I loved this! It reminded me a bit of Laura Shepherd-Robinson's Blood & Sugar (which is brilliant). I like books which are gritty and dark, covering the lives of the olden-day poor. This is a sort of mystery combined with thriller and the author conveys coercive-control so well.

Copy received via Netgalley for an honest review

This is Clare Whitfield's debut novel, and it is one that I enjoyed.

I love true crime, and I have been fascinated by Jack The Ripper for many years now.

People of Abandoned Character is a warts and all story of life in Victorian England, the slums of London and the people who live there.

I liked how we are taken on one woman's journey and the questions she asks about her husband.

Is he Jack The Ripper?

I am sure many wived/girfriends/friends/family wondered this at the time and for many years afterwards.

Susannah draws us into her story, with all the twists and turns. It had me wondering many a time about people around her.

I did find the first half a little bit slow, however the second half is a belter of a story. I was on the edge of my couch as I read the second half.

Ms Whitfield has written a story that flows well and keep the reader wondering.

I look forward to more of her words in the future.

Susannah Chapman is the newly wed, old maid who never imagined having a husband. When she found out about the Whitechapel Murders, she was piqued. As Susannah moves closer towards finding out who the murderer is, there are many revelations she must realise before the truth comes out.
There are a lot of reasons to like the book, the main one for me is the many layers of complexity. Sure, the principal theme is the murders, but Susannah is an interesting character to be. Her relationship with her husband and the housekeeper adds some relationship problems. This makes her seem real and I can easily understand her reasoning (even though I might not agree). I am in love with the ending. 

It is not in a rush, and we get to know the real her as she embarks on a new journey, artfully done. I love it, rarely you will find an ending that fits the starting point.

This book is amazing. It’s so clever, I would never have thought to look at things through the eyes of the loving (And maybe a little controlling) wife. This book covers so many issues- marriage, love, betrayal and don’t forget Gruesome, psychotic murder. The question all the way through this book is could her husband be Jack? I’m not going to spoil this for you. I just loved the idea that someone out there knew more than they were saying. Would you protect the person you love? Even if they were doing horrendous things?
A great gripping read.

Despite my love of forensics and crime novels, this is actually the first piece of Ripper fic I’ve ever bothered to read. At the ripe old age of 27, Susannah moves to London to become a nurse, which was going well enough until her colleague dies and she marries a surgeon. Surely that’s her ticket out of poverty and drudgery? She and her husband both have their secrets, and the honeymoon period is soon over, giving way to triggering domestic violence (gaslighting, emotional, physical, sexual). The Ripper murders start up, and Susannah develops an unhealthy interest in them, suddenly realising they occur on nights her husband is out, and he often comes back scratched and bloodied. The supercilious housekeeper seems to be in on whatever secrets Thomas is keeping, and on gaslighting Susannah.

The early part of the book felt like a train wreck I couldn’t stop watching, and for a while the story seemed predictable. There were, however, a few twists I didn’t see coming, and it ended up being a very interesting read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for my honest review.

In late nineteenth century London, nurse Susannah Chapman marries a doctor for love and to escape her impoverished past.
But love soon turns to fear, against a backdrop of the Whitechapel Jack the Ripper murders.
The author writes with an assured hand and humour: Susannah has a dry and acerbic wit as she negotiates her new life in a large Chelsea house with sinister housekeeper Mrs Wiggs.
This is a Gothic delight - a locked attic, a crooked physician, a laudanum-addled heroine who thinks she is going mad...
Whitfield cleverly reveals Victorian London and it’s seamy underside, as well as it’s thoroughly modern issues.
This is a great novel - well-plotted and paced and with a really believable and likeable heroine and a rollercoaster denouement.
Thoroughly recommended.

Nurse Susannah Chapman thinks her dream has come true when she marries a young doctor. But the dream ends with the honeymoon and the mental and physical abuse begins.
Thomas - Susannah's husband - becomes secretive and stays out most nights, eventually returning in the early hours covered in what appears to be blood and seems only to confide in their housekeeper Mrs Wiggs.
So when the Whitechapel murders begin Susannah suspects her husband could be Jack the Ripper.
Susannah has kept her own secrets... Or so she thinks.
This is a dark, atmospheric, gothic treat. Full of twists, turns and gritty suspense... Fabulous.

