Dorcus Turton comes from a family whose name historically holds power and respect. However, as the only surviving heir, her life has been challenging. Upon the death of her mother, her father started a downward struggle of alcoholism and gambling debt. Dorcus runs a girls' school out of their home and takes up some seamstress tasks, but she can still not stave off the debt collectors, so she resorts to taking in renters. James Lackington and his wife turn out to be more than just renters; they are a wonderful addition to Dorcus's life, with their kindness and generosity and their tremendous love of reading and books, something with which Dorcus strongly identifies. The Lackington's dream is to become booksellers, and with the help of Dorcus and her father, their dream soon comes to fruition. Of course, tragedy strikes in the form of sickness, death and heartbreak, and Dorcus's life drastically changes, but will it be for the better?
I really liked this book….up until the last third. The author went from a wonderful exploration of a resilient woman's life during Georgian London to a focus on the politics of the time. The political atmosphere of the time is, of course, essential to character choice and the advancement of the plot. I just wished it was more woven into the plot instead of reading like a textbook. I was also a little disappointed in the book's ending; it seemed rather abrupt, but then I realized that this book is the first in a series. So now I know that this isn't the end of Dorcus's story.

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

Stunning cover
Stunning book

I absolutely loved this
So rich and vivid, I was able to picture my way through the book

Absolutely loved it

I requested this book on NetGalley because I typically take an interest in any book that will speak to my own personal love of books. If a book has a setting such as a bookshop or library, or the protagonist appears to love books, that always sparks my interest.

This offering from Davis takes the reader to Georgian London, where we meet Dorcas. I felt the author had a particularly interesting way of narrating, that helped me feel particularly connected to Dorcas. It was as though I knew everything that Dorcas did, felt, and thought, at any given moment, and I felt very engaged, Somehow, it felt less like reading a book, and more like someone was telling me a story about Dorcas and her life.

There were times when I felt oddly thoughtful while reading this, in a dark sort of way. I wondered if Dorcas was going through the motions of her everyday life, concealing unhappiness, as we sometimes do. Her love of books was a part of her character that resonated with me, and as a book lover, if someone told me that books would change my life as they changed Dorcas', I wouldn't argue. In fact, I think that books have already changed my life. I can't remember a time when books weren't a part of my life, I can't imagine my world without them, and I wondered if Dorcas felt that way too.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers, for a free copy to review.

This was just OK for me, I enjoyed the Historical aspect, didn't enjoy the love story aspects and how it weaved throughout, but overall not the worst, just not the best either.

Jane Davis writes incredibly readable books, and better still, each of her offerings is uniq1ue in terms of subject matter and style.

The Bookseller's Wife has Dorcas Turton as its protagonist. This young woman is moved to become a school teacher for female students because her father has gambled away the family fortune. She loves to read and believes that it is her duty to provide her young charges with good female models. Not a bad shout for a woman in 1775!

As the book progresses we meet her lodgers, James and Nancy Lackington, who run a bookshop and are heavily involved with the Wesley Society and the household grows further with a maid of all work. Life for Dorcas doesn't follow the traditional path for a woman born to her station int this time period, and of course this is what makes her so appealing.

Once again I have to applaud Jane Davis for bringing a time, place and set of characters to life that delight and fascinate.

Thank you Netgalley and Rossdale Print Productions for access to this arc.

I could easily identify with Dorcas’s love of books and reading. I could also, to a lesser degree, understand her frustration with how her family’s circumstances had been increasingly diminished due to her father. One thing I think readers will agree on is supporting Dorcas’s efforts to educate the teens and tweens in her day school. She knows that most of them will be willing to sink into the proscribed roles for women but for the ones who want more, Dorcas wants them to have female role models and knowledge. One of the invented characters in the story is Patience Brine, a fourteen year old who had to begin work three years prior and whom Dorcas takes under her wing as Patience steps off the stage in London. Patience is awesome.

