Review ~ The Elizabeth Papers by Jenetta James

Meryton Press
2016

A bit of blurb..

Charlie Haywood is a London-based private investigator who has made his own fortune—on his own terms. Charming, cynical, and promiscuous, he never expected to be attracted to Evie Pemberton, an independent-minded artist living with the aftermath of tragedy. But when he is hired to investigate her claims to a one hundred and fifty year old trust belonging to the eminent Darcy family, he is captivated. 

Together they become entwined in a Regency tale of love, loss, and mystery tracing back to the grand estate of Pemberley, home to Evie’s nineteenth century ancestors, Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy. As if travelling back in time, a story unfolds within their story. All was not as it seemed in the private lives of Mr. and Mrs. Darcy, but how can they ever uncover the whole truth?

How could they know that in 1817 Elizabeth Darcy began a secret journal? What started as an account of a blissful life came to reflect a growing unease. Was the Darcy marriage perfect or was there betrayal and deception at its heart?

Can Evie and Charlie unearth the truth in the letters of Fitzwilliam Darcy or within the walls of present-day Pemberley? What are the elusive Elizabeth papers and why did Elizabeth herself want them destroyed? 

"The Elizabeth Papers" is a tale of romance and intrigue, spanning the Regency and modern eras, reminding us how the passions of the past may inspire those in the present.

My thoughts about the book..

Family secrets abound in this cleverly woven tale of past and present which sheds light on a mystery which has surrounded the Darcy family for nearly two hundred years. For Evie Pemberton and Charlie Haywood, the mystery which surrounds the Elizabeth papers will take them back to a time of secrets and will take them into the world of Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy, who of course we met in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

I always reach out to fan fiction with an air of trepidation as being something of a Jane Austen purist I can be disappointed by stories which are just reproductions and which intrude on territory which has already been done, in my opinion,  to perfection.  However, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by The Elizabeth Papers which are written with a great deal of skill and much sympathy towards the original characters. Of course, this is a fictional continuation of events which are entirely of the imagination of the author, but what I enjoyed was the clever intertwining of past and present which imbue a real sense of both time and place. I enjoyed the modern day aspect; the characterisation is good and in keeping with a modern day couple, however, for me the nineteenth century aspect of the novel won out and I really enjoyed seeing how the saga of Elizabeth and Darcy’s story eventually played out.

The modern day ending left me a little perplexed but maybe this sort of lends itself to a continuation featuring Charlie and Evie and that would be no bad thing as I would quite like to see what happens next for them, and as for Darcy and Elizabeth , well I’ll let you make up your own mind about them.

I think what comes across is the author's great love and passion for the world created by Jane Austen and for that I commend her skill in bringing this world alive in a very readable way.

Best Read With..A glass of good claret and a bowl of sugared almonds..

About the Author




Find the author on her website

Follow on Twitter @JenettaJames

My thanks to the author for sharing her book with me.

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Sunday WW1 Remembered..

Inspirational Women of the First World War

Katharine Tynan

1859 - 1931

Katharine Tynan was born into a farming family in Clondalkin, County Dublin, and was educated at St. Catherine's school in Drogheda. She began writing at seventeen and had her poetry first published in a Dublin paper in 1878.

She went on to play a major part in the literary groups around Dublin until her marriage in 1898 to English barrister Henry Albert Hinkson. Thereafter, Tynan would sometimes write under the name Katharine Tynan Hinkson.

Later she lived at Claremorris, County Mayo when her husband was a magistrate there from 1914 until 1919. During the war she did some philanthropic works and a little nursing.

For a while, Tynan was a close associate of poet and writer, William Butler Yeats and later a correspondent of the poet, Francis Ledwidge. She is said to have written over 100 novels. Her Collected Poems appeared in 1930; she also wrote five autobiographical volumes.

