Maude Horton’s Glorious Revenge, by Lizzie Pook - Karen
I don’t think I have ever picked up a book and been transported to the place and time it has been set in as quickly as this book did. Within the first two pages I was in London in the 1850s. I could almost hear the sounds and feel the atmosphere. This was unusual for me and I have read lots of books over the years. I loved the atmospheric writing and the description of the pharmacy and life on board ship. This looked a promising read.
Maude and Constance are two sisters, living with their grandfather who is a pharmacist. Constance leaves the family home and boards a ship bound for the Arctic as a cabin boy. She seeks adventure and leaves without telling Maude. Tragically, when the ship returns to dock, Constance is not aboard having died on the voyage. Maude sets out to find what happened to her sister.
This is my first taste of a book by Lizzie Pook and I thoroughly enjoyed it (trigger warning for animal death). Maude learns more about Constance’s experiences when her journal comes into her hands via a staff member at the Admiralty. From the pages of Constance’s journal, we learn more about her and the villain of the story, a man called Edwin Stowe who is also aboard the ship, the Makepeace. Characters dip in and out of the story who all play their part in making this a great book.
Highly recommended.
Thank you to Westbourne Bookshop for the proof copy.
Karen