James Lackington befuddles Dorcas a little. He’s a shoemaker who loves to read and wants to open a bookstore. His father’s family also had some means but James had to pull himself up by his own bootstraps, was taught to read at age fourteen, and happily fell in with a family who enjoyed discussing books around the dinner table. James is a born entrepreneur and willing to take gambles to improve himself and his store. He also appreciates Dorcas’s intelligence and cheerfully acknowledges how much he depends on her.

The book is divided into two sections though, in my opinion, the second seems more like two different parts. The little details of eighteenth century life are enough to thoroughly ground the book without overwhelming it. The omniscient voice POV put me right in the middle of the action so that I could feel Dorcas’s fear at who was pounding on the door, her frantic worry as she searched for a way to pay the creditors, her sadness when her father died so soon after she realized the “gift” he had given her. In a darkly humorous scene, we see that funeral home directors have tried for centuries to guilt families into paying for more expensive services than they can afford.

The beginning of the “five years later” part two was my favorite bit of the book. James has big ideas for the store and brainstorms ways and means to increase their foot traffic, turn their stock over, and get the word out that theirs is the best place to come and buy books. Dorcas and James work well together though he does have a tendency to keep some plans up his sleeve. Then came the last bit of the story which diverts into the horrific Gordon Riots of 1780. I can understand that with the Lackinton’s both living near and having their shop close to a major area where rioting occurred it would have affected them in real life, but I wasn’t sure why the book needed such a deep dive into it.

The characters in the book are well rounded and realized. I didn’t think that they were just twenty-first century people in hooped skirts and powdered wigs. The marriage that Dorcas and James make is truly a marriage of convenience but it’s one that quickly moves into a marriage of equals and deep affection. I enjoyed my time among them and I’m looking forward to seeing what will happen next to all the people in the story. B

In The Book Seller‘s Wife, the Chisholm St., Chronicles by Jane Davis we meet Dorcus Turton A young woman in the 18th century who loves novels and out of necessity has become a teacher who also takes in sewing due to her fathers flagrant regard for money at one time they were part of a wealthier set but thanks to his love of gambling they’ve been knocked down a couple of pegs but Dorcas takes all this in stride when debt collectors come to the door she decides to take in lodgers this is how she meets the Lakingtons she likes Nancy Lakington immediately she finds her husband John strange but it seems the more they get to know each other the more kindred spirits she realizes they are. Soon Dorcas‘s father passes away and once again The couple helps her out in ways she never could’ve imagined but soon it is Miss Lakington‘s funeral they are arranging and this is when life completely changes for dorcas. My favorite thing about this book is there are many mentionss of other books novels pamphlets plays ET see throughout the book I love how giving Dorcas was I was sad to learn patience was made up but that is just a minor negative to the book I also would love to know what happened to Piggly after realizing he had been at their house for four months that was the last he was mentioned also a minor point in the book. This is a great book and one I definitely enjoyed an absolutely recommend. It is rare to get a book that it is hard to take yourself away from but I must admit the Book Sellers wife by Jane Davis is definitely one of them. It is mainly about nothing but about so much at the same time I truly truly enjoyed it. I want to think Rossdale print productions and net galley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

I very much enjoyed the historical aspect of this novel but found that the book as a whole didn't really know what it wanted to be - a comment on this period in history or a romantic tale - the ending was unsatisfactory in that the various romantic threads were not well resolved and instead we were given a long description of the mobs actions. Both very good but not woven together as well as I would have wished.

Jane Davis, The Bookseller's Wife, The Chiswell Street Chronicles Volume 1, Rossdale Print Productions, March 2024.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

Dorcas Turton is an engaging character whose story takes place in the 1770s. She is the daughter of Samuel Turton, whom her mother married so as to keep the family name. She is the granddaughter of Sir John Turton. However, current family links are mainly through Samuel seeking financial assistance or using the relationship to obtain credit. Turton’s generous expenditure, largely on himself, for fine clothing and gambling has depleted not only his own fortune but that of his recently deceased wife. This is the family, father and situation Dorcas must navigate in a society where a woman is deprived of the skills to do so, as well as the environment in which, even if they are uniquely able, it is unacceptable. The Lackingtons arrive to rent the room Dorcas has been forced to advertise. They are to change her life…and she is to change theirs.

