The Finest Type of English Womanhood
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Review
'A strong, dark and original story, told by an engrossing new voice in English fiction' --Miranda Seymour, author of IN MY FATHER'S HOUSE
'A promising debut from a startling new voice' --Waterstone's Books Quarterly
'A dark, compelling debut ... Heath skilfully recreates the trajectory of Gibson's life, but it's Trelling's equally damaged character ... which provides the vital emotional charge.' --Daily Mail
'An exceptionally well-written, suspenseful novel ... with an unerring sense of period, place and mood
An exceptionally well-written, suspenseful novel ... with an unerring sense of period, place and mood' --Guardian
'Excellent ... There is a compulsion and persuasive assurance in the writing'
--Sunday Times
'This fictional account of a true story gives a darkly shocking version of the events surrounding this tragic case'
--Good Book Guide
'A promising debut from a startling new voice' --Waterstone's Books Quarterly
'A dark, compelling debut ... Heath skilfully recreates the trajectory of Gibson's life, but it's Trelling's equally damaged character ... which provides the vital emotional charge.' --Daily Mail
'An exceptionally well-written, suspenseful novel ... with an unerring sense of period, place and mood
An exceptionally well-written, suspenseful novel ... with an unerring sense of period, place and mood' --Guardian
'Excellent ... There is a compulsion and persuasive assurance in the writing'
--Sunday Times
'This fictional account of a true story gives a darkly shocking version of the events surrounding this tragic case'
--Good Book Guide
Review
'Compellingly told, reminiscent of early Doris Lessing...the twists keep the reader glued to the novel'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
41 of 45 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I read this book all the way through in two sittings, and ended up finishing it at about two o'clock in the morning. It is the most compulsively readable book I think I've ever read. It is funny moving frightening chilling and heartbreaking all in one, and has such unstoppable momentum I found myself rushing back home so I could read it. It is a love story and a murder story (and a search on the web reveals that the astonishing murder at its heart actually happened in real life!), but most of all it is a brilliant study of two young women adrift in their lives as they hit adulthood. It's one of the best books about women I've read in a long time.
The Finest Type of English Womanhood is the story of Laura Trelling and Gay Gibson, told by Laura as she watches someone (I won't say who) being tried for the murder of Gay. Laura is a fabulous creation by the writer Rachel Heath, very funny and yet quite unnerving in how honest and yet unknowing she is, and she sweeps you up in her story and you never want to stop listening to her. Laura gets taken to Johannesburg by a young husband she barely knows and tries to make sense of the world around her. It is here that she meets Gay who is a young actress trying to get a break, and here that their stories combine with the most dramatic consequences. Some of the scenes in the book are so beautifully written that you find yourself laughing out loud one moment and then gripped by tension the next. There are so many scenes I loved: from the opening party to the whirlwind wedding in London to the wonderfully evocative world of Johannesburg where everyone arriving from Europe seems desperate to reinvent themselves and start their lives afresh. It's also a novel about gardening, sex, politics, racial tension, damaged and glamorous people, and of course murder.
In the end though this is just one of those great reads that sweeps you up and doesn't let go, it's the sort of experience you hope for every time you start a new novel and yet happens to you so rarely. An original and exciting story that's also beautifully written.
The Finest Type of English Womanhood is the story of Laura Trelling and Gay Gibson, told by Laura as she watches someone (I won't say who) being tried for the murder of Gay. Laura is a fabulous creation by the writer Rachel Heath, very funny and yet quite unnerving in how honest and yet unknowing she is, and she sweeps you up in her story and you never want to stop listening to her. Laura gets taken to Johannesburg by a young husband she barely knows and tries to make sense of the world around her. It is here that she meets Gay who is a young actress trying to get a break, and here that their stories combine with the most dramatic consequences. Some of the scenes in the book are so beautifully written that you find yourself laughing out loud one moment and then gripped by tension the next. There are so many scenes I loved: from the opening party to the whirlwind wedding in London to the wonderfully evocative world of Johannesburg where everyone arriving from Europe seems desperate to reinvent themselves and start their lives afresh. It's also a novel about gardening, sex, politics, racial tension, damaged and glamorous people, and of course murder.