The Broken Soldier

The broken soldier sings and whistles day to dark;

    He's but the remnant of a man, maimed and half-blind,

But the soul they could not harm goes singing like the lark,

    Like the incarnate Joy that will not be confined.

The Lady at the Hall has given him a light task,

    He works in the gardens as busy as a bee;

One hand is but a stump and his face a pitted mask;

    The gay soul goes singing like a bird set free.

Whistling and singing like a linnet on wings;

    The others stop to listen, leaning on the spade,

Whole men and comely, they fret at little things.

    The soul of him's singing like a thrush in a glade.

Hither and thither, hopping, like Robin on the grass,

    The soul in the broken man is beautiful and brave;

And while he weeds the pansies and the bright hours pass

    The bird caught in the cage whistles its joyous stave.

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Close to Home ....Kate Field

As a book reviewer I have made contact with authors from all across the globe and feel immensely privileged to be able to share some amazing work. However, there is always something rather special when a book comes to my attention which has been written by an author in my part of the North of England. So with this in mind I have great pleasure in featuring some of those authors who are literally close to my home. Over the next few Saturdays, and hopefully beyond, I will be sharing the work of a very talented bunch of Northern authors and discovering just what being a Northerner means to them both in terms of inspiration and also in their writing.

Today I feature Lancashire author, Kate Field

Hi and welcome to Jaffareadstoo, Kate..

Tell us a little about yourself and what got you started as an author?

I’m Lancashire born and bred, and still live only ten minutes away from the street in which I grew up. I did venture down south for three years when I attended university, but was always glad to head back north. When I saw the hills rising and the clouds lowering, I knew I was almost home! I met my husband at university and luckily he is a Lancastrian too, so there was never any question about where we would settle.

I started writing many years ago. I’ve always loved reading – it’s amazing the way that books can manipulate your emotions, change your opinions, educate, entertain or simply take you away from life for a while. Trying to write a book was the irresistible next step.

As a writer based in the North West, does this present any problems in terms of marketing and promoting your books and if so, how do you overcome them?

I attended a talk over the summer about how to write a commercial bestseller. We were told that it’s easier to market a book set in, say, Paris or Cornwall, as the reader already has a mental picture of the location and how romantic it can be – as opposed to a book set in Lancaster. It was an excellent point, but not what I wanted to hear a few weeks before publication of my Lancashire romance!

Accent Press

I’ve received some lovely early reviews of The Magic of Ramblings, and I don’t think the northern setting has put anyone off so far! I write about small communities, and how the people in them rub along together, so I hope that readers can identify with that wherever they come from.

If you were pitching the North West as an ideal place to live, work and write – how would you sell it and what makes it so special?

The North West already has a great track record for nurturing talented people – there are some brilliant comedians, actors, musicians and writers who have come from this region. It inspired Tolkien to write The Lord of the Rings so it must have something special!

I love everything about this region. We have flat vowels and high hills; brilliant museums and theatres; great places to shop and eat. But it’s the landscape that makes me most happy to live here: from the Lake District hills, to the beautiful Forest of Bowland, and even the bleak West Pennine moors. 

How did you break into the publishing world?

I always knew that self-publishing wasn’t an option for me, because I don’t have the confidence to look at my own work and think it’s good enough to share. My family still haven’t read any of it as far as I know!

Entering competitions was probably the turning point for me. I was a runner up in the lovely author Miranda Dickinson’s Future Stars competition, and a runner up in the Accent Press / Woman magazine competition. Boosted by that, I met an editor from Accent at the RNA conference in 2015, having sent her the first chapter of The Magic of Ramblings. Luckily she loved it!

What are the up and downs to being an author?

It’s a strange life: what seems a major disaster one day – a main character’s name that has to change halfway through the book, or a scene that doesn’t work on paper as it did in your head – can look totally different the next day.

Rejections are probably one of the lowest moments, and they have a horrible tendency to come together – I once received two in the space of twenty minutes! It makes no difference if it’s a ‘near miss’ or a standard rejection signed by the PA of the person you submitted to, it still stings when one arrives.

