Book No: 5
Title: The Nature of Monsters
Author: Clare Clark
Genre: Historical Fiction
Published: 2006
Obtained: 2007/Audible.com
Completed: 1/28/2008
No. of Pages: N/A - Audio
Rating: 4.5/5*****
Eliza Talley is sixteen years old and lives in rural England. When she falls in love with the son of the local wealthy family, she and her mother believe all their troubles are over. However when Eliza finds herself pregnant, the son abandons her and his father strikes a deal with Eliza’s mother to send her to London to work for an apothecary there. Eliza is led to believe that the apothecary will ‘help’ her with her pregnancy.
Arriving in London Eliza is bedazzled by the big city, especially St. Paul’s Cathedral. However the home where she is indentured to work is gloomy, run by the tight lipped and harsh Mrs. Black, wife to the apothecary Grayson Black. There is also a lecherous apprentice Edgar Pettigrew and a fellow house maid, Mary who is an ‘idiot’ and has a hare lip. Put to back breaking work Eliza finds that Mr. Black has no intention of helping her rid herself of her child, but instead has other plans entirely. Eliza soon learns that the monsters of the world might live right in your own home.
At first I thought this was going to be a romance type book, as the start of the book was about Eliza’s affair with the young son. However this book was anything but a romance, more of a Dickens like tale of the poor and voiceless against the rich and powerful. Evoking the sights, sounds and smells of 18th century London the author does a masterful job of making us feel a part of all that is happening. Murky, dark and gloomy this book is absolutely compelling. In the end a whiny and petulant Eliza comes into her own, and gives not only herself a voice, but one for Mary who is perhaps the most innocent and deserving of happiness of all. Well researched and beautifully written I recommend this book to anyone who likes the gothic and seeing both the good and bad in mankind.
A very high recommend.
3 comments:
i read The Great Stink by this author a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. i had no idea she had a new novel. thanx for the heads-up.
I keep wondering about The Great Stink, it sounds kind of graphic. I really loved The Nature of Monsters, so I guess I'll give it a try, thanks for your input.
OK i take back that i "enjoyed it". this is not a book to enjoy. it's actually kind of disgusting with its focus on sewage. what i admired was the chutzpa of the author in writing it. it was her first novel and i was blown away that she would tackle a crime mystery set in the filth of the London sewage system. also, the main character is a cutter and she describes this in such horrendous detail that it's hard not to imagine that she is one herself. that said, it is an amazing book. i won't re-read it because it was very hard to read, but i'm glad that i have read it.
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