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1881: Phoebe Stanbury was killed in the summer of secrets…
The Fourteenth letter
What you need to know before your trail
One balmy June evening in 1881, Phoebe Stanbury stands before the guests at her engagement party: this is her moment, when she will join the renowned Raycraft family and ascend to polite society.
As she takes her fiancé’s hand, a stranger holding a knife steps forward and ends the poor girl’s life. Amid the chaos, he turns to her aristocratic groom and mouths: ‘I promised I would save you.’
The following morning, just a few miles away, timid young legal clerk William Lamb meets a reclusive client. He finds the old man terrified and in desperate need of aid: William must keep safe a small casket of yellowing papers, and deliver an enigmatic message: The Finder knows.
Travel Guide
London
This is a London you are never going to forget! As the author states in her note at the back of the book, this was a time in history where everything was changing, where the world was changing and where things in London and England would never be the same again.
1881 she writes, was a tumultuous years in world politics. The assassination of Alexander II in Russia and President James Garfield in the USA are at the heart of this novel and both took place at this time. The world order, the idea of universal suffrage took hold. The political world was in turmoil.
Britain at the time was becoming isolated – there was a European race to colonise the world which saw a scramble for Africa.
In another way, change was good. Many things we take for granted nowadays were born in the 1880s – electricity, cinema and the humble motor car were new ideas of the time. The house in the novel- Ridgeside – is inspired by the house of Cragside in Northumberland which really was the first house in the world to have hydroelectric power and to include early prototypes for a dishwasher and a washing machine.
The idea of inventions is a strong one during the novel. The man who brought electricity to the house at Cragside, William George Armstrong, was also celebrated for his work in armaments and advancements in the technology of warfare.
Characters in the novel:
Otto von Rabenmarck – inspired by Otto Von Bismarck – German Chancellor at the time
Cornelius Tinbergen – fictional but inspired the Vanderbilts family.
Vicomtesse Adeline de Bayeau – inspired by Adeline de Horsey, the second wife of the Seventh Earl of Cardigan, who led the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava.
Edward Raycraft was inspired by the painter Richard Dadd who did spend much of his time locked up in Bedlam. You can still see his painting The Fairy feller’s Masterstroke at the Tate Modern museum in London
Sir James Raycraft was inspired by the well-known scientist and arms manufacturer Will George Armstrong ( 1810 – 1900)
Science and the idea of immortality and the perfect human race
The book delves into the idea of Charles Darwin with his theory of the survival of the fittest and his cousin Galton’s support for Eugenics. The real insights come into the idea of Plato and of Alexander the Great to formulate the idea of a global secret society with disturbing ideas and practices in pursuit of immortality and the creation of the perfect human race. To say more at this point would be to give too much away.
Streetview Maps
A) England - London - 16 Red Lion Square
England - London - Cronwell Road/Natural History Museum
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
What a fascinating read! Started off as one book and then ended up quite another I thought although I appreciated the journey, I like it better now that I’ve read the whole book and had time to digest.
The book starts out quite slow and in short vignettes almost introducing different characters and their backgrounds, before they all come together in later chapters. It’s the final section of the book where the whole eugenics argemtnt comes to the fore and then the information came thick and fast. Never overly complicated although I did have to slow down my reading here to fully grasp the detail involved in the subject matter and work out how it was related to the plot.
There was a hint of Dan Brown (for plot) and even The Handmaid’s Tale for the treatment and rape of women (some scenes overly graphic so be warned) and the idea that an ancient idea and the world of politics and philosophy could come together in such a way was fascinating to read about. Scene setting excellent with the hansom cabs and dawn of electricity nicely drawn. I also liked the blend of fact and fiction, of real figures from the political and philosophic worlds coming together in such a way. There were some moments of fantasy where you have to suspend disbelief somewhat but all in all, it lends a steam-punk feel to the story.
There’s so much to this novel that it would be great for bookclub chat. I enjoyed it although it felt incredibly dense in places and the writing sometimes slowed down the plot. The ending was shorter than I would have liked and the novel got very busy towards the end, like the crescendo in an italian opera but I did like finding out about the whole Fourteenth Letter, its significance and what the characters would do once events came out into the open.
I’m definatley going to be reading more from Claire Evans though.
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Fourteenth Letter
Destination : London Author/Guide: Claire Evans Departure Time:1881
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