much like something I might enjoy. The setting of 18th century Edinburgh immediately caught my eye and had me keen to get started.
The plot centres around a pharmacist who has invented heroin, and his wife who subsequently becomes addicted to the substance.
Although I really wanted to like this book, I felt that it dragged in places and found I was willing it to move on a bit, hoping that some intrigue would occur somewhere. However, it seemed that everything was laid out almost too easily for the reader, nothing was left for the reader to discover and it felt that nothing really happened until the final chapters.
The atmospheric settings of the book were well written and gave readers a vivid image of 18th century Edinburgh, the fashions of the time etc, but in the end this was not enough to redeem this book for me.
I think that perhaps this novel should come with trigger warnings, there are aspects of the plot that could potentially upset readers or at least cause enough discomfort to lessen their enjoyment of the book. The harsh and brutal ways that rape and domestic violence are depicted in this book make for very difficult reading and indeed had me putting this down in favour of reading other things. I found that they were unnecessary, felt that the points could have been made in a less graphic manner.
The plot centres around a pharmacist who has invented heroin, and his wife who subsequently becomes addicted to the substance.
Although I really wanted to like this book, I felt that it dragged in places and found I was willing it to move on a bit, hoping that some intrigue would occur somewhere. However, it seemed that everything was laid out almost too easily for the reader, nothing was left for the reader to discover and it felt that nothing really happened until the final chapters.
The atmospheric settings of the book were well written and gave readers a vivid image of 18th century Edinburgh, the fashions of the time etc, but in the end this was not enough to redeem this book for me.
I think that perhaps this novel should come with trigger warnings, there are aspects of the plot that could potentially upset readers or at least cause enough discomfort to lessen their enjoyment of the book. The harsh and brutal ways that rape and domestic violence are depicted in this book make for very difficult reading and indeed had me putting this down in favour of reading other things. I found that they were unnecessary, felt that the points could have been made in a less graphic manner.