- Hardcover: 224 pages
- Publisher: Sinclair-Stevenson Ltd; 1st edition (13 July 1992)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1856191818
- ISBN-13: 978-1856191814
- Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 14.2 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,314,102 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
Product Description
Product Description
An engineer's obsessive quest to find the cause of a cholera epidemic takes him on a journey from the glittering cafes of Haymarket to the crime-infested slums of London. What he finds there, amid the poverty and death, shatters his ideals and strikes at everything he holds dear.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Matthew Kneale was born in 1960 and read history at Oxford. He is the author of three other novels: Whore Banquets (winner of the Somerset Maugham award, 1987), Inside Rose's Kingdom (1989) and English Passengers (2000). He lives in Italy.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
The glory of a London unobstructed by effluent. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
The glory of a London unobstructed by effluent. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I am yet another reader who came to this book after reading Matthew Kneale’s “English Passengers”. “Sweet Thames” is not the near-perfect novel that “English Passengers” is and it’s clear that in this earlier book we are seeing Kneale develop his style: the writing is superb, but the storyline and characters are not nearly so well-drawn as in “English Passengers”.
The narrator in “Sweet Thames” is Joshua Jeavons (Kneale is fond of repeating this name, which kind of grates after a while), a man on a mission to reorganise London’s sewerage system. Jeavons is a largely unappealing character, although over the course of the story we do come to sympathise with him a little more. Jeavons is convinced that his scheme for effluent depositories is the answer to the capital’s sewerage problem and sets out to prove this. This, however, is not the main focus of the novel as he becomes very deeply involved in a mystery that is particularly close to home.
It’s a little infuriating as a reader to watch Jeavons’s own prejudices and preconceived ideas prevent him getting to the root of what is happening, time after time – the reader is likely to be ahead of the protagonist in terms of perceiving the truth of what has gone on. Nevertheless, there’s a lot to admire here and overall, it’s a pretty good read. I really enjoyed the descriptions of Victorian London and the subplot about the mystery of the cholera epidemic. There are also some very funny little moments in this book and I really liked the ending – although the way in which things unravel is perhaps a little unconvincing, the conclusion was the one I personally was hoping for.
All in all, not in the same league as “English Passengers”, but an entertaining little novel – flawed but enjoyable, and showing us glimpses of the truly outstanding talent Kneale was to develop over time.
35 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Matthew Kneale seemed a relative unknown before his "English Passengers" was short-listed for the Booker Prize and named the Whitbread Book of the Year, but with his recent climb to fame has come acknowledgement of a shining talent that's far from new. Kneale is no strange to accolades. 2001 sees the re-release of one of Kneale's earlier novels, "Sweet Thames," which won the 1993 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. This book, like "English Passengers," shows off the author's talent for capturing the past. This time the scene is 1840s London, when the city is facing a crisis over its lack of an efficient sewer system. To the rescue comes Joshua Jeavons, a young engineer with a plan he thinks will remedy the city's troubles-if he can only convince the authorities of its merits. A myriad of obstacles stand in his way: his unsupportive employer, obstinate city officials, his cool and elusive wife, and a sudden influenza epidemic that strikes the capital. With the slums of London succumbing to illness and his wife mysteriously vanished, Joshua sets out on a desperate mission to put his drainage plan into effect, as well as to locate his estranged wife. His adventures make for a quick-paced read filled with fascinating historical detail. Kneale evokes Victorian London in all its complexity, chronicling the political and social issues at stake at the time, as well as bringing to life the city's inhabitants. Joshua's pursuit takes him to the far corners of the metropolis, from affluent neighborhoods to decrepit tenements, even into the city's vast but inadequate sewer system. These locales, as well as the wide range of people to which he is introduced, make for enthralling entertainment, and the mystery of his wife's disappearance keeps the pages turning until the book's startling conclusion. Fans of "English Passengers" will not be disappointed in this work, and it will appeal to anyone with an interest in the Victorian era or the city of London, its history and people.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This was the first book I read by Matthew Kneale. I LOVED it! How can someone make such an interesting book out of sewerage and the Thames at low tide? The plot twists and turns were unexpected and the characters were well described. I felt I was there, could even smell the odors of the early London streets. I never expected the ending, which is what makes it so good for me. I hate to get into a book that turns predictable. Looking forward to reading his next book.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
More logorrhea please!
I'm willing to bet Kneale wishes now that he'd fleshed this novel out a bit. He did write it a while ago. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Gargoyle
Good, but a long way from The English Patient
I liked this book but ultimately it seemed a little flat. Set in London in 1849, with all its social problems of poverty, insanitry housing and raw sewerage pumped into the Thames... Read more
Published on 20 Oct 2007 by Rivercassini
Sweet Tales
If, like me, you've come to this book after having read The English Passengers it might help if I start out by stating the obvious: Sweet Thames is a different book. Read more
Published on 20 Jun 2004 by D. C. Njoku
A tale of change...
I read this after reading the masterpiece English Passengers,also by Matthew Kneale, and was hoping that I would not be dissapointed. Read more
Published on 13 Mar 2004 by "mattjhemsley"
Recommended
Like other readers, I too began with English Passengers - and Sweet Thames was no disappointment. It is a fine chronicle of victorian England, concurrent stories of Joshua Jeavons... Read more
Published on 2 Jan 2004 by "swarmsley"
A book so funny I needed to go to the toilet
There's not much I can say about this book apart from state that it has to be the funniest book that I've ever had the pleasure of reading. Read more
Published on 5 Sep 2003 by John Grandin
A Second Read
After loving every second of English Passengers I wanted to know if Kneale's earlier stuff was as good. I chose Sweet Thames. Read more
Published on 16 April 2003
True recognition only after 'English Passengers'
Matthew Kneale was unkown to me before I read his award-winning 'English Passengers'. 'Sweet Thames' is a close account of Victorian England, and Kneale seems to capture London... Read more
Published on 16 Jun 2001
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Fiction > Historical
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
