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Bleeding Heart Square [Paperback]

Andrew Taylor (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Publication Date: 29 Jan 2009

1934, London.

Into the decaying cul-de-sac of Bleeding Heart Square steps aristocratic Lydia Langstone fleeing an abusive marriage. However, unknown to Lydia, a dark mystery haunts Bleeding Heart Square. What happened to Miss Penhow, the middle-aged spinster who owns the house and who vanished four years earlier? Why is a seedy plain-clothes policeman obsessively watching the square? What is making struggling journalist Rory Wentwood so desperate to contact Miss Penhow?

And why are parcels of rotting hearts being sent to Joseph Serridge, the last person to see Miss Penhow alive?

Frequently Bought Together

Bleeding Heart Square + The Anatomy of Ghosts + The American Boy
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Product details

  • Paperback: 496 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin (29 Jan 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0141018615
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141018614
  • Product Dimensions: 3.3 x 12.5 x 19.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 77,774 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Andrew Taylor
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Product Description

Review

Taylor is the modern master of a very Dickensian underworld... A sense of brooding evil pervades the complex plot, handled with great assurance (Independent )

The period atmosphere, as in all Taylor's work, is flawless. He simply gets better and better (Daily Telegraph )

About the Author

Andrew Taylor is the author of a number of critically acclaimed crime novels, including the Roth Trilogy (ITV's Fallen Angel) and The American Boy, his bestselling historical novel which was a Richard and Judy Book Club selection. He has won many awards, including the CWA John Creasey Award, an Edgar Scroll from the Mystery Writers of America and two CWA Ellis Peters Historical Daggers. He lives in the Forest of Dean.
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars A Cracking Yarn 19 Oct 2009
By Hannah H
Format:Paperback
I bought this on a whim upon realising Andrew Taylr was also the author of The American Boy, which I had read a few years previously. I'm a fan of gothic literature so was interested to read a modern take on the genre, set in an unconventional time period. I'll not recap the plot, but as a London resident I am familiar with the area where the real Bleeding Heart Square is, and that certainly helped with my visualisation. The story itself was really good, I enjoyed the characterisation of Lydia, I had thought from the outset I would dislike her as a protagonist but became very sympathetic to her plight. I also particularly enjoyed Taylor's recreation of the London 1937, the Blackshirts, the unemployment, the social unrest, the class divide all rang true and evoked the London of that time. Unlike some reviewers I did not find the first half slow, I thought the whole book ran along at quite a fast pace and I enjoyed switching between the views of Rory, Lydia and the other characters. I didn't give it a full 5 stars becuase I have to say I didn't enjoy the ending, in my mind the invisible reader of Mis Penhow's diaries did not ring true, logically they made sense, but did not really fit into the book as a whole. That said I think that is a personal preference and I would say that other people may disagree, and would throughly recommend this book to others. I will certainly be reading more Andrew Taylor as a result.
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40 of 43 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Taylor at his best.....a feast for fans of The American Boy 23 May 2008
By William
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
For anyone who enjoyed The American Boy, Bleeding Heart Square is going to bring you hurtling back to Andrew Taylor.
War is looming, Mosley's Blackshirts are at large and the old class order is disintegrating in the uncertainty and anxiety of 1930s London. The mystery of the disappearance of a middle aged woman touches a cast of displaced characters and strange, unsettling events unfold. Their epicentre is a dingy house in a square stranded on the edge of the City. It's not a homely place.
This is Taylor at his very best: gripping, immaculately well researched, cleverly plotted and literary. A great Gothic read which kept me up half the night. Strongly recommended.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Gripping 31 July 2008
By J. Michael
Format:Hardcover
This is completely engrossing from page one as you get lost in Taylor's fluid writing style. The book is a rich treasure trove of real substance with menacing psychological undertones. The heroine is drawn into the politics of the time, providing a sophisticated and absorbing take on the violent Fascist world. The Square itself is a real place (Bleeding Heart Yard in London), and immediately after finishing the book I couldn't help paying it a visit - this really concreted how much I loved the book because the sense of place is so vivid.
Highly recommended.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Truly deserving of all 5 stars. 14 Sep 2009
By J. Lesley
Format:Paperback
Some authors can write a very good mystery and the reader puts the book down and that is that, finished, over. Don't expect that kind of reaction after you read "Bleeding Heart Square" by Andrew Taylor. I am still playing those final chapters over and over in my mind. How did I miss so completely the solving this puzzle? Were there clues given that I overlooked? I was not able to solve this mystery because this story is so well written that all of my usual methods for solving just didn't apply.