This is Clare Whitfields debut novel with a apt compelling title and a synopsis that seemed intriguing. I almost gave up reading after the first few chapters but my interest in Jack the Ripper keep me wanting to find out where the story was going. The writing style was strange at times and I wondered if the characters would really have used some of the language.
Susannah Chapman is a nurse at a London hospital and marries a doctor, Thomas Lancaster. After a whirlwind courtship and honeymoon she quickly realises that things are not as they should be. When women start being brutally murdered in Whitechapel she begins to suspect her husband could be the killer.
About half way through the story picks up pace and there are many twists you are definitely not expecting, although not all are totally believable.

‘People of Abandoned Character’ is Clare Whitfield’s first novel; full marks for an eye-catching title. It’s also a great idea to explore late Victorian London through the eyes of the wife of Jack the Ripper – or is he? Having recently read ‘Five’, the brilliant historical exposition of his victims, by Hallie Rubenhold, I was hoping for another intelligent exploration of a Victorian woman’s lot, albeit it fictional, intertwined with a Gothic thriller. Sadly, this was not to be.
The novel suffers from too many coincidences. Nor has Whitfield mastered the art of conveying horror as opposed to spelling it out. From the middle of the narrative onwards the reader is immersed in a great deal of blood, gore, depravity, and violence in general. It’s not that this is inappropriate for the subject matter but the unsubtle rendering has the effect of making the reader care less and less.
Susannah, the central character, trains as a nurse at the London Hospital. The author makes use of interesting historical detail and the development of her friendship with Aisling is convincing. Nevertheless, her relationship with a young surgeon, Thomas, never really feels credible in any way, especially for a woman who has been brave enough to strike out alone. And it’s not as if she is destitute. Whilst Susannah mentions frequently how much she relies on the financial security that her marriage affords her (hah!), she is a woman of property and could easily have remained economically independent and single.
There are several occasions in the novel when the prose is particularly poorly constructed or clumsily expressed. Susannah’s desire to read about the Ripper’s victims is justified as some sort of act of mercy – ‘someone should have the courage to accompany them in this’ - and this comes across as nonsense. In fact, Susannah even suggests that some might find this explanation ‘perverse’. The final chapters are event-packed yet lack the psychological and emotional details to make them feel believable. They read as a ‘let’s tie up all the loose ends’ exercise rather than anything more satisfying. Sadly, this novel fails to deliver on its potential.
My thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

A twist, but a good one, on an old, old story. Suzanne has doubts about her new husband. There are to many unexplained coincidences. You must read this insightful look into the very dark side of Victorian Britain.

A historical mystery published 2020
A debut novel from Clare Whitfield and what a debut it turned out to be.
This is a warts and all depiction of what life was like in the East End of London in the late 1800s.
In the 1800s London was the epicentre on the financial, military and political world. Yet for all it’s dominating power the life for the denizens of London’s east end was appalling. The filth, the squalor, the venereal disease and public drunkenness was, by modern day standards, out of control.
In the middle of all this human misery was Susannah Chapman, a tall, plain and introverted young woman.
Susannah was a nurse at the London hospital and whilst life was far from perfect she was one of the lucky ones, she had a roof over her head and food in her stomach.
Then a human whirlwind by the name of Thomas Lancaster entered her life and she was swept off her feet. Thomas pursued Susannah with such a passion that when he proposed, Susannah could do nothing but accept.

It didn’t take long for the other side of Thomas’s nature to come to the surface.
When Thomas wasn’t being overly affectionate he was physically, emotionally, sexually and verbally abusive. Susannah grew to be terrified of Thomas.
About this time prostitutes were being killed in the most gruesome of ways, this was the handy work of Jack the Ripper.
Susannah couldn’t help but notice that when a murder occurred Thomas would be missing from the house, sometimes for days at a time. On one occasion Thomas arrived home late at night covered in blood and it was not his own.
Susannah came to believe that she was married to the monster the press were calling ‘Jack the Ripper’.

The novel has a notably Dickensian feel to the narrative. It is highly atmospheric and manages to evoke a feeling of being there in the middle of all this awfulness.

A highly recommended 4 star read.

My thanks to NetGalley, Head of Zeus publishing and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book

I am in shock that this is Clare Whitfield's debut novel! It is unbelievably spectacular in every way possible.

