MOLLY & THE CAPTAIN by Anthony Quinn (Abacus Books £16.99, 432pp)
MOLLY & THE CAPTAIN
by Anthony Quinn (Abacus Books £16.99, 432pp)
There’s a scrumptious thriller on the coronary heart of this novel, which spans three centuries. It opens within the glamorous hustle and bustle of Georgian Bathtub and London, as society painter William Merrymount and his two daughters — sensible Laura and wild, headstrong Molly — attend events and portray periods, course of the fallout of a bootleg affair and create two great footage: the titular Molly & the Captain, and the gorgeous Portrait of A Younger Man.
The enigmatic footage disappear and reappear, fascinating Nineteenth-century artist Paul Stransom and his formidable, disillusioned sister Maggie, and fixing a riddle in Eighties London as painter Nell Cantrip heads to an public sale to bid on an 18th-century image of a curiously acquainted younger man.
THE DAZZLE OF THE LIGHT by Georgina Clarke (Verve £9.99, 256pp)
THE DAZZLE OF THE LIGHT
by Georgina Clarke (Verve £9.99, 256pp)
There’s a diamond-hard glint to the central character on this cinematic story of the prison underworld in Twenties London.
Ruby Mills can choose a pocket in a second, effortlessly carry silk scarves from luxurious malls and steal costly baubles from jewelry retailers with an insouciance that makes her invaluable to the legendary Forties, a gang of ladies criminals.
It’s a far cry from the cosseted lifetime of Harriet Littlemore, who’s engaged to up-and-coming Tory politician Ralph Christie, and hoping to make a reputation for herself on the Kensington Gazette. Fascinated by robber Ruby, Harriet writes about her exploits, and finds herself unwittingly drawn into Ruby’s corrupt and corrupting world.
THE PICTURE BRIDE by Lee Geum-yi (Scribe £14.99, 320pp)
THE PICTURE BRIDE
by Lee Geum-yi (Scribe £14.99, 320pp)
Korea 1918, and 18-year-old Willow is eager for a unique life from her mom’s hardscrabble existence. Dreaming of escaping, and determined to review, she is persuaded by a match-maker to marry a person she’s by no means met, who oversees a sugar cane plantation in Hawaii.
Accompanying her are greatest buddy Hongju, a younger widow undesirable by her household, and Track-hwa, the granddaughter of a shaman and an outsider in her area people.
It’s a compelling story and Lee Geum-yi movingly describes the ladies’s journeys — each geographically as they undertake the arduous sea voyage to their new house, and emotionally as they try to barter the difficult realities of marriage to a stranger, monetary uncertainty, household schisms, dissembling husbands and thwarted goals.
