The Corset

by

Laura Purcell

Is prisoner Ruth Butterham mad or a murderer? Victim or villain?

Dorothea Truelove is young, wealthy and beautiful. Ruth Butterham is young, poor and awaiting trial for murder.

When Dorothea's charitable work leads her to Oakgate Prison, she finds herself drawn to Ruth, a teenage seamstress - and self-confessed murderess - who nurses a dark and uncanny secret. A secret that is leading her straight to the gallows. As Ruth reveals her disturbing past to Dorothea, the fates of these two women entwine, and with every revelation, a new layer of doubt is cast...

Can Ruth be trusted? Is she mad, or a murderer?

REVIEW

Ruth and Dorothea come from completely different walks of life. Dorothea is rich and spends her time doing charity work which includes visiting and talking to prisoners awaiting the death sentence. 

Ruth was bullied when she was at school and her saving grace was when she went home and helped her mother with sewing beautiful gloves for the rich, but when her father dies and her mother becomes destitute, Ruth is sent to Metyards, a dressmakers, who her mother worked for previously. Ruth is treated so badly there, as were other girls, that she thinks she would have been better off in the debtor's jail, but she believes her sewing has magical powers and this will help her to get revenge on the Metyard family.

The corset that Ruth makes for Kate Metyard for her wedding is superb, but Ruth is convinced that it's power will kill Kate off. Is this why Ruth is in prison and having visits from Dorothea?

This is a great gothic thriller which keeps you guessing until the very last page. I really enjoyed this book. It was the first I have read by this author, but I have now started reading The Whispering Muse as I love her writing. 

Would thoroughly recommend to lovers of dark, gothic stories.

 The Household

by

Stacey Halls

1847, Shepherds Bush. Charles Dickens' home for fallen women is about to open its doors. Part refuge, part reformatory, the house and its location are top secret. Among it first inmates are Martha, arrived from a shelter for prostitutes, and Josephine, a convicted thief. But faced with the chance to redeem themselves, how badly do they want it?

Across town, in her Piccadilly mansion, Dickens' friend, the millionaire Angela Burdett Coutts, receives news that turns her orderly world upside down. Her stalker has been freed from prison, and she knows it's only a matter of time before their nightmarish game resumes once more.

As the women's worlds collide in ways they could never have expected, they will discover that freedom always comes at a price . . .

REVIEW

When Josephine is released from prison, she has been given the chance to go to Urania Cottage on the outskirts of London (Shepherd's Bush) which has been funded by the writer Charles Dickens and aristocrat Angela Burdett Coutts. It is supposed to help "fallen women" to become literate, to be good at keeping house etc for them eventually to be shipped overseas to start a new life. 

Martha is also there having been a prostitute and settles in quickly. Having shelter, food three times a day and warmth is much better than what she was used to and having a matron at the house to oversee things, it does seem as though Martha has landed on her feet and life will be easier from now on, but little does she know that Angela, as friendly as she is to the women at the refuge, has a stalker who will go to any lengths to get to her, even if it means tricking his way in to Urania Cottage.

Although the characters are fictional in this book, Urania Cottage did actually exist and was run by Charles Dickens and Angela Burdett Coutts. There was a great mix of characters and thoroughly researched by the author. There was also a mention of the Lying In Hospital in Waterloo (where I was born!). I do love a twist in a story and this had a great one! It also made me cry and gasp out loud a couple of times, which I feel is brilliant writing. 

Loved it and can't wait for this author's next one as I have read all her books.