Why a Booktrail?
1831: Gothic, bawdy and dangerous London
The Wicked Cometh
Why a Booktrail?
1831: Gothic, bawdy and dangerous London
What you need to know before your trail
Down the murky alleyways of London, acts of unspeakable wickedness are taking place and the city’s vulnerable poor are disappearing from the streets. Out of these shadows comes Hester White, a bright young woman who is desperate to escape the slums by any means possible.
When Hester is thrust into the world of the aristocratic Brock family, she leaps at the chance to improve her station in life under the tutelage of the fiercely intelligent and mysterious Rebekah Brock.
But whispers from her past slowly begin to poison her new life and both she and Rebekah are lured into the most sinister of investigations, dragging them into the blackest heart of a city where something more depraved than either of them could ever imagine is lurking. . .
Locations
ResetTravel Guide
London
This is the London of the Victorian era experienced and narrated through the eyes of Hester. Hester is an orphan and so is being raised by a rough and ready couple.
This is the London where the shadows are taking the children. Disappearances are increasingly common. The real reason is worse than you think. The murky London underbelly is flabby and exposed. Poverty was common and a scourge on the streets yet no one seemed to care. No one with money anyway.
From the first page, you are flung headfirst into the city:
“Do you think you know London, They say it’s the finest city in all of Europe. Perhaps you once stood and marvelled at the dome of St Paul’s?”
Hester wants to work her way up and improve her situation. And boy can you smell, taste and hear London as you follow her on her journey:
”London Particular; it tastes of coddles eggs and coal-smoke, smells of quenched fires and horse-dirt…”
This is a novel of class differences but human similarities, of a friendship which expands on the expectations if the time. It’s the role of women in this period which is the main setting of the novel.
Booktrailer Review
Susan: @thebooktrailer
Hester Hester what a character you are. How I loved being dragged into your world. I say dragged as it’s a fully immersive experience and the stench and squalor of your London is not for the faint hearted but what a journey it was!
A girl from a poor family, raised by a rough couple and then in to a workd of gentrification. There’s a good story right there. But this had missing children, missing children no one seemed to care about as they were from the ppor part of town.
Hester gets right into the thick of things and I liked her from the get go. She is friends with Rebekah from the other side of the tracks but with the same issues and problems in a man’s world. The two worked well together and they were both strong and very interesting characters.Their friendship and bond is unique and the story develops nicely with a good ending I was only partly expecting or was it hoping for?
Laura, Laura – please write more!
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Wicked Cometh
Destination: London Author/Guide: Laura Carlin Departure Time: 1831
Back to ResultsWhere Next?
