Great book! Engaging from the beginning to the end. Looking forward to reading more by this author! Highly recommended!

I was intrigued by the premise of this book and was excited to receive an ARC courtesy of Netgalley. I read a huge amount of historic fiction and I have to say it’s unusual that I read a book that intrigued me and that I enjoyed as much as I did this one. It tells the story of Clara, newly released from the asylum and embarking on the new life her husband had carefully prepared for her in Durham. The only thing her husband hadn't planned for was the fact that Durham at the time was talking of only one thing: The arrest and trial of Mary Ann Cotton. Clara I found to be an intriguing character as she struggled with the notion of sanity, and of guilt. She goes to visit Mary Ann as a part of a Christian programme to offer solace to prisoners and slowly the two women get to know each other. I found the rapport and relationship they developed to be both believable and completely engaging. The athir cleverly steered well clear of cliches and sentiment. The book has clear feminist undertones, and so it should, the sitauto both these women found themselves in was appalling. I was familiar with the questions surrounding the Mary Ann Cotton case before reading this, and I admire the way the author chose not to focus on the notions of guilt but on the idea of survival. I have to say personally the lack of credible defence for Mary Ann, likewise the reliance on circumstantial evidence is shocking to modern eyes, and I liked the fact the author here acknowledges this without trying to convince you of her own conclusions. It made the story very intriguing as you followed the developing story Clara and Mary Ann. The ending too I have to say was both barbaric, chilling and brilliant. I really loved this book andI don't say that very often. I shall be on the lookout for the authors next work and recommending it to both friends and in my professional capacity.

There are many different ways that people find fame. Or infamy. Victorian England didn’t exactly lavish the female gender with many opportunities, but Mary Ann Cotton has found her way to the public consciousness (and the gallows) by becoming the first British female serial killer. She was fond of arsenic and generous with distributing it to her numerous spouses and children. With the total victim count somewhere around 21, Cotton easily puts Jack the ripper to shame. But he was never apprehended and thus the mystery endured. Cotton was nabbed, tried and hung, no mystery there. Just a general sort of bewilderment at a severe aberrant psychology that must have been at play.
Then again in the time when women (especially those without means) were no more as chattel to be married off, bought and sold, and lock away when they become inconvenient, is it all that difficult to imagine how someone like Mary Ann Cotton might have been driven to commit her horrific crimes.
Plus serial killers have always held a certain dark fascination for the general public. And so was very much the case for the protagonist of this book, a young woman freshly out of the asylum where she was locked away by her dearly beloved for over a year following getting inconveniently and violently upset over the death of her newborn baby. Now she’s out of one cage and into another, with a controlling thoroughly unplesant dandy holding the keys. With her only ally, her beloved grandmother far away and her newly imposed social circle restricting like a corset, she becomes fascinated with Cotton and begins to visit her in prison.
Those encounters will change her life, the abyss stared at for too long will stare back, she may even grow a spine after all. Courage can be found in the strangest places.
So anyway, originally I was going to say something like…I liked this story so much more the first time around when it was Affinity (including the ever excellent BBC adaptation), but really that wouldn’t be fair. There are certain similarities, for sure, and tragically no sapphic attraction to be found, but this book is very much its own beast. For one thing it uses actual historical facts and events, for another the tone is completely different. And then there’s that excellent and oh so appropriate ending. So overall, it’s actually quite good. A sort of belated coming of age story with feminist undertones. It’s somewhat too strongly at times redolent of women’s fiction, but manages to remain thoroughly readable and entertaining. Fans of historical fiction with darker themes and girl power message should enjoy this one. Thanks Netgalley.

I received an advance reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of the better historical thrillers I had read in some time. You grow so fond of the characters, even the murderess. One of the more unique subplots. Beyond five star

Everything about this book drew me in. Historical fiction is a genre that can be hit or miss for me and this book hit it out of the park. I was instantly enticed by Clara’s personality and I felt the emotions she swirled through as the book progressed. The setting was very cleverly aligned with real life events but the facts didn’t bog down the fiction of Clara and Henry’s lives. The overlay of past and present provided an intriguing addition to the story, and I was kept guessing at how events would play out until the very end, which is something I very much enjoy. It was elegantly written and the language seemed to fit excellently with the time period.

Anyone who is a fan of the historical fiction or light thrillers should give this book a read.

I normally hate 1800s historical fiction or gothic fiction but I requested this book because of how amazing the description was. A serial killer and a mad woman?! Count me in.

Of course the woman is not really mad and I was loving the plot and loving how ex her husband was but then it just got crazy. I know people will do anything for money but it got unbelievable at some points.

I also felt like the book jumped around A LOT, there were so many scenes were a was confused on where the characters were supposed to be, what was going on and how they ended up there. The scene were she is on the cliff and saving the little boy is one of those. HOW DID THAT ESCALATE SO QUICKLY?

To be honest I ended up skipping to the prison scenes because the writing in those was just beautiful and I was so interested in the dynamic the two characters had, the rest was filled for me which I didn’t really sign up for.

This story was mediocre. A 3 out of 5 stars equates to a 60%, or a D-. While I wouldn’t score it nearly so low numerically, I did find the author’s writing lacking. The concept was great: braiding together a murderer’s story with an abused woman’s desire to escape her husband. Unfortunately I found myself skimming large parts of the novel, and still not missing any important details or plot points. Thus I would suggest going to Wikipedia and reading up on Mary Ann Cotton’s life and trial, and saving yourself the time it would take to finish this novel.