Why a Booktrail?
1794: This is the confession of Laurence Jago. Clerk. Gentleman. Reluctant spy.
The Black Drop
What you need to know before your trail
The streets of London are filled with rumours of revolution. Political radical Thomas Hardy is to go on trial for treason, the war against the French is not going in Britain’s favour, and negotiations with the independent American colonies are on a knife edge.
Laurence Jago – clerk to the Foreign Office – is ever more reliant on the Black Drop to ease his nightmares. A highly sensitive letter has been leaked to the press, which may lead to the destruction of the British Army, and Laurence is a suspect. Then he discovers the body of a fellow clerk, supposedly a suicide.
Blame for the leak is shifted to the dead man, but even as the body is taken to the anatomists, Laurence is certain both of his friend’s innocence, and that he was murdered. But after years of hiding his own secrets from his powerful employers, and at a time when even the slightest hint of treason can lead to the gallows, how can Laurence find the true culprit without incriminating himself?
Locations
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BookTrail Georgian London
This is the novel that brings the grubbiness of both the city, and of its politics to life.
The parliament and Downing Street are a focus of the novel and we see the various corridors of power and how the dark shadows are everywhere. Laurence Jago works as a lowly clerk to the Foreign Office.
This is a city of two sides – the rich lived luxuriously in lavish, elegant mansions whilst the poor live in the gutters and workhouses. The contrast could not be more marked.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: The Black Drop
Destination/location: London Author/guide: Leonora Nattrass Departure Time: 1794
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