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A review by saschabookishowl
The Butcher's Hook by Janet Ellis
4.0
The writing of Janet Ellis in this book is beautiful, I wish I could decorate my walls with quotes from this novel. However, the writing style might not be for everyone.
"When my mother lay down to birth that last baby, she was so tired of everything that I thought I could have sold her shoes; surely she'd not get up and need them anymore. I go to her now only because I should. My glass is full to the brim with sorrow and there is no room for another drop, whether sweet or sour."
"He shrinks as he speaks - he will have to leave by a mousehole soon."
I would mainly classify this as historical fiction. Before reading it, I did expect it to be more of a horror novel describing murders in Georgian London (sort of a 'following Jack the Ripper' type of story). It was not as creepy as I expected, but it is definitely an eerie setting and the thoughts of the main character get darker and darker.
The story follows 19 year-old Anne, whose parents are struck with grief over losing many babies/children. The atmosphere in the household is quite depressing. At the start of the novel, there is finally a healthy baby girl born. However, Anne does not really care for her little sister. On top of that her father wants to marry her off to a pretty shady character. Then one day Anne meets the butcher's boy/apprentice and something changes. Anne suddenly has purpose and decides to get to know him better. During the rest of the novel we follow Anne around the house and around the muddy streets of London and we see her getting more and more obsessed. Her thoughts get darker and weirder. At the start of the novel, there are also some flashbacks to Anne's childhood, showing that she did not have a perfect childhood and that she already fell easily into obsession at that time:
"I could not eat at dinner. When I went to bed, I could not sleep. My thoughts were all of Keziah, her sharp eyes and soft lips, her teasing and her questions. Everything in my room seemed at once better and the worse for her having been there. How coarse my bedcover felt, yet how special my books seemed now she had held them". "I was a pixie to her Amazon, I felt protective of her. My Aunt Elizabeth had a small dead bird, preserved as in life, its feathers shining, with only its glass eyes giving the game away. I would keep Keziah under such a glass dome if I could."
The downside with obsession is that Anne easily get's tired of people when they don't fit her vision of them anymore: "I thought how odd it was that she had so recently entered my room gilded, but would leave tarnished and dull."
I really enjoyed this book. The first two chapters I had to get used to the writing style, but after that I was hooked (get it? hooked? Hahaha. Ok I'll stop). The novel is just so atmospheric and there is a lot of tension. However, it just didn't get to that 5 star level for me, I needed more. I needed more creepiness, more development of the side-characters, and the ending was pretty quick.
It took quite some time for Anne to go over the edge and commit murder, and after that it was just one murder after another. The pacing seemed a bit off. Honestly I was a bit disappointed that she didn't kill Onions as well,
I'm cruel I guess.
"When my mother lay down to birth that last baby, she was so tired of everything that I thought I could have sold her shoes; surely she'd not get up and need them anymore. I go to her now only because I should. My glass is full to the brim with sorrow and there is no room for another drop, whether sweet or sour."
"He shrinks as he speaks - he will have to leave by a mousehole soon."
I would mainly classify this as historical fiction. Before reading it, I did expect it to be more of a horror novel describing murders in Georgian London (sort of a 'following Jack the Ripper' type of story). It was not as creepy as I expected, but it is definitely an eerie setting and the thoughts of the main character get darker and darker.
The story follows 19 year-old Anne, whose parents are struck with grief over losing many babies/children. The atmosphere in the household is quite depressing. At the start of the novel, there is finally a healthy baby girl born. However, Anne does not really care for her little sister. On top of that her father wants to marry her off to a pretty shady character. Then one day Anne meets the butcher's boy/apprentice and something changes. Anne suddenly has purpose and decides to get to know him better. During the rest of the novel we follow Anne around the house and around the muddy streets of London and we see her getting more and more obsessed. Her thoughts get darker and weirder. At the start of the novel, there are also some flashbacks to Anne's childhood, showing that she did not have a perfect childhood and that she already fell easily into obsession at that time:
"I could not eat at dinner. When I went to bed, I could not sleep. My thoughts were all of Keziah, her sharp eyes and soft lips, her teasing and her questions. Everything in my room seemed at once better and the worse for her having been there. How coarse my bedcover felt, yet how special my books seemed now she had held them". "I was a pixie to her Amazon, I felt protective of her. My Aunt Elizabeth had a small dead bird, preserved as in life, its feathers shining, with only its glass eyes giving the game away. I would keep Keziah under such a glass dome if I could."
The downside with obsession is that Anne easily get's tired of people when they don't fit her vision of them anymore: "I thought how odd it was that she had so recently entered my room gilded, but would leave tarnished and dull."
I really enjoyed this book. The first two chapters I had to get used to the writing style, but after that I was hooked (get it? hooked? Hahaha. Ok I'll stop). The novel is just so atmospheric and there is a lot of tension. However, it just didn't get to that 5 star level for me, I needed more. I needed more creepiness, more development of the side-characters, and the ending was pretty quick.
Spoiler
It took quite some time for Anne to go over the edge and commit murder, and after that it was just one murder after another. The pacing seemed a bit off. Honestly I was a bit disappointed that she didn't kill Onions as well,
I'm cruel I guess.