📖 Book Review ~ The Blackbirds of St Giles by Lila Cain

Simon and Schuster
30 January 2025

Thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

 

Some things are earned. Some things are worth fighting for… 

It’s 1780, Daniel and his sister Pearl arrive in London with the world at their feet and their future assured. Having escaped a Jamaican sugar plantation, Daniel fought for the British in the American War of Independence and was rewarded with freedom and an inheritance. 

But the city is not a place for men like Daniel and he is callously tricked and finds himself, along with his sister Pearl, in the rookeries of St Giles – a warren of dark and menacing alleyways, filled with violence and poverty. 

The underworld labyrinth is run by Elias, a man whose cruelty knows no bounds. But under his dangerous rule is a brotherhood of Black men, the Blackbirds of St Giles, whose intention is to set their people free. 

Can Daniel use his strength, wit and the fellowship of the other Blackbirds to overthrow Elias and truly find the freedom he fought for…

📖 My Review.. 

The Blackbirds of St Giles led me on a dark and dangerous path, from the terror of a besieged Jamaican sugar plantation, to the dismal squalor of the area of London known as the Rookery. This labyrinthine underworld of thieves and vagabonds is no place for the faint hearted, and Daniel and his sister, Pearl, newly arrived in Georgian London, soon discover that life, on these menacing streets, is far tougher than they could ever have imagined.

Sweeping through sections of London society, from the brooding elegance of a London salon, to the musky interior of a boxer’s training ground, and the opulent interior of the home of a deadly villain, this brilliantly, beautiful story held me spellbound. From the dramatic opener as a plantation burned against a terror laden sky, to the arrival on the murky streets of London I was beguiled by the description of a life where the colour of one’s skin meant that neither hope nor charity existed and no favour was offered, and none accepted. Life for the Rookery inhabitants was a constant struggle against overt racism, poverty, disease and sheer terror however, despite the constant struggle to survive against the hatred of the King of the Rookery, a cruel man who is determined to see them at his mercy, Daniel and Pearl also find friendship, community and a strong sense of honour amongst the Blackbirds of St Giles.

Set against the shameful days of enslavement, back to a time when people were bought and sold and life was cheap, The Blackbirds of St Giles is a remarkable novel of bravery, steadfastness and above all, hope. Days finishing the book, the story stays with me and I hope, given the ending, that we might return to the Rookeries in the not too distant future.

About the Author

Lila Cain is a pseudonym for the writing duo of Kate Griffin and Marcia Hutchinson. Kate Griffin won the Faber/Stylist Magazine competition with Kitty Peck and the Music Hall Murders and went on to write 3 more books in the series. Her first stand-alone novel, Fyneshade, is now available. Born to Windrush-era Jamaican parents in Bradford, Marcia Hutchinson worked as a lawyer before founding and running the educational publishing company Primary Colours. She was awarded an MBE for services to Cultural Diversity in 2010.

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