The Somnambulist
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in The Somnambulist for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
Vividly compelling, dark and dazzling (KATHERINE WEBB )
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
Every heart holds a secret... The stunning debut from an incredibly talented new author
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I wanted to like this book. It seemed to promise so much, a Gothic tale of dark secrets and mystery.
Unfortunately, it failed to live up to its promise.
I won't precis the whole story here, as other reviewers have done that. Suffice to say, 17 year old heroine lives with awful Mother and lovely Aunt, until Aunt dies, and then Things Happen.
My main gripe is that the whole thing is so dull. The characters are dreary and formulaic; Mother has to be awful and religious, Aunt has to be free spirited, heroine has to be rebellious, mystery man's wife has to be mad etc. But worse than this it was just hard work reading the book. The language was way too overdone and clunky, you were always aware that you were reading, whereas with the best books, you are so into the story that you are not aware you are sat there reading - it's just all going on in your mind. With this book, I felt too bogged down with the language and the structure and the rather weak plotting.
And the central character, Phoebe, was a miserable little Madam. Come to think of it, they were all a pretty joyless bunch!
As I say, hard work.
So much so that, half way through, I realised I didn't care about any of them and didn't care what was going to happen to any of them.
So I gave it up, which I very rarely do. In this case, I felt there were much better books out there.
Unfortunately, it failed to live up to its promise.
I won't precis the whole story here, as other reviewers have done that. Suffice to say, 17 year old heroine lives with awful Mother and lovely Aunt, until Aunt dies, and then Things Happen.
My main gripe is that the whole thing is so dull. The characters are dreary and formulaic; Mother has to be awful and religious, Aunt has to be free spirited, heroine has to be rebellious, mystery man's wife has to be mad etc. But worse than this it was just hard work reading the book. The language was way too overdone and clunky, you were always aware that you were reading, whereas with the best books, you are so into the story that you are not aware you are sat there reading - it's just all going on in your mind. With this book, I felt too bogged down with the language and the structure and the rather weak plotting.
And the central character, Phoebe, was a miserable little Madam. Come to think of it, they were all a pretty joyless bunch!
As I say, hard work.
So much so that, half way through, I realised I didn't care about any of them and didn't care what was going to happen to any of them.
So I gave it up, which I very rarely do. In this case, I felt there were much better books out there.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I was looking forward to reading The Somnambulist because I'm partial to a bit of Victorian gothic however I was little disappointed.
Seventeen year old Phoebe Turner lives with her fanatically religious and frankly deeply unpleasant mother Maud and her beautiful Aunt Cissy in London's East End. Aunt Cissy is a music hall star with dark secrets in her past. When Cissy dies unexpectedly and Phoebe and her mother are left without means of support Phoebe goes to Herefordshire to act as a ladies companion to Mrs Samuels, the wife of Cissy's old flame, Nathaniel Samuels. In Herefordshire Phoebe encounters more dark secrets and lies.
The story promises mystery, madness and murder so I was geared up for some Victorian sensation however the story turned out to be slow going with very little interest. The secrets are quite transparent and much of Cissy's dark past is obvious from the beginning. I didn't really feel that involved with any of the characters and the gothic atmosphere I expected was sadly lacking. I didn't get a feel for the music hall scenes in London and I didn't get the gothic suspense I would expect from a ghostly Victorian country house story.
It seems a shame because this was a story which could have been much better if it wasn't so formulaic. It seems that the author wanted to cram the story full of everything Victorian, from the bustling London streets, to the music halls, to a dark gothic country mansion but failed to explore any of them to their full potential.
Overall it's a fair first novel but it wasn't as good as I was expecting or as good as I was hoping.
Seventeen year old Phoebe Turner lives with her fanatically religious and frankly deeply unpleasant mother Maud and her beautiful Aunt Cissy in London's East End. Aunt Cissy is a music hall star with dark secrets in her past. When Cissy dies unexpectedly and Phoebe and her mother are left without means of support Phoebe goes to Herefordshire to act as a ladies companion to Mrs Samuels, the wife of Cissy's old flame, Nathaniel Samuels. In Herefordshire Phoebe encounters more dark secrets and lies.
The story promises mystery, madness and murder so I was geared up for some Victorian sensation however the story turned out to be slow going with very little interest. The secrets are quite transparent and much of Cissy's dark past is obvious from the beginning. I didn't really feel that involved with any of the characters and the gothic atmosphere I expected was sadly lacking. I didn't get a feel for the music hall scenes in London and I didn't get the gothic suspense I would expect from a ghostly Victorian country house story.
It seems a shame because this was a story which could have been much better if it wasn't so formulaic. It seems that the author wanted to cram the story full of everything Victorian, from the bustling London streets, to the music halls, to a dark gothic country mansion but failed to explore any of them to their full potential.
Overall it's a fair first novel but it wasn't as good as I was expecting or as good as I was hoping.
28 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
I am so pleased that The Sonambulist caught my eye. It is a lovely piece of Victoriana, and a quite wonderful debut novel.
I fell in love with the heroine. Phoebe Turner was just seventeen years old, and she was warm bright and thoughtful. In some ways she was very mature for her years, but in others she was very innocent, and as I learned more of her background I could understand why.
Phoebe grew up, in the East End of London, with her mother and her aunt. Maud, her mother, was a member of The Hallelujah Army, set upon promoting that society's ideals and protecting her daughter from the many evils of the world. Those evils included the music hall where her sister, Phoebe's Aunt Cissy sang ...
