How ill we remember those we never knew? Tragically the author Helen Dunmore died earlier this year so Birdcage Walk was her last novel. How sad such a beautiful story will be her last.
Place and time are important and we begin today with a dog walker coming upon a gravestone for Julia Fawkes in the wooded area in Bristol where centuries ago building had begun on ambitious and beautiful houses. Because of political upheaval following the French Revolution and an economic crash due to war they were then left in ruins.
The novel then heads back to meet Julia's daughter Lizzie, now married to the property developer John Diner Tredevant who is building their own home alongside the villas of Birdcage Walk. Lizzie's mother and stepfather Augustus are radical supporters of Thomas Paine and write pamphlets which to many (including Lizzie's husband) are seen as seditious.
Lizzie is still close to her mother, especially when she discovers her mother is with child again at a late age.Times are generally in flux and disturbances abroad and within the working world of her husband cause Lizzie to question all those around her. Secrets are uncovered which (right from the beginning of the novel) we must seek to unravel as Lizzie finds her life and the city around her closing in to threaten her future.
I found this a brilliant read. It sets events in France in the context of a family in Bristol with emotional and intellectual belief. The plot is cleverly explored and often takes unexpected turns but you feel drawn into the tight world of Lizzie and those she loves.
Such a shame there will be no more from the author.

A quiet novel, yet buzzing with life, Birdcage Walk is a landmine of a tale on the human experience. When I say 'quiet'—I mean it. Like humming. Like a whisper. Like a story being relayed secretly in a dark room. In fact, its slow nature made me afraid that it would dip into the realm of boring, but it never did. It moved along with increasing and surprising urgency.

The narrator, Elizabeth, is not terribly young in age, but incredibly naïve in spirit and awareness. So, we almost have a bildungsroman here, as she grows and changes in small ways throughout the book. Her eyes open and she finds her voice all while being surrounded by a mystery she slowly comes to acknowledge.

Despite its slower pace, I was pleased to find this story an incredibly engaging one with broad, expansive characters and fully realized settings. The atmosphere is tight, constrained, and claustrophobic, as written by Dunmore, pressing down on the reader as Lizzie stumbles her way through this astoundingly important time in her life.

This is a deep and moving novel with the French Revolution and the events leading up to France declaring war on England as the backdrop. Despite that heavy time in history serving as the background, the focus remains on Lizzie throughout the book. However, Lizzie's mother, Julia, is the reason we dive into the story.

The novel opens with a man and his dog discovering the grave marker for Julia Fawkes. This man learns that Julia was a pamphleteer in England during the time leading up to the French Revolution. All her work has been lost, and even we as the readers never discover more than a tiny snippet of her writing ability.

This novel's author, Helen Dunmore died of cancer earlier this year, and I love that there's an afterword in her own voice about her experience writing this book. There's something very poignant about this author writing about another writer whose words have been lost.

A beautifully and intimately written historical fiction novel with dashes of suspense, mystery, coming-of-age, and drama all rolled into one.

I have enjoyed Helen Dunmore's novels in the past and was looking forward to reading her latest historical story. Set in the 1790's it depicts the uncertain times in Europe, the loss of the monarchy in France and the financial instability in England. With politics and finance intertwined with inequality and radical thinking this novel had the ingredients of an unputdownable read. Sadly for me the story line stuttered and I found it difficult to maintain interest in the characters.
Maybe for me this is a book to come back to in a few years to try again.

This historical novel is a slow starter building on the descriptions of characters and the scenery of 18th century South England. As the book went on I found myself drawn further into the characters and the dark undertones of a story to be told.

An enjoyable book with good depth and I would recommend it.

Lizzie and Diner have recently married. Lizzie is learning her new role as Diner’s wife, while Diner is busy trying to make his real estate development business take off. It’s the 1790’s and there is revolution in France. When Lizzie’s mother becomes pregnant, her loyalties are torn and trouble begins to brew in Lizzie’s mind. Will world events upset Diner’s carefully laid plans? Will Lizzie be able to come to terms with the specter of Diner’s first wife, who died before they met?

This is a complex and delicious story. I really loved the characters that are created here. Lizzie is a delightful young lady who is doing her best to adjust to a husband who is perhaps more demanding than she anticipated. Diner is a bit strange and sometimes I liked him but other times not so much. The mystery of the first wife adds a lot of interest and drama to the story. Basically, I loved this story and highly recommend it.

Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore opens in the present day. The story begins with a man whose name is never mentioned. While walking his newly adopted dog through what now remains of Birdcage Walk he stumbles upon the grave of Julia Elizabeth Fawkes. On her headstone he reads an inscription: Her Words Remain Our Inheritance. Curious as to whom this woman was and what literary contribution she made, if any, he begins to search for information about a woman that only seemed to exist by name but nothing else and no mention of her writing.

The book was not what I was expecting based on the description. While there was political turmoil and violence including Radicals what I read instead was a story about the everyday life of Lizzie Tredevant as seen through her eyes. We hear through Julia her mother and Augustus her husband about what is going on in France and their point of view, in which they are very involved in the political upheaval. Meanwhile, Lizzie does not seem to have much opinion in the matter.

While this story nears the French Revolution Lizzie and her very jealous and controlling husband are going about their lives. John Diner Tredevant continues to build houses during Bristol's housing boom, he begins to learn that no one is buying. Slowly Lizzie begins to discover that Diner, as he is referred to in the book is not the man she thought she married. Diner is a man tormented by secrets from his previous marriage. As his past eats away at his conscience it causes him to become more menacing as the days go by.

While reading the book I wondered if the character at the beginning of the book would be revisited. It was not until after I read Birdcage Walk and the author's Afterword that I could clearly see the prelude as an introduction to the past and nothing more.

Like Julia Fawkes, the nameless character in the opening of the book seems to be lost in time and history so even the reader does not know who he is. His contribution in this story is introducing Julia and the past.

Dunmore's descriptive writing and how Lizzie sees and interprets her world is the kind of writing style I am drawn to. It is easy to relate to the characters, and their emotions. This was a story about a forgotten woman, a mother, a writer, a forgotten family and many forgotten people throughout history that contributed to where we are today.

I can now say, after reading my first book by Helen Dunmore, I am truly an admirer of her writing.

To some this book may seem to dawdle, without enough excitement or drama, no character development. I felt that the characters developed well within the means of their own existence, their own environment appropriate for their time. Perhaps, someday someone will come across my name in same way and say; “Just who was this reviewer of books?" No one may ever know.

I received this ARC from Grove Atlantic through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book but unfortunately found it fairly plodding. Lizzie's relationship with her controlling husband, who bumped off his first wife, is tense and disturbing as you would imagine and the sense of threat makes for nervous reading but so much of the book is devoted to discussion of the French revolution and debate over the politics of it. The character-driven parts of the novel were strong but I feel that a lot of the discussion of the distant revolution (the book never takes us there so it is always abstract) could have been cut back and improved the book no end. I did find myself eager to read more about the characters' relationships. My favourite parts were Lizzie's interactions with baby Thomas, her maid Philo and her stepfather Augustus, all of whom were painted well.

I typically really enjoy historical fiction, but with Birdcage Walk, did not learn much about the French Revolution times, nor were the characters very interesting to me. The most interesting storyline was when Lizzie's mother had a baby. Sorry to say that I pretty much had to force myself to finish it.

Loved it! The impact at the end when the writer realized she'd gotten sick while writing the book gave me chills. A very interesting story. The philosophy got a bit over my head at times but a good solid read.

This author had come recommended and I was keen to read this latest novel by her. The story is one of my favorite genres, historical fiction with a healthy dash of suspense. I liked the author's language and the way the story moved as well as the well-researched historical details. I felt for Lizzie , though I was almost frustrated at times because Diner was so controlling. It was a story I found both unsettling and compelling and I am sad to learn it was Helen Dunmore's last book. I will recommend it!

Helen Dunmore was a prolific writer of both children's and adult fiction. She sadly passed away recently after a battle with cancer. Birdcage Walk was her last work of fiction. She states at the end of the book that even though she knew she was ill during the writing of the book, she didn't realise how ill. I think that once I knew this, I myself became aware of the many mentions of mortality, and how you are remembered after you die, and this may have affected my enjoyment of it. It was very dark and sombre - I can't say morbid, because that would infer I took no enjoyment out of it. I found the first half of the book slightly laborious; I was willing for something to happen. It wasn't until about the second half that I began to race through it a bit quicker.

