Set in Victorian England this gothic tale of a charitable aristocrat
and a dressmaker turned maid who is in jail for killing her mistress with what
she claims are supernatural abilities.
Ruth Butterham lived a rough life from a young age. She was
tormented in school because she wasn’t as well off as the other girls. She found
her place beside her mother embroidering and sewing, as soon as Ruth’s mother
turns up pregnant and the family barely getting by as it was Ruth’s
recreational assistance turns into a full-time job at 14. The baby dies after
Ruth embroiders on her blanket the family falls apart, her father committing
suicide and forcing her mother to “sell” Ruth into service of the dressmaker they
were contracting with. As time progresses Ruth learns of deaths and misfortunes
of others who she sewed for including her mother her suspicion grows that her
sewing is cursed. When her mistress dies, she cannot help but believe it to be
her own fault. Dorothea is a 25-year-old aristocrat who is secretly a
phrenologist who lost her mother and lives with a father whose main goal is to get
her married. While Dorothea’s is to be a good charitable person by Catholic
standards. She spends her time at the Oakgate prison where she meets Ruth and
is enraptured by the idea that a 16-year-old can have the skull of a killer and if it can
change. “If we can detect vice in a
timely manner and point the child down another path, the shape of the head, as
well as the texture of the spirit may change.” The book is written in alternating perspectives from both girls, Ruth recounting her life to Dorothea and Dorothea muddling through it and her own life.
I liked the book but could not help but feel it was missing
one more, even a short chapter from Ruth at the end. It didn’t have me burning
through the pages, but it did keep me wondering until the end.
This is a really good honest review. There are enough details in the summary to help us understand what this book is about. Your first sentence is an excellent attention grabber. You've got Victorian England, murder, and supernatural abilities. Just with that I knew I needed to continue reading your review to find out just what all that meant.
ReplyDeleteThank you for being critical of a book; honesty is something left out of so many reviews. I feel like some books that need criticism are not criticized, even if it's something small like this.
ReplyDeleteSomeone once told me to look at the books that leave me wanting more like this: So many TV shows from Europe, and even films, just abruptly end. They tend to go over well. Sometimes good stories need to end this way.
I never totally agreed with that, but it is a thought. Let it end, move along, think of how you envision it ending and go with that. Maybe it's us having permission to envision the outcome. But at the same time, I know it can be easier to be confident based on knowing what the author wanted the outcome to be. No playing God then I suppose!
Good job on summarizing this boo, your opening line really draws the reader in and sells them on this book. Your closing line could have had a little more hook, but it serves it's point. Full points!
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