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1728 A young man is driven to the gallows at Tyburn. He’s innocent but in a few minutes will hang..
The Last Confession of Thomas Hawkins (2)
What you need to know before your trail
Tow Hawkins most definitely is innocent. As he’s drive through the streets of the capital, he fears that a royal pardon will not come and that he really will have the rope draw tightly around his neck.
His life flashes before his eyes and he wonders what brought him here. Well he knows really. Getting involved with the criminal fraternity was not a good idea. Neither was getting involved with witty, yet calculating Queen Caroline. Royalty or the dregs of society? Neither can be trusted.
So here he is. Minutes from the end but with so much to say. But who’s going to believe a condemned man?
Travel Guide
The Tom Hawkins guide to London
Russell Street
“Russell Street is like a young country girl, fresh arrived on the London coach. It begins with good intentions – smart coffee houses, handsome private homes. then after a a short distance it takes on a pragmatic but profitable air -an apothecary’s, a grocer’s store. After that comes a fast sordid descent – a grimy gin shop, a gaming house a brother with broken windows and a rotting roof.”
St Giles
“There had been a trace of the St Giles perfume trapped in his clothes, this hair, his skin. The city streets are never fragrant , but St Giles wins the honor of being the foulest-smelling borough in London. It is impossible to walk a straight line – one must gavotte around the piles of shit, the clotting pools of blood, men lying drunk and dying in the filth.”
The Marshalsea
The Marshalsea is the prison where Tom Hawkins spent a lot of time. It still casts a long shadow through his soul. Phoenix Street is a long road that runs straight through the heart of St Giles like an arrow. James Fleet did not live on Phoenix Street. His house was hidden, tucked away like a coin buried deep in a miser’s pocket”
Covent Garden
“The Garden is not without its perils – especially at night.” The coffee shops and the bawdy houses are also located here
St James
Interestingly in this book, there is an insight into the Royal court and the inner circle of the Queen and King. The royal mistress (which the author states is actually based on true historical records, and the figure of Henrietta Howard in the history books)
Streetview Maps
A) London - Russell Street
B) London - St Giles
Booktrailer Review
Susan:@thebooktrailer
I love this book. It was like stepping back in time and getting soaked by all the filth and grim the book throws at you. The writing is just sublime -His house was hidden, tucked away like a coin buried deep in a miser’s pocket”. Well that’s just one example. I mean it’s as if the author has actually been back to Georgian London and experienced everything as in the book.
The first book was brilliant but this one just goes that extra mile for the intrigue around every corner – the mystery of St Giles and what goes on behind the bar at The Cocked Pistol. Just bawdy and brilliant in equal measure. Every one of the characters is richly drawn and I loved that Kitty and Tom lived and worked in a bookshop. How I would have loved to have spent time there for real.
Joseph Burden. Now there’s a character I really enjoyed to hate. He might see himself as a gentleman but his hate for Kitty and Tom causes a great deal of trouble for both. As Tom gets further and further in trouble – the por man doees seem to attract it – the plot thickens and you wonder why at the start of the book is he on the cart,(with his own coffin ready behind him!) to be hanged at Tyburn. When I found out what happened I was like one of those rowdy characters in the streets, clicking my glass, chanting praise to Antonia Hodgson.
Read this for a cracking mystery but to also step back in time and to experience it all almost for real. This is what history at school should be like.
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: The Last Confession of Thomas Hawkins
Author/ Guide: Antonia Hodgson Destination: London Departure Time: 1728
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