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A review by katykelly
The Butcher's Hook by Janet Ellis
4.0
4.5 stars
Very, very good! Janet Ellis shows she has a feel for period, the grime and less savoury aspects of it, the characters who might have inhabited it, in her debut. It's quite a first novel.
Our heroine is Anne Jaccob, daughter of a well-off merchant in London. It's the eighteenth century, and a woman's education is hardly either a priority or a common thing. Yet Anne as a child craved knowledge, and a friend of her father's was happy to help. In more ways than she would have expected. Now almost an adult, she craves more than the little life she sees ahead for herself, especially when a particularly odious business acquaintance of her father's presents himself to her as an 'eligible' suitor.
Anne's mother in confinement after the birth of a sister, she takes over the household duties and meets the butcher's assistant and awakens the usual teenage feelings about an attractive and compelling boy...
The directions the story takes will surprise you. Anne's path as our guide to this crowded, smelly London takes turns that lead down many very dark paths. I couldn't quite believe what was happening at times, but the arc that leads step by step from the Anne at the beginning to the Anne at the close is built carefully.
Lovers of pristine period dramas may find this gets a little much, there are scenes of butchery (Anne visits her paramour at work), talk of 'women's issues', a great deal of underhanded scheming, we do see scenes of sexual congress.
I found it delightful - in a very black comic way. I couldn't quite follow Anne down every road she trod, but I enjoyed watching her make mistakes, grow into an assured and rather ruthless woman from a confused and lonely girl, fall in love and experience the highs and lows commonly associated with it.
Fub isn't as developed as Anne, the better characters are Simeon her 'paramour' and her tutor. These two I could have relished for longer. Very visually present, each gets some marvellous scenes with Anne.
Historical fiction can be gritty, it can be bawdy, it can be educational and show us a time and place long gone. Anne's word certainly feels as though it could have existed, and is a very entertaining, shocking and thrilling journey into the world of a woman who knows what she wants and is determined not to be 'fubbed' off with anything less...
Very, very good! Janet Ellis shows she has a feel for period, the grime and less savoury aspects of it, the characters who might have inhabited it, in her debut. It's quite a first novel.
Our heroine is Anne Jaccob, daughter of a well-off merchant in London. It's the eighteenth century, and a woman's education is hardly either a priority or a common thing. Yet Anne as a child craved knowledge, and a friend of her father's was happy to help. In more ways than she would have expected. Now almost an adult, she craves more than the little life she sees ahead for herself, especially when a particularly odious business acquaintance of her father's presents himself to her as an 'eligible' suitor.
Anne's mother in confinement after the birth of a sister, she takes over the household duties and meets the butcher's assistant and awakens the usual teenage feelings about an attractive and compelling boy...
The directions the story takes will surprise you. Anne's path as our guide to this crowded, smelly London takes turns that lead down many very dark paths. I couldn't quite believe what was happening at times, but the arc that leads step by step from the Anne at the beginning to the Anne at the close is built carefully.
Lovers of pristine period dramas may find this gets a little much, there are scenes of butchery (Anne visits her paramour at work), talk of 'women's issues', a great deal of underhanded scheming, we do see scenes of sexual congress.
I found it delightful - in a very black comic way. I couldn't quite follow Anne down every road she trod, but I enjoyed watching her make mistakes, grow into an assured and rather ruthless woman from a confused and lonely girl, fall in love and experience the highs and lows commonly associated with it.
Fub isn't as developed as Anne, the better characters are Simeon her 'paramour' and her tutor. These two I could have relished for longer. Very visually present, each gets some marvellous scenes with Anne.
Historical fiction can be gritty, it can be bawdy, it can be educational and show us a time and place long gone. Anne's word certainly feels as though it could have existed, and is a very entertaining, shocking and thrilling journey into the world of a woman who knows what she wants and is determined not to be 'fubbed' off with anything less...