The value of reading and education is at the centre of Dorcas’s being, and she teaches children from her own social background until she takes in Patience as a servant. Recognising her abilities, Dorcas teaches her to read and write, with great success. Reading novels and the challenge they make to religious reading and the lives they open up to their readers is an important theme in this work. Initially the debate around reading and its value is personal, but with religious tensions fanned by anti-Catholicism it becomes public.

Davis is adept at using her characters to tell two stories, the personal and the public. She has used a real character, Dorcas Lackington, and real events to weave a plot that rings true. Together with her knowledge of the period she ensures that imaginary material necessary for the plot are seamless additions. The information Davis provides at the end of the novel makes fascinating reading and points to the integrity of this writer and her research. A wonderful aside is her respect for her location and historical period. The paperback version of the work is set in Caslon Pro to honour the Caslon Type Foundry that was established between 1737 and 1909 in the setting for the Lackington booksellers, and the main thrust of this novel. Davis has also used secondary sources, all of which are listed and some of which are discussed.

Returning briefly to Dorcas, like most of Davis’s main characters introduced when under stress, Dorcas has to surmount discrimination; a fragile economic situation; her love for her father and devastating understanding of his weakness; and as the only living child, her responsibility for him and her household. She is a courageous and intriguing woman as demonstrated through Davis’s facility with characterisation. The Lackingtons, Patience and even minor characters are also well observed. With its clever plotting, adherence to historical knowledge and engaging characters Jane Davis has written a historical fiction that has charm and integrity. I shall look for more of her work.

The Bookseller's Wife by Jane Davis

In 18th century London, Dorcas, an unmarried only child of a reckless father, uses her intelligence and wits to stay afloat - running a school for young ladies and taking in sewing. When things take a turn for the worse she takes in lodgers, Mr and Mrs Lackington, which sets in motion a whole chain of events.

I really enjoyed this book - the historical detail is fascinating and I loved the characters, especially Dorcas and Patience. The last bit of the book felt very dense with historical events so I preferred the first part of the book, but that's just personal preference. The author is very skilled at bringing this period in history, and London at that time, alive. Highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

Dorcas is the voice in this book. Being brought up as part of a wealthy family her fortunes have turned as a result of her father's gambling addiction and her mother's death means she has little hope of escaping her situation through marriage. At first, her father comes across as an unlikeable character but as the story progresses you, and Dorcas, find snippets of information that show that some of the comforts she does have in her seemingly dire situation come from her father rather than her mother - her love of reading novels came from him reading to her at night and his 'indulgence' in letting her have an education, usually reserved for boys, meant that she had the means to support them both, by running a school for young ladies, when times became hard. They are both grieving the loss of Dorcas' mother. Behind the danger of trying to keep up with her father's debts is the tumultuous political situation and different religious factions of the time. There is a small shift in her character after her father's death and her subsequent marriage to the Bookseller and their plans to improve education for all. I was left with a feeling that the story hadn't concluded and there may be another instalment in which Dorcas comes to the fore as her own person.

#femalevoices #historicalfiction #empowerment #educationofgirls #bookselling #polilitcs #revolution #unrest #class #thebooksellerswife #netgalley

I really enjoyed the first half of this historical novel, and enjoyed learning about the drastic change in circumstances and situation of the main character. I was drawn in by her resilience and strength to make things work despite her new hardships. The second half of the book was different, it almost felt like a separate book at times. I still enjoyed it but felt that there needed to be more cohesiveness between the different parts of the book. Many interesting themes were touched upon, and I did gain insights into new topics from the book.

Wonderful, wonderful historical novel!

I absolutely loved “The Bookseller’s Wife” by Jane Davis. Well-written and full of historical detail, it is an excellent read about the young woman Dorcas Turton, whose family has fallen on hard times in Georgian London. Thus Dorcas has been exposed to life experiences she was not destined to have as a young girl from an old and prominent family. Instead of going to balls and other social events, Dorcas must keep house for her widowed father and is forced to take in both pupils and sewing to cover the debts still incurred by her profligate father and put food on the table.