On the up side, it’s wonderful when the writing flows and you become immersed in your characters’ lives, to the point that they pop in and out of your head all day. And as a newly published writer, I’ve only recently discovered one of the best moments: to see from a review that someone has enjoyed your book more than makes up for every down day.

Can you describe your books in three words?

Emotional, character-driven romance.

Writing is a solitary business - how do you interact with other authors?

I’d never met another writer until I attended the Festival of Romance in 2013, and it was only then that I realised how much I’d been missing! It’s great to be able to share the ups and downs with people who know exactly what you’re going through. 

I’ve met some incredibly supportive and generous writers through the RNA. I was a late developer on Twitter and Facebook, but try to keep in touch with other writers on there. I’m also part of a lovely group of Critique Buddies on Facebook, who can always be relied on for support and encouragement. I don’t think writing needs to be a solitary business any more, and it’s definitely more fun when it’s not!

Thanks for inviting me on your blog, Jo..

You can find more about the Kate on the following sites:

Facebook

Twitter: @katehaswords

Amazon UK

Huge thanks to Kate for taking the time to answer my questions about her impression of living and writing in Lancashire

I hope that you have enjoyed this week's Close to Home feature

Coming next week :  Lyn G. Farrell




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A special feature available today from Audible ~ "Send This Book "

Scientists, authors, artists and athletes launch ‘Send This Book’ for Audible

Audible, the world’s largest retailer and producer of audiobooks and other spoken-word entertainment, today announces the UK debut of ‘Send This Book’. The feature allows listeners to give any audiobook they own in their ‘My Library’ to others instantly via e-mail, text, Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp, using their iOS, Android or Windows 10 device. 

Each recipient gets their first title for free to download and keep forever, whether they’re an Audible member or not.

To mark the occasion, some of Britain’s best-loved scientists, authors, artists and athletes are giving away the audiobooks they consider essential listening. 

On Friday 18th November Jon Ronson, Gemma Cairney, Mary Beard, Robert Winston, Karren Brady, Jude Kelly, Matt Dawson and Noma Dumezweni will each be sharing a link to their chosen audiobook on Twitter, inviting members of the public to download the title for free. Featuring a mix of side-splitting comedies, iconic classics and fascinating biographies their must-listen recommendations include: 

Jon Ronson, Author of ‘The Psychopath Test’ and ‘The Men Who Stare At Goats’

A Very English Scandal: Sex, Lies and a Murder Plot at the Heart of the Establishment

Written by John Preston, narrated by Daniel Weyman

“This is a brilliant, funny, sad, startling nonfiction novel about the Jeremy Thorpe murder-plot scandal. I barely remember it from my childhood – just some hazy memories about a liberal MP and a dog and a field and a gun and my parents being furious that the Westminster elite got away with it like they always do. The details, it turns out, are astounding. But unlike less ambitious nonfiction writers, John Preston is not content to just tell a great story. He’s told it in a great way. It is as funny and dark as anything by Evelyn Waugh or Jonathan Coe. And in these post Cyril Smith/Jimmy Saville days, it’s so timely and relevant.”

Gemma Cairney, BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra DJ

Just Kids

Written by Patti Smith, narrated by Patti Smith

“When this book came out a few years ago, a friend of mine took me to see Patti Smith in the intimate and enchanting setting of the Union Chapel in Islington to watch Patti read extracts and perform. It was a beguiling and extraordinary experience, watching her, was like watching no one I'd ever seen before. Listening to audio version of this book, takes me right back to that night. One never to be forgotten.”

Mary Beard OBE, Professor of Classics at Cambridge

The Odyssey

Written by Homer, narrated by Anton Lesser

“The Odyssey takes us back to the very origins of Western literature. If you think ‘origins’ are likely to be crude and roughly formed, you're in for a shock. This is a marvellously sophisticated tale of homecoming, temptation, adventure and the contested boundary between civilisation and barbarity. There's no better book to listen to, because it was first composed not to be read, but heard in oral recitation: the original talking book.”