The story is set in Bristol, while in France the French Revolution is under way. Lizzie's husband, Diner, is a builder and he is working on a terrace of upmarket houses overlooking the Avon Gorge. However, is business is bleak, and is set to become bleaker as the Revolution in France spreads its terror across Europe. Meanwhile, Lizzie's mother and stepfather take a keen interest in the actions of the revolutionaries, being careful not to speak out loud where their loyalties lie. With Diner spiralling into bankruptcy, depression and jealousy, how can Lizzie escape the inevitability of the crisis that is looming?

Please make sure you also read Helen Dunmore's 'Exposure'. It is a brilliant story of blackmail, lies and deception.

This novel is beautifully written, quite lyrical in places. It was of particular interest as it was set in Bristol. The characters were well drawn and I did feel drawn into the story.. I am not sure how much the sideline of the French Revolution added to it.

I think this may be Helen Dunmore's finest novel yet. As always, the atmosphere, settings and characters were beautifully created. Eighteenth century Bristol was vividly real and obviously very well researched. The principal characters in the novel were practically breathing through the pages. John Diner was brought to life so realistically I felt a genuine sense of unease during the passages spent with his wife, Lizzie.
Unsettling, beautiful, this is a novel that will stay with me for quite some time.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. It's undoubtedly well written, but it just didn't go anywhere for me and had an odd mood to it. As one of the other reviewers said, the whole thing is given away in the prologue chapters, so there were no surprises and no real revelation of why the characters did what they did, especially Diner, or any psychological insight, for me anyway.
As I read somewhere that the author said, she wasn't aware of her illness until the editing stage of the book, but wondered if she knew unconsciously that she was dying. It might explain the off feeling I had about it.
Not for me then, but I have enjoyed the other books of hers that I have read, especially Exposure.

Disappointed that this book has no ending and is purely about the characters living in England during the French Revolution. On a positive note, what is written is very good and the book could be. used in education to get scholars to create their own end.

An engaging novel spanning a multitude of issues: murder, social change, political change, gender and the question of what do the majority of us leave behind when we leave this world. The story is told by Lizzie who was brought up to be a strong female character but marries John Diner Trebant who wants to control her. Diner, as he prefers to be called overstretched himself financially to build his terrace of houses and becomes bankrupt. Lizzie throughout their marriage has had to balance her sense of duty to her family against his demands on her so has needed that inner strength. We know that Diner has already murdered his first wife and is a very troubled man. The story of their life is set in the 1700s in a period of political turmoil and the backdrop is also the effects of the French Revolution. Lizzie survives her life with Diner but how will she go forward and overcome the effect he has had upon her. A story that leaves you thinking about the way forward for her.

The perils of the prologue... 3 stars

As the French Revolution is turning into terror over in Paris, Lizzie Fawkes is in Clifton in the south of England, where her husband is building an avenue of houses on the cliffs above the gorge. Lizzie is the daughter of Julia Fawkes, a woman who has devoted her life to writing pamphlets promoting the rights of man and the emancipation of women. Lizzie's husband, Diner, is of a more traditional cast, wanting and expecting Lizzie to find fulfilment in the role of housewife. He is older than Lizzie and was married before to a Frenchwoman, Lucie. Lizzie loves Diner and wants to make him happy, but she feels increasingly restricted by his demands that she doesn't go out unaccompanied; and he seems jealous of everyone else she loves, especially her mother whom she adores. As Diner becomes ever more demanding, Lizzie begins to feel herself trapped...

I so wanted to love this book, especially since it turned out to be Helen Dunmore's last. In a rather moving afterword, she explains that, although while she was writing it she didn't know she was ill with the cancer that would kill her, she realised afterwards that the illness must already have been spreading through her. So it is poignant, though apparently coincidental, that one of the themes she wanted to examine in the book is that of how “the individual vanishes from the historical record”, especially women, whose lives were so often unrecorded and forgotten.

Unfortunately, there are a few problems with the book that prevent it from reaching the highest standards. Firstly, the idea of discussing the Terror in France via those wannabes who cheered the revolutionaries on from the safety of England means that there is never any sense of emotional involvement in the events going on over in Paris. This is further exacerbated by Dunmore telling us about those events through letters and newspaper articles rather than taking us there. Of course, this is how people in England would have received the news, so in that sense it's an accurate portrayal. But it makes those passages feel more like a history lesson than part of a story.