To cover her father’s latest foolish expense, Dorcas decides to let a room in the house. Her new lodgers are Mr and Mrs Lackington, who dream of becoming booksellers. Encountering them will eventually change Dorcas’ life.

A title such as “The Bookseller’s Wife” will always attract true readers, and luckily the title doesn’t disappoint. Not only is Dorcas herself an avid reader, but much of the book is dedicated to the transformative power of reading, both figuratively and literally.

Furthermore, the author obviously has a firm grasp of the historical period she covers both in terms of actual events and the everyday life of ordinary people. I found both the language and the characters authentic to the time with Dorcas having quite forward opinions about the education of women not dissimilar to the ideas of historical figures from the same period such as Mary Wollstonecraft.

All in all, a joy to read. Now I’m curious to discover what else Jane Davis has written.

Thank you NetGalley and Rossdale Print Productions for this eCopy to review

I loved The Bookseller's Wife. It is set in the Georgian Period, which I have not read much about so it was new and interesting for me. We follow Dorcus as she tries to manage her household following the death of her mother and the debts her father racks up. One of the ways in which she does this is to take in lodgers, enter the Lackingtons, who bring much need relief and good cheer back into Dorcus's life. Just as she is getting settled tragedy strikes with her father and Mr Lackington's wife dying, how will she survive?

The Bookseller's Wife is full of memorable characters and gave a fascinating insight into early bookshops, the history and politics of the time. A very enjoyable read

As a bibliophile, I was lured in by the book's title. This historical novel has a strong female hero and is likely to be enjoyed by women who like historically-informed novels set in London. There are elements of romance and some of the plot offers insights into the early world of bookselling. The writing was solid, though unremarkable. At times it felt a bit too far over the line between historical novel and romance novel, and as one who prefers historical novels, I was happiest when I was learning something about history and less happy when the writing moved towards the romance zone. The hero is a woman who was expects never to marry due to her fallen family background and apparently ordinary looks. Unlike the vast majority of women of her time, she learned to read and is able to teach young girls the same skills. Due to an unexpected turn of events, she takes in lodgers and her romantic prospects change. Her cleverness propels the plot. It is a solid book, but not one that will linger in my memory. Perhaps this book is best suited for reading on an airplane. It passes the time, and I learned a bit as I read it...but it is not the kind of book I will be advising my friends to put on their must-read lists.

Very interesting setting with good characters. It was a little long winded for me with more drama than I like so not really my cup of tea.

This book felt like three separate books in one: the first half of the book had potential and appeared to be moving in the right direction; the middle section of this book seemed to stall out and I began wondering if there was a point; the last portion of the book was absolute torture. It dragged on and essentially went nowhere. The book had so much promise but it failed to deliver.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rossdale Print Productions.

The Booksellers Wife by Jane Davis

London, 1775: The only surviving child of six, Dorcas Turton should have been heiress to a powerful family name. But after her mother’s untimely death, she is stunned by the discovery that her father’s compulsive gambling has brought them close to ruin. With the threat of debtor’s prison looming large, she must employ all her ingenuity to keep their creditors at bay.

A truly fascinating read set in Georgian times , a great character in Dorcas who due to the situation she finds herself at the hands of her feckless father decides not to just sit in her parlour and have a fit of the vapours !

After the death of her mother Jemima, Dorcas discovers that her father Samuel has besmirched the good Turton name with his gambling ways.
After being brought up as a young lady she is suddenly having to look after the house and what little finances they do have. Dorcas first takes in pupils thinking this will help ease things when she gets unwelcome visitors at the door.
Dorcas decides to take in lodgers, if only she knew what lay ahead agreeing to take in the Lackingtons. The one thing they have in common is a love of books which feature throughout the story.

A personal opinion, I found it a bit long drawn out. I thought it a bit repetitive in places. I did managed to finish it just.

I really enjoyed this historical novel. It was interesting to read about the characters‘ hardships and how they tried to find solutions. A good glimpse into the time period and an engaging story.