Kindle British Mystery Book Club discussion
This topic is about
The Devil in the Marshalsea
Book Club Monthly Read
>
January 2018 Group Read - The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
AngryGreyCat
(new)
-
rated it 4 stars
Jan 01, 2018 03:14PM
I checked this one out of the library and have started it. Not my usual type of read, but the writing is very engaging and has pulled me in so far.
reply
|
flag
I am 129 pages in and am not sure if I am liking it. I would like to shake Charles and point out that you can't carry this friend forever. You are, in modern terms, an enabler. And yes, I have the picture that you have to pay for everything in the prison....the setting has been painted; let's move on to the mystery solving part of the plot.
LOL, David. Yes it is difficult if you have nominated it... feel obligated to read it. Maybe the first 1/3 just sets the scene and it will improve. Charles is annoying me tho. Maybe he will become smarter. See what you think and let us know.
Maybe the first 1/3 just sets the scene and it will improve. Charles is annoying me tho. Maybe he will becom..."
For me, this book didn't improve. I did finish it but that's because I forced myself to read the last 100 pages.
For me, this was a disappointing read. The characters had no depth to them at all and the hero, Tom Hawkins, became annoying half way through, as he was so shallow. The author, in my opinion, went overboard in giving us historical details repeatedly through the book.
Tom's goal in life was to marry a rich lady and continue living a life of drinking and gambling and, sure enough, in true Cinderella fashion, the scullery maid becomes a rich woman and they presumably live happily ever after.
The publisher's description includes the description "thrilling ... full of intrigue and suspense". I don't think we read the same novel!
I agree with David. It's unclear why Fleet remains in prison; the other one is Mrs. Roberts. She was another wishy-washy character for me; she had no hopes of solving her husband's murder and so what if she did? She should have spent her time and resources trying to get her child back instead of mourning the loss of a dead-beat husband. Too many one-dimensional characters for me.
I guess I am in a minority here - perhaps because I don't generally read historical fiction, so for me it was a real change of pace. I liked learning about the Gaol and what happened there - being allowed to beg -separation in the sides of the prison, etc. I felt the mystery was more of a back story here.