The second, and for me the major, problem is that Dunmore begins the book with a short series of prologue-like chapters which basically reveal almost everything that is to follow. So we know from the beginning that the building boom will collapse when war begins and the houses Diner is building will be a victim of that. We know that Julia is soon to die and her writings will be lost and forgotten, leaving no trace of her in the historical record. And we know that a man will bury the corpse of a woman in the woods – and although we are not told which man and which woman, it becomes blindingly obvious almost as soon as the story gets underway. Suspense may not be an essential feature of all books, but I suggest there ought always to be at least some doubt about how things will play out. Of course, we don't know exactly how it will end, but the bits that are left obscured are rather minor in comparison to those that are revealed too soon.

There is no doubt about the quality of the writing, and the development of major and minor characters alike is excellent. I struggled with the idea that Lizzie would have given up a life of relative freedom to marry a man with such strict, traditional views on the role of women, but we all do stupid things for love when we're young, I suppose. Dunmore's portrayal of the stay-at-home revolutionaries rings true, as does her detailed description of life in Clifton at this moment in history. But I fear that detail itself gradually became my third issue with the book. Everything is described in far too much depth, from haggling over the purchase of a shawl to what to feed a baby whose mother can't suckle it. Each bit is vaguely interesting in its own right, thoroughly researched and certainly well described, but it all builds up until I finally felt I was drowning in minutiae, with the story sinking alongside me. I'm not sure at what point creating an authentic background becomes information overload but, wherever the line is, for me this book crossed it. And I suspect that's mainly because the prologue chapters had left me in little doubt of where the story was going so that I had no strong feeling of anticipation to drive me on.

So the book's strengths lie in the quality of the writing and the authenticity of the setting and characterisation, and for these reasons it is still well worth reading. But sadly, the problems I had with it prevent me from giving it my wholehearted recommendation, much though I'd like to.

NB This book was provided for review by the publisher, Grove Atlantic.

The Birdcage Walk surprised me in a good way—I wasn’t completely sure how it would all play out, as the mystery is introduced in the present by a lonely man walking his new dog in an old cemetery. But then the story begins to unfold in the past, starting with the murder, then switching to the first person point of view of Lizzie and stays that way through the story.

The original story question—who is Julia Elizabeth Fawkes? is answered in unexpected ways. I couldn’t put this down. Daily life in 1790s Bristol was rendered in fascinating detail, along with the details of a land and building developer’s life against the backdrop of the revolution in France. Lizzie is eminently likable as she struggles to keep and shore up the balance of her life. I highly recommend this novel of historical and domestic suspense. I’ll definitely be reading more of this author’s work.

10 stars if I could, review not yet posted to blog...

'Birdcage Walk' is a historical novel set in the early 1790s, at the onset of the French Revolution, portraying the effect on one aspect of Britain, namely the building contractors of Bristol, who were subsequently made bankrupt as a result. This, in turn, plays a part in affecting the lives of all who are linked in a devastating turn of events.
In the novel, Dunmore evokes a clear sense of atmosphere of the period, with detailed and evocative descriptions of place and engaging characterisation through the story of Lizzie Fawkes, the daughter of a radical feminist writer, Julia Fawkes, clearly reminiscent of Mary Wollstonecraft, the mother of Mary Shelley. Lizzie has been brought up in the radical circle and feels the need to break free and be herself, which results in her somewhat hasty and ill-chosen marriage to the building contractor, John Diner Tredevant, familiarly known as Diner. Although passionate in the bedroom, Diner is controlling and domineering and the threat hangs over ever moment the couple appear together in the novel. Added to this, there is clearly the ominous shadow of his mysterious first wife, now dead, but still there in spirit. All of this causes Lizzie untold worry and dread, yet she refuses to back down and admit her mistake, choosing instead to soldier on and deal with the consequences.
The novel contains a mixture of historical fiction, domestic disharmony, intrigue and thrill, all set amidst the far-flung backdrop of the French Revolution and the crumbing building industry in Bristol. No character escapes unharmed and the devastation is felt by many throughout the novel - the growing sense of sadness and unease pervades the novel, growing stronger as it goes on. Dunmore's writing style is effective, with a strong sense of the needs of readers and language choices and descriptions which clearly evoke atmosphere throughout - she is a true loss to the world of writing...

Thanks Grove Atlantic and netgalley for this ARC.

Inspiring, unforgiving, and rage-inducing at parts. This novel will make you feel strong emotions and hopefully you'll have as strong a reaction to as I did.