In the end though this is just one of those great reads that sweeps you up and doesn't let go, it's the sort of experience you hope for every time you start a new novel and yet happens to you so rarely. An original and exciting story that's also beautifully written.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I found this book totally unputdownable, the sense of atmosphere, suspense and the momentum keep you gripped from the beginning. It's the story of two very different young women both desperate to escape their lives and both setting out into the world, following them from postwar England to pre-apartheid Johannesburg where their stories entwine. The characters are so well written, Laura Trelling gradually transforming from a naive young girl as she is forced to take some control over her life, and ambitious and wild Gay Gibson.
This novel is fast paced and gripping, I'd recommended it to anyone who loves dark and suspenseful books and superb writing.
This novel is fast paced and gripping, I'd recommended it to anyone who loves dark and suspenseful books and superb writing.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is Rachel Heath`s debut novel, and she has written an absorbing book, very readable, with a thoroughly believable plot; not surprising as it is based on actual events.
The writer manages to blend fact and fiction very well and even has the courage to give people who had real existence their real names. What a welcome relief to so many writers who declare that: "any resemblence to persons living or dead is purely coincidental" The story flows smoothly and the fictional characters dovetail in well with their factual counterparts.
How astonished James Camb and Gay Gibson would have been to know their misdeeds would be immortalised in such an extraordinary manner!
Recommended reading!
John Harman
The writer manages to blend fact and fiction very well and even has the courage to give people who had real existence their real names. What a welcome relief to so many writers who declare that: "any resemblence to persons living or dead is purely coincidental" The story flows smoothly and the fictional characters dovetail in well with their factual counterparts.
How astonished James Camb and Gay Gibson would have been to know their misdeeds would be immortalised in such an extraordinary manner!
Recommended reading!
John Harman
Most Recent Customer Reviews
An outstanding book
All the reviews have picked out key elements that make this book such a joy to read. But one further point needs to be made. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Anita
Swings and Roundabouts
On balance I did enjoy this book however I did find aspects a little frustrating.
I 'read into' the situation plot lines that were left unresolved but appeared by... Read more
I 'read into' the situation plot lines that were left unresolved but appeared by... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Whiteley Reader
Disappointing
I had high hopes for this book, having read the previous reviews. But I found the characters shallow, cold and unbelievable, which made reading the book difficult going. Read more
Published 20 months ago by eclectic reader
compelling debut and murder mystery
The Finest Type of English Womanhood is the story of Laura Trelling and Gay Gibson, woven around a real-life murder. Read more
Published on 19 April 2010 by A. Craig
Promising more than it delivers
I don't think this is by any means a bad book, but it's not as satisfying as I expected, given that it made the Costa shortlist. Read more
Published on 12 April 2010 by Lady Fancifull
A little disappointing
This book did not grab me the way I thought it was going to. Having read other reviews I see that many people really enjoyed it, but I felt it was lacking something. Read more
Published on 14 Mar 2010 by Pen pal
Waste of time
We always hear how difficult it is to have a book published and I have no doubt it must be so. I am therefore always taken aback when I read a novel, encouraged as I was to buy... Read more
Published on 14 Dec 2009 by H. Lacroix
Only a beach read
I thought I was going to really enjoy this but in the end, I got slightly bored with it; I think largely because I didn't believe in the characters. Read more
Published on 19 Aug 2009 by booksetc
Good easy read
This book was a nice holiday read. A good page turner, however a little predictable at the end.
Published on 22 Jun 2009 by Mrs. D. T. Lemare
Whimsical Debut
Rachel Heath's debut novel The Finest Type of English Womanhood is very cleverly done. The action is part-epistolary and shifts this way and that through the eyes of its main... Read more
Published on 1 Jun 2009 by D. Smith
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