Victorian romance with gothic overtones!
The Lady and the Highwayman (Proper Romance)
by Sarah M. Eden
I enjoyed this story, although aspects seem familiar. Perhaps it's the woman writer with a male nom de plume that had caught me.
Elizabeth Black, respectable headmistress of a gentile girl's school is that and a literary writer by day and the Penny Dreadful writer Charles King by night.
Fletcher Walker is the top Penny Dreadful writer by day and rescuer of downtrodden children and others, generally women, by night. His rescue operations, carried out with assistance from the illusive Penny Dreadful Society, with their own secret calling card, a penny, are funded in part by his successful writings.
The main story of Fletcher's publications being overtaken by King's thus putting in danger the wherewithal for the rescue activities for mistreated women and children of the lowest strata of London life is an inspired basis for the novel. We follow the rescue of Daniel, a chimney sweep and two sisters down from the country who were sold to a notorious Madame, Mrs George. Of course the determined Elizabeth becomes involved here.
I admired Eden's use of the artifice of Elizabeth's current Penny Dreadful and Fletcher's forming part of the tale, giving us somewhat of a commentary on the main story, on King's part at least.
Indeed I found myself hanging on every word of these Penny Dreadfuls
Here's the thing though, it seems that revolving through these three stories took an inordinate amount of time for me. In fact the story spread over four days rather than the couple of hours I normally take. I think that interruption allowed me to wander off to other tasks. Most unusual!
Don't get me wrong. I loved the way the story worked, I loved the gutsiness of our Victorian heroine, Elizabeth Black. Alarmingly however Fletcher sort of petered out for me.
I was disappointed that Alistair Headley, who looked like being a somewhat doubtful character faded into the background without resolution and I was left wondering what his purpose was.There are certainly characters aplenty to give their own story to, and perhaps that's what will happen.
An interesting and refreshingly clean Victorian romance, particularly with the included Penny Dreadfuls.
A Shadow Mountain ARC via NetGalley
***
by Sarah M. Eden
Elizabeth Black, respectable headmistress of a gentile girl's school is that and a literary writer by day and the Penny Dreadful writer Charles King by night.
Fletcher Walker is the top Penny Dreadful writer by day and rescuer of downtrodden children and others, generally women, by night. His rescue operations, carried out with assistance from the illusive Penny Dreadful Society, with their own secret calling card, a penny, are funded in part by his successful writings.
The main story of Fletcher's publications being overtaken by King's thus putting in danger the wherewithal for the rescue activities for mistreated women and children of the lowest strata of London life is an inspired basis for the novel. We follow the rescue of Daniel, a chimney sweep and two sisters down from the country who were sold to a notorious Madame, Mrs George. Of course the determined Elizabeth becomes involved here.
I admired Eden's use of the artifice of Elizabeth's current Penny Dreadful and Fletcher's forming part of the tale, giving us somewhat of a commentary on the main story, on King's part at least.
Indeed I found myself hanging on every word of these Penny Dreadfuls
Here's the thing though, it seems that revolving through these three stories took an inordinate amount of time for me. In fact the story spread over four days rather than the couple of hours I normally take. I think that interruption allowed me to wander off to other tasks. Most unusual!
Don't get me wrong. I loved the way the story worked, I loved the gutsiness of our Victorian heroine, Elizabeth Black. Alarmingly however Fletcher sort of petered out for me.
I was disappointed that Alistair Headley, who looked like being a somewhat doubtful character faded into the background without resolution and I was left wondering what his purpose was.There are certainly characters aplenty to give their own story to, and perhaps that's what will happen.
An interesting and refreshingly clean Victorian romance, particularly with the included Penny Dreadfuls.
A Shadow Mountain ARC via NetGalley
***
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