People of Abandoned Character, in short, is about a 30-year-old woman, Susannah, a nurse with an unfavourable background, who falls in love with and marries Thomas Lancaster, a surgeon. With his behaviour after marriage becoming very volatile and strange and him not being home when each murder occurs, Susannah suspects him of being Jack the Ripper.

All the characters were quite well-developed, even the ones we never meet in the present day. They all enrich the book. In particular, Mrs Wiggs gave me very strong Mrs Danvers vibes from Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier; an absolute cracker of a character. There are also surprise LGBT+ romances in it, but do be aware they are not viewed all that favourably purely because the story is set in the Victorian era.

The story itself was fantastic. I was hooked immediately - from the blurb, to the first chapter, until the very end. It flowed nicely from chapter to chapter and murder to murder. It does become gory, so if you have a weak stomach, definitely prepare for that, but what else would you expect from a story about Jack the Ripper!

Lastly, don't even get me started on the last 20-30% of the book. Every unexpected plot twist that is even remotely possible happens, and it all works. I was audibly gasping at every new revelation. It did feel a bit rushed, but I was so keen to find out how it ended that I really didn't mind.

I cannot wait for Clare Whitfield's future works!

I would like to thank NetGalley and Head of Zeus for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an EARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book well and truly shocked me. The synopsis had my attention from the very beginning, it is masterfully written and undeniably intriguing but going in I had assumed this would be the average Crime/Mystery book and yet.. by the end I was gobsmacked.

Concept wise this was new ground for me. I have never read a book which focuses/takes place around the events of Jack the Ripper and I had assumed the murders would be central to it. But there was way more depth to this book than just that. It explored the reality of life as a woman in this era and toxic relationships/marriages.

The mystery was absolutely mindfucking. I constantly bounced between theories and questions.. Is the heroine insane? Is everything paranoia and hallucinations induced by the laudanum she takes? Or is she right about her theories and beliefs of plots against her?

Essentially I was in a constant state of 'What the fuck is going on!' Things that were mentioned as part of a characters backstory or in passing wound up being huge plot twists and I was absolutely delighted by this.

All in all a spectacular book. One I am glad to have had the opportunity to read.

I really enjoyed "People of Abandoned Character" by Clare Whitfield. Set within the time frame of the Jack the Ripper murders, you follow Susannah, from escaping her grandmother's clutches in Reading to a life in London where she tries to better herself as a nurse. The whirlwind romance and subsequent marriage to Thomas quickly turns sour. It was fascinating reading, trying to work out whether any of the characters were Jack the Ripper, and the more in depth background of the main characters. Will be recommending this as a must-read.

‘We married in St Jude’s, Whitechapel, a tiny dilapidated church that appeared to have sprouted like a fungus between two unconcerned buildings in Commercial Street.

In 1888, Susannah Chapman, a nurse, married Thomas Lancaster, a wealthy young doctor. Because of her marriage, she loses her position (and independence). And shortly afterwards, she discovers that Thomas is not the man she thought he was. Her affectionate husband becomes moody and volatile, and prone to staying out at night.

When the first woman is found murdered in Whitechapel, Susannah follows the case with interest. But the more she learns, the more she worries that Thomas might be the killer soon to be known as Jack the Ripper.
Is it coincidence that the murders occur on the nights when Thomas stays out late? The housekeeper, Mrs Wiggs controls the household. Susannah worries for her own safety and seeks help from Doctor Shivershev.
Susannah’s concerns threaten to overwhelm her, and she is no longer sure who she can trust.

We follow the story through the slums of Victorian Whitechapel, meeting the poor who live there and the well-heeled who visit … for various purposes. Susannah was born poor, and desperately want to keep poverty behind her. But many of the women of Whitechapel have no choice.

There are a couple of unexpected twists which make the story less predictable than I thought it might be. If you enjoy historical fiction with a Gothic twist, then I can recommend this. This is MS Whitfield’s first novel: I hope there will be others.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Head of Zeus for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

This book had me hooked in one summary sentence: What would you do if your thought your husband was Jack the Ripper? You’re intrigued, right? And so sets the scene for this tantalising Gothic historical novel set in 1888. It follows Susannah Chapman, the woman who believes she may have made a terrible mistake with her choice of husband…

Who was Jack the Ripper? Technically a nickname given to an uncaught serial killer; one of history’s most intriguing and talked about unsolved crimes – which is why the premise of this novel works so well. From August to November 1888, at least five women were brutally murdered by Jack the Ripper in and around Whitechapel, London.