A wonderfully atmospheric mystery set in 1934 London during a period of political upheaval and social unrest this story has, at its center, a young woman who should have been far removed from either of those situations. Lydia Langstone should have been securely ensconced within the upper echelons of London society, protected from the realities of everyday life by money and social standing. Instead, because of a situation within her home, she finds herself having to seek refuge with her father in the incommodious confines of Number 7 Bleeding Heart Square. The stories surrounding the meaning of the name for these buildings, not a square at all, are many and varied but all show a dark and sinister history. Every direction in which Lydia turns she is confronted with questions about the disappearance four years previously of Miss Philippa May Penhow, the wealthy spinster who formerly owned the house. Every person Lydia meets in this new environment has some tie to Miss Penhow. How can she know whom to trust? How can she cope with all of the information she is gathering, at first accidentally and then purposefully, about the whereabouts of Miss Philippa Penhow? Was there a crime committed here? How can she ever unravel all of the tangled threads when everyone has some hidden interest in the past?... Read more ›
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars A slow start but a worthy read 10 Jun 2009
By Helen Simpson VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
Although I found the plot itself interesting enough;
Domestic violence, politics in the aftermath of WWI, a young woman trying to stand on her own two feet in the early 1930's, I didn't feel the novel really drew me in until about half way through. That was a shame because the second half of the book was really gripping.

The backdrop of the story is described very effectively and I had no trouble at all imagining Bleeding Heart Square "just north of Holborn" or the village of Rawling and likewise all the characters were very realistic, including the etiquette and hidden secrets to guard reputation that were so common then. There are a good mix of town and country folk and the plot alternates between the events of 1934 and the extracts from Philippa Penhow's diary four years earlier. The plot [which was inspired by a similar factual event] is actually very believable; from Lydia's experiences and Rory's situation to the political tension and Fascist party ideals.

3.5 stars...marked down for not engaging me fully until half way through.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I've read for ages
This book is really interesting and gripping. The description of foggy London in between the wars is so good you feel transported. Read more
Published 3 months ago by T. Murphy
4.0 out of 5 stars Cracking read
Andrew Taylor is a recent discovery - I really enjoyed this modern period novel - better than the American Boy (my opinion) and right up there with Anatomy of Ghosts!
Published 14 months ago by teen reader
4.0 out of 5 stars Curl up by the fire with this one on a cold winter night
The story opens in London in the mid 1930s. Lydia, a young married woman from a privileged background, comes to a crisis point in her marriage. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Alison McVey
3.0 out of 5 stars A good read, but could be better
This is a curious book. I think the blurb is excellent, and it drew me in. I liked the book, but it was somehow lacking. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Hetty Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent - as usual, Mr Taylor!
WOW - Andrew Taylor manages to write brilliant novels. I was introduced to Andrew Taylors writing a few years ago and I have not read one that is disappointing. Read more
Published on 28 April 2011 by Tim
4.0 out of 5 stars A gripping whodunit of the classical school
This is a very good book. A complicated plot, of which the author is in complete control throughout. Read more
Published on 31 Jan 2011 by The Bagster
4.0 out of 5 stars Extremely readable modern dickensian tale
As with American Boy i found Taylor's writing style a pleasure if a little lacking in real menace, given the dark subject matter. Read more
Published on 29 Dec 2010 by Huck Flynn
2.0 out of 5 stars Promised much
This book promised much but failed to deliver. I love books from this period and the historical detail was good. Read more
Published on 19 Nov 2010 by Macavity
2.0 out of 5 stars Not for lovers of classic gothic fiction
This book has disappeared into the jumble of books quickly consumed and thrown on the charity shop pile. Read more
Published on 3 Nov 2010 by M Arif
3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing overall
I had high expectations for this book, especially after reading some of the reviews, but I did not love it. Read more
Published on 30 Oct 2010 by Maitacap
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