Robert Winston, Professor of Science and Society at Imperial College

The Pigeon Tunnel: Stories From My Life

Written by John le Carré, narrated by John le Carré

“One of the most unusual autobiographies I have ever read. It gives a background to the content and style of one of our greatest fiction writers and what it really means to be a spy.”

Karren Brady CBE, Businesswoman and Baroness of Knightsbridge

The Kept Woman

Written by Karin Slaughter, narrated by Jennifer Woodward

“Pacier than a runaway train and more twists and turns than a roller-coaster. A blockbuster of a crime, thriller suspense. In short the body of a drug dealer and an ex-cop turn up in a warehouse owned by a famous basketball player resulting in murder, espionage, betrayal, secrets, relationship emotions – this book just about has it all! At the heart of it all is a love story, but it’s dark and twisted – it’s one hell of a good book!”

Jude Kelly CBE, Artistic Director of the Southbank Centre

To Kill A Mocking Bird

Written by Harper Lee, narrated by Sissy Spacek

“A young white girl scrutinises her community as its racism is revealed and then silently champions her father as he battles for legal justice for his wrongly accused black client. It's a 1960s novel with a frighteningly contemporary relevance and such a powerful read.”

Matt Dawson MBE, Presenter and former England Rugby Scrum-half

Room On The Broom

Written by Julia Donaldson, narrated by Josie Lawrence

“This timeless bed time soother entertains me most evenings. Oh yes.... the boys love it too. When Alex and Sami join in with 'Whoosh it was gone' there's a smile on all three of our faces because we believe it. Scaring Dragons, making potions and simply cruising on a broom with a shower, what better thought to have in your mind before a snooze.”

Noma Dumezweni, Actor, Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

The Alchemist

Written by Paulo Coelho, narrated by Jeremy Irons

“The best kind of storytelling – The Alchemist seems simple enough, the journey, the obstacles and the transformation... but the depth of feeling one has if open to it is why it's brilliantly received. Such a pleasure.”

All of the above can be downloaded now  click here 

All the audiobooks featured are available to download free for today only (between 09:00 Friday 18th November and 09:00 Saturday 19th November).

To use the feature, customers simply hit the share icon when listening to an audiobook, then tap ‘Send This Book’, select their preferred sharing method (email, text, Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp) and enter the recipient’s contact information. Users can send each audiobook to up to 10 people.  If it is a recipient’s first time accepting an audiobook via this feature the recipient does not need to sign up for a free trial or use a credit card to download the title.

Tracey Markham, UK Country Manager at Audible, said: “Our members know how irresistible a good audiobook can be. Now, for the first time, listeners can share their enjoyment by sending complete titles to anyone in the UK for them to download and keep forever without having to pay a penny. Whether you’re a book club member who wants to share an audiobook with the entire group, a teacher recommending a title to your class, or an enthusiastic listener giving to a friend, Send This Book lets you share the audiobooks you love with those you care about most.”

About Audible

Audible, an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary (NASDAQ:AMZN), is the leading provider of premium digital spoken audio information and entertainment, offering customers a new way to enhance and enrich their lives every day. Audible was created to unleash the emotive music in language and the habituating power and utility of verbal expression. Audible content includes more than 200,000 audio programs from leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and newspaper publishers, and business information providers. Audible is also the preeminent provider of spoken-word audio products for Apple’s iTunes Store.

Thanks to Audible and Francesca at Midas Public Relations for permission to share this information with my blog readers.

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Review ~ The Wonder by Emma Donoghue (Audio)

Picador
2016

A little bit about the book..

An eleven-year-old girl stops eating, but remains miraculously alive and well. A nurse, sent to investigate whether she is a fraud, meets a journalist hungry for a story.

