Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Polari Prize-shortlisted author Charles Lambert returns with a deliciously gothic, atmospheric novel set in Victorian London. For fans of Sarah Waters, Susan Hill and Jessie Burton, The Bone Flower is a beautiful, gripping read.
The scene is London, the 1880s. A city of both imperial splendour and abject misery, where children sleep in the streets and gentlemen of leisure explore the beyond, a time of scientific advance and spiritualism, of unquiet souls and inflexible social mores. It is November, and Edward Monteith, a young man of substantial means and frustrated ambition, passes his evenings in his club, listening to travellers' tales and dreaming of adventure. Invited to a supposed s ance, he spots a young Romani woman selling flowers outside the theatre and is captivated. In the face of every social norm, his love is reciprocated but Edward struggles to face the scorn of Victorian society. What follows is a story of love and guilt, of unspeakable horror and pity, of friendship and betrayal, where the boundary between the living and the dead becomes ever less certain. And over it all hangs the scent of orange blossom...
Synopsis
A deliciously Gothic and atmospheric novel, one for fans of Susan Hill and Andrew Michael Hurley, by Polari-prize shortlisted writer Charles Lambert
On a grey November evening in Victorian London, Edward Monteith, a moneyed but listless young man, stokes the fire at his local gentleman's club, listening to its members: scientists, explorers and armchair philosophers discussing their supernatural experiences and their theories of life after death. Edward is taken under the wing of some sceptics and attends a supposed s ance where he is captivated by a beautiful young woman selling flowers outside the theatre. What follows is a quintessential Gothic novel, a ghost story, and an uncanny love story.
Soon Edward and Settie, the mixed-race Romani traveller are deeply in love, but their bond is threated by the inescapable class system of Victorian society. When Settie falls pregnant Edward panics. Afraid of their fate if he is cut off by his father, he makes a drastic decision with dire consequences.
Less than two years later Edward is married. His large country house is adorned with orange trees and his young Sicilian wife is awaiting the birth of their first child. But the past he is desperate to forget won't be laid to rest.
Synopsis
A deliciously Gothic and atmospheric novel, one for fans of Susan Hill and Andrew Michael Hurley, by Polari-prize shortlisted writer Charles Lambert
'A writer who never ceases to surprise' Jenny Offill, author of Weather On a grey November evening in Victorian London, Edward Monteith, a moneyed but listless young man, stokes the fire at his local gentleman's club, listening to its members: scientists, explorers and armchair philosophers discussing their supernatural experiences and their theories of life after death. Edward is taken under the wing of some sceptics and attends a supposed s ance where he is captivated by a beautiful young woman selling flowers outside the theatre. What follows is a quintessential Gothic novel, a ghost story, and an uncanny love story.
Soon Edward and Settie, the mixed-race Romani traveller are deeply in love, but their bond is threated by the inescapable class system of Victorian society. When Settie falls pregnant Edward panics. Afraid of their fate if he is cut off by his father, he makes a drastic decision with dire consequences.
Less than two years later Edward is married. His large country house is adorned with orange trees and his young Sicilian wife is awaiting the birth of their first child. But the past he is desperate to forget won't be laid to rest.
Synopsis
A deliciously Gothic and atmospheric novel, one for fans of Susan Hill and Andrew Michael Hurley
'A writer who never ceases to surprise' Jenny Offill, author of Weather On a grey November evening in Victorian London, Edward Monteith, a moneyed but listless young man, stokes the fire at his local gentleman's club, listening to its members: scientists, explorers and armchair philosophers discussing their supernatural experiences and their theories of life after death. Edward is taken under the wing of some sceptics and attends a supposed s ance where he is captivated by a beautiful young woman selling flowers outside the theatre. What follows is a quintessential Gothic novel, a ghost story, and an uncanny love story.
Soon Edward and Settie, the mixed-race Romani traveller are deeply in love, but their bond is threated by the inescapable class system of Victorian society. When Settie falls pregnant Edward panics. Afraid of their fate if he is cut off by his father, he makes a drastic decision with dire consequences.
Less than two years later Edward is married. His large country house is adorned with orange trees and his young Sicilian wife is awaiting the birth of their first child. But the past he is desperate to forget won't be laid to rest.
A dark, uncanny love story from the author of Polari prize-shortlisted Prodigal and The Children's Home, The Bone Flower will delight fans of Edward Carey and Essie Fox.