Due to the gruesome yet precise nature of the crimes, it is widely thought that someone with a medical background was responsible. And our lead character, Susannah Chapman just so happens to be married to a surgeon, Dr Thomas Lancaster.

Susannah has a medical background herself, having met her husband at the hospital they both worked at while she was a nurse. She really was the star of the show for me: a great, layered and complex character who is vulnerable but has a real feisty edge, that comes with a highly enjoyable sarcastic, cutting tone. This means you were never quite sure what she would do next. Always exciting.

Born into poverty, her main drive is to survive and she does whatever she needs to do to ensure that happens.

When her husband goes from showering her with affection to being moody and secretive, she starts to wonder what’s got into him. Then when Thomas’ mysterious all-night adventures coincide with the dates of the Ripper murders, she starts to suspect. Unfortunately, her husband then turns his attentions back to her, causing Susannah to have to employ her own doctor, the wonderfully named, Dr. Shivershev for her own physical and mental safety.

From the overbearing and sinister housekeeper, Mrs Wiggs, to the mysterious attic and, of course, graphic murders, there are a lot of brilliant Gothic conventions present here that really made me keep turning those pages.

Susannah becomes obsessed with documenting every part of the murders and shines a light on the women as individuals, not just victims.

Claire Whitfield’s imagining of what may have occurred and back-stories for each of the murdered women was just fantastic. Historical novels that are based on real facts in any way are some of my favourite books. I love Googling as I’m reading to see if the author has taken poetic licence or is giving me some history education, and I did learn more about the Ripper legend.

I completely fell for the dry, funny tone running through this book and the wonderful story arc that weaves all its threads together and develops at a perfect pace, while leaving just enough ambiguity at the end to keep you satisfied. People of Abandoned Character is a brilliant Gothic murder mystery rooted in history. It also happens to be Clare Whitfield’s debut novel, so I’m definitely putting her on my new author radar.

Fitting nicely into my recent love of historical detective fiction, I found a lot to like in People of Abandoned Character. Add to that my interest in Ripper tales, I jumped straight in. Having enjoyed Laura Shepherd-Robinson, and Diane Setterfield I was sure this would grab me. And it did. Sort of. The London of 1888 is as well drawn here as it is by ES Thomson and Andrew Taylor, as are the intracicies of a woman in late 19th century society.

There aren't many characters to love in this book, but they are fairly well rounded out, and engage with. A wife's growing suspicions about her husband are nicely presented, although in places I did want to skip ahead to see where this was all going.

Unfortunately the last third of the book feels rushed and contrived, for reasons I'm not sure about. Almost as if the author herself wanted to get to the end. That said, it's worth your time grabbing a copy.

Really intriguing premise that encouraged me to read this one.

A what-if historical crime fiction. What if you married a man after a very short, passionate relationship, only to suspect after marrying him that he may be Jack The Ripper.

A very apt title as there's not a lot to like about any character in this book. This fact doesn't distract from an entertaining read.

My only minor criticism was that I did find the tale moving a little slow in parts.

Wow. This book was not at all what I had imagined but to be honest; I picked it because of the title; I didn’t even read the synopsis.
Susannah Chapman is a nurse in a London hospital when she is charmed and courted by one of the enigmatic doctors, a Mr Thomas Lancaster. After all every nurse’s dream is to be swept of their feet by a surgeon right?
This is the 1800s so that’s actually a bit true.

But Thomas is not as he seems and shortly after they marry, his personality is almost unrecognisable to Susannah. Simultaneously, women are turning up brutally murdered in Whitechapel - could their be a connection.

This is a vivid and graphic reimagining; well told and quite intense. You won’t see the twists coming and if you’re interested in the ‘ripper genre’ (I assume it’s a genre of its own right?) you’ll enjoy this. Hell is empty and all of the devils are here is a good summation of this highly entertaining story.
Thank you to Netgalley, Head of Zeus Books and the author for allowing me to read this ARC

I loved this creative, macabre well written book. I love historical fiction and this book ticked a lot of boxes for me, the writing was superb, the characters felt real and the pace was fast and intriguing. I did feel that the ending was a bit muddled but its still one of the best historical fiction books I've read. I'll be writing a full review on my blog closer to the release date