Set in the Irish Midlands in the 1850s, The Wonder—inspired by numerous European and North American cases of “fasting girls” between the sixteenth century and the twentieth—is a psychological thriller about a child’s murder threatening to happen in slow motion before our eyes. Pitting all the seductions of fundamentalism against sense and love, it is a searing examination of what nourishes us, body and soul.

My thoughts about the book..

I wasn't at all familiar with the phenomena of "fasting girls" and so, when I started to read Anna O'Donnell's story, I must admit that I was rather sceptical that such a condition could go unnoticed and unchecked.

On first encounter it would seem that eleven year old Anna is a sweet, religious fanatic who is caught up in her own piety, and yet, she also seems to be a reluctant bystander in her own life. I didn't warm to her character straight away, but then neither did I warm to the English Nightingale nurse, Lib Wright, who has been coerced, by necessity, into travelling from London, to rural Ireland in order to keep a close eye on Anna O’Donnell.  Recently back from nursing in the Crimean War, Lib is at odds with the nursing profession back in England, so her employment by the parish authority, comes as a welcome change of scene. Determining the truth behind the notion that a child can survive for four months on nothing more than three teaspoons of water a day is a challenge that Lib fervently embraces with all the zeal that her nursing training under the indomitable Florence Nightingale can muster.

The story moves at a measured pace so that the interaction between Anna and her nurse is built up really, really slowly. Nothing much seems to be going on, and yet, imperceptibly, an air of malice starts to pervade, and after about a third of the way into the novel I started to become engrossed in the way the story was developing, and, believe me, by the end I had completely altered my original opinion of both Anna and Lib’s character.

The author has performed a real wonder of her own in bringing this story to life; there is much to take in. It’s the story of a family caught up in the shackles of religious fervour, it’s about the naivety of a troubled child whose innocent life has been disturbed by wickedness and it’s about the danger of narrow-mindedness and bigotry. Throughout the story what really shone through, for me, was the lyricism of the language, the detailed introspection of small town parochialism, and the extraordinary assumption , by ordinary people, that miracles can prosper in the most unlikely of places.

Listening to The Wonder via Audible gave the story an added dimension which I felt was totally different to reading the story for myself. The narrator, Kate Lock, has a real skill in portraying accents and she very easily slipped between Anna’s gentle Irish brogue, and Lib’s more stark English vowels.

It’s a long story to listen to, coming in at over 12 hours, but the narrator does such an excellent portrayal of the characters that it becomes very enjoyable to listen to her quiet rendition of this excellent story.

Best read with ..Earthy potatoes and heavenly poteen..

Audible.co.uk

About the Author..

Emma Donoghue is the best selling author of several novels. You can find out more about her by visiting her website by clicking here or follow on Twitter @EDonoghueWriter

 

My thanks to the publishers and also to  Audible.co.uk for the opportunity to listen to this narrated edition of The Wonder and also to Francesca at Midas pr.

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Review ~ The Shadow Sister by Lucinda Riley

Macmillan
 November 2016

There is no doubt that this ambitious seven book series has captured the imagination of Lucinda Riley fans all over the world. Each book in the series is eagerly anticipated, so when I was given the opportunity by the UK publishers Macmillan to read an early copy I jumped at the chance and wasn't disappointed.

The Shadow Sister focuses on Star's story.

Here's the blurb..

Star D'Aplièse is at a crossroads in her life after the sudden death of her beloved father - the elusive billionaire, named Pa Salt by his six daughters, all adopted by him from the four corners of the world. He has left each of them a clue to their true heritage, but Star - the most enigmatic of the sisters - is hesitant to step out of the safety of the close relationship she shares with her sister CeCe. In desperation, she decides to follow the first clue she has been left, which leads her to an antiquarian bookshop in London, and the start of a whole new world . . .

A hundred years earlier, headstrong and independent Flora MacNichol vows she will never marry. She is happy and secure in her home in the Lake District, living close to her idol, Beatrix Potter, when machinations outside her control lead her to London, and the home of one of Edwardian society's most notorious players, Alice Keppel. Flora is pulled between passionate love and duty to her family, but finds herself a pawn in a game - the rules of which are only known to others, until a meeting with a mysterious gentleman unveils the answers that Flora has been searching for her whole life . . .

As Star learns more of Flora's incredible journey, she too goes on a voyage of discovery, finally stepping out of the shadow of her sister and opening herself up to the possibility of love.

Here are my thoughts..

I was hugely excited when I received my copy of The Shadow Sister and couldn't wait to become reacquainted with the story of The Seven Sisters. In this third book in the series we follow the story of enigmatic Star D'Aplièse who seems to have been grossly overshadowed by her more forceful younger sister CeCe. Following the clues to her heritage, which have been left for her by Pa Salt, Star follows the trail to a London book store, there she comes into contact with, Orlando, the enigmatic book shop proprietor, and her story begins.

I'm deliberately not saying anything more about Star's search for her identity as that would spoil things considerably. However, what I will say is that this is by far my favourite of the stories so far. I loved how the story flitted between two times frames which were always perfectly in tune so that neither one tried to outshine the other. Both the twenty-first century and the nineteenth century, nestled very companionably together and each story was compelling in its own unique way. I really enjoyed meeting up with Beatrix Potter but was equally enamoured by Star's growing relationship with the family at High Weald, especially Mouse.

There is no doubt that the author shows great skill in the way she so skilfully brings the stories to life. The strands of the story are all interwoven beautifully and the brilliant way in which all the varying elements come together certainly make for compelling reading.

I am completely enthralled by this series, and such is the pull of the story, that as one book finishes I simply can’t wait for the next to be released and for me Lucinda Riley can’t write the stories of The Seven Sisters quick enough.

I am already eagerly anticipating book #4 and CeCe's story in The Pearl Sister..

Best Read with…One of Star’s delicious chocolate brownies and maybe a cup of tea and gossip with Mrs Alice Keppel..

About the author..

Lucinda Riley was born in Ireland, and after an early career as an actress in film, theatre and television, wrote her first book aged twenty-four. Her novel Hothouse Flower (also called The Orchid House) was selected by the UK's Richard and Judy Book Club in 2011 and has been translated into thirty-four languages and sold over eight million copies worldwide. She is a New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling author.

Find the author on her website by clicking here

Follow on Twitter @lucindariley

All the Seven Sister books standalone however, this is one series

that needs to be read and enjoyed from the beginning.

#1 The Seven Sisters

#2 The Storm Sister

#3 The Shadow Sister

 

My thanks to the author and also to Katie at Macmillan for my review copy of The Shadow Sister

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Guest Author ~ David Charnick

Today I'm thrilled to welcome to the blog guest author

David Charnick

  

 David is introducing us to his book

The Dark Side of  East London

Pen and Sword
2016

The Dark Side of East London is intended to work on more than one level. At the most straightforward level it’s a collection of stories which are mainly criminal, and which are all concerned with darker deeds carried out in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. I’ve attempted to recreate the narratives from records such as the Proceedings of the Old Bailey, which can sometimes require a little judicious filling in! The important thing though has been to create readable stories, and accordingly at times I have used the present tense rather than the past to give a sense of immediacy.

This desire to bring the reader into the action has had its difficulties, particularly with regard to the chapter dealing with underage rape. This required treading a very fine line between responsible reconstruction and salacious detail. Nevertheless, I hope that the overall style of the book draws in the reader in a way that more straightforward narratives might not have done.

The reason for choosing stories of criminal acts and misdeeds is not in order to revel in sordid detail though. Like ghost stories, narratives of wrongdoing are anecdotal and so they provide evocative details of day-to-day life during times of crisis. As a consequence the stories I have chosen are intended to give the reader a feeling of what life was like, during my chosen period, in the Tower Hamlets, the settlements to the east of the City, in the shadow of the Tower of London.

On another level, this work is intended to bring into focus the importance of place. London is changing and developing over time, and the choice of time period for this book was made so that I might capture the change of character and feel as once individual settlements were absorbed by the nineteenth century sprawl of the metropolis of London. This change affected more than the demography; urbanisation and commercial advances brought new dangers to the people of London and other cities.

These stories are intended then to evoke the development of the East End before it became the East End, a term which did not come into use until the 1880s. But this is not a period to be seen in isolation, as if the past has no relationship with the present day. As a tour guide I am keenly aware that in places like London the past and present are really just chapters in the overall narrative. Similarly the future holds chapters which we have not yet reached. Time in London contends always with the imperatives of place, and often it is overridden.

The photographs which illustrate the book underline this idea. They have been taken especially by my friend and guiding colleague Alan Tucker and anchor many of these stories from the past firmly in today’s Tower Hamlets. The visible heritage of the East End and its story of continuity are important to me personally. I was born in Bethnal Green in 1964 and am still here, and my feeling for London’s ongoing story is embodied in my collection of short stories Death and the City, which takes the inspiration for its twelve stories from London lore and history that I have learned growing up here.

Old Gravel Lane Bridge
Now Wapping Lane

Although I am a City of London guide and a member of the London-wide guiding cooperative Footprints of London, I am also a member of the Tower Hamlets Walkshop, a guiding workshop group which has been developing on the back of an adult education course I teach locally. We are seeking to develop a coordinated guiding structure for the East End, and this book is a part of the overall initiative to maintain an awareness of the area’s continuity.

So much of our heritage – locally and nationally – is still under threat. In many ways it seems that the lessons of the 1960s and 1970s have not been learned, so the more we can appreciate the closeness and relevance of our past to our present, the less inclined we will be to let it go, and the readier we will be to embrace our part in this ongoing narrative. I hope this book will contribute in some way to encouraging this engagement.

You can find more about David by clicking here

Follow on Twitter @charnowalks

Find his books on Wordery.com

Huge thanks to David for being our guest on the blog today and for sharing his love of 

The Dark Side of East London so eloquently.

My Thoughts about The Dark Side of East London..

Living, as I do, in the North of England, I'm not hugely familiar with London and even less so with the east of the city, so it's been remarkably refreshing to read The Dark Side of East London and to learn things about the east end which I never knew existed. True, I'd heard the old Victorian myths and legends which sort of define the area, the most notorious being Jack the Ripper's association with its mean and murky streets, but what I didn't realise was that, in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, this area was blamed for so much social injustice, and thus was, ultimately accountable for pioneering social change within its boundaries.

The book is divided into nine absorbing chapters which highlight the darker days of crime and punishment, and as detail emerges, what becomes apparent is that this area of London was nearly always at the sharp end of the action. I think my favourite chapter has to be “Poison for the Asking”, as in the days before the 1868 Pharmacy Act it was all too easy for people to get their hands on noxious substances which they used, either in ignorance, or malice, with devastating and often, catastrophic effect.

The author writes with knowledgeable insight into this area, it is, after all, a place he knows like the back of his hand. However, what’s so important is that his zeal and passion comes across in the stories he shares and in the amount of meticulous research which has gone into bringing the book to life. There is much to take in, and because of that, this is not a book to whiz through at high speed, rather it is more to be savoured slowly, allowing the facts to unfold in fascinating detail. The book also shares some specially commissioned photographs which help to put old and new into context and which show those areas which have been highlighted in the stories.

Those who are acquainted with this area will no doubt be familiar with some of its dark and convoluted history. I think that the author has done a commendable job of highlighting, perhaps, some of the more forgotten, but no less remarkable, history of The Dark Side of East London.

~***~