Essie Fox paints Phoebe's world wonderfully. There is a wealth of detail that brings the streets, the homes, and most of all the music hall, to life. She clearly has so much knowledge and love, but she wears it lightly and it brings the story to life quite wonderfully.
And it was clear that there was a story to be told, and secrets to be uncovered.
Phoebe loved her aunt and her aunt's theatrical friends, and she was devastated when Cissy, suddenly, died. Maude was devastated too, at having to cope without the income that Cissy earned for the household, and she struggled. Maybe that was why she accepted an offer from Mr Samuels, a wealthy friend of Cissy's who she had always treated with disdain, for Phoebe to become the companion of his invalid wife ...
And so the story opened up. There were more wonderful pictures of another, very different, aspect of Victorian England. And there were more vivid, complex characters to meet. Phoebe knew that she would miss her home and her loved ones, but she was curious about what lay ahead. I felt just the same.
Phoebe travelled to a grand estate in Hertfordshire. Dinwood Court was a splendid gothic mansion, set in magnificent countryside, but both house and occupants were haunted by the strange death of Esther, the young daughter of the house ...
At Dinwood Court I heard the echoes of other novels of Victorian England. They were lovely to hear, and I realised that Essie Fox had wonderful influences, influences that she had acknowledged and then taken to make something new of her own.
I loved watching Phoebe as she uncovered the secrets of the past, and as she learned and grew up.
The plotting was very clever and, though I worked out some of the things that would happen, others took me by surprise. In particular, the concluding chapters took the story in a direction that I hadn't expected at all, but a direction that was completely right.
That kept the pages turning, and so did the lovely writing, the pitch perfect characters and settings, the wealth of knowledge that underpinned the story, and that very clever theme set in the title that wrapped around everything.
The Sonambulist is a wonderful debut novel, intelligent and so very readable.
I am already looking forward to whatever Essie Fox writes next.
I fell in love with the heroine. Phoebe Turner was just seventeen years old, and she was warm bright and thoughtful. In some ways she was very mature for her years, but in others she was very innocent, and as I learned more of her background I could understand why.
Phoebe grew up, in the East End of London, with her mother and her aunt. Maud, her mother, was a member of The Hallelujah Army, set upon promoting that society's ideals and protecting her daughter from the many evils of the world. Those evils included the music hall where her sister, Phoebe's Aunt Cissy sang ...
Essie Fox paints Phoebe's world wonderfully. There is a wealth of detail that brings the streets, the homes, and most of all the music hall, to life. She clearly has so much knowledge and love, but she wears it lightly and it brings the story to life quite wonderfully.
And it was clear that there was a story to be told, and secrets to be uncovered.
Phoebe loved her aunt and her aunt's theatrical friends, and she was devastated when Cissy, suddenly, died. Maude was devastated too, at having to cope without the income that Cissy earned for the household, and she struggled. Maybe that was why she accepted an offer from Mr Samuels, a wealthy friend of Cissy's who she had always treated with disdain, for Phoebe to become the companion of his invalid wife ...
And so the story opened up. There were more wonderful pictures of another, very different, aspect of Victorian England. And there were more vivid, complex characters to meet. Phoebe knew that she would miss her home and her loved ones, but she was curious about what lay ahead. I felt just the same.
Phoebe travelled to a grand estate in Hertfordshire. Dinwood Court was a splendid gothic mansion, set in magnificent countryside, but both house and occupants were haunted by the strange death of Esther, the young daughter of the house ...
At Dinwood Court I heard the echoes of other novels of Victorian England. They were lovely to hear, and I realised that Essie Fox had wonderful influences, influences that she had acknowledged and then taken to make something new of her own.
I loved watching Phoebe as she uncovered the secrets of the past, and as she learned and grew up.
The plotting was very clever and, though I worked out some of the things that would happen, others took me by surprise. In particular, the concluding chapters took the story in a direction that I hadn't expected at all, but a direction that was completely right.
That kept the pages turning, and so did the lovely writing, the pitch perfect characters and settings, the wealth of knowledge that underpinned the story, and that very clever theme set in the title that wrapped around everything.
The Sonambulist is a wonderful debut novel, intelligent and so very readable.
I am already looking forward to whatever Essie Fox writes next.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Hugely evocative
Fans of books set in Victorian England will love this evocative story, which conjures up the sights and sounds of the East End of London, and the glamour of the Wilton music hall. Read more
Published 11 days ago by Lynn S
Reviewing The Somnambulist by Essie Fox... restores your faith in the...
This novel has been thoroughly reviewed by many readers so I won't waste time there. Having just spent two absorbing days lost in the pages of this book, I thought I would add a... Read more
Published 1 month ago by wendy
love it, love it!
This book is lovely, I could not put it down. Great story, believable characters, just wonderful. If you have a birthday for anyone coming up this should be the first thing you... Read more
Published 1 month ago by ang
It Certainly Won't Send You To Sleep...
`The Somnambulist' is one of those really tricky books to review as you fear you will give lots away. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Simon Savidge Reads
hugely disappointed
I was attracted to this book by the gripping description of the plot on the back cover and by reading other reviews. Read more
Published 2 months ago by fussyreader
The Somnambulist.
Book arrived in good time. good value, Some online paperbacks have too small print. This one has good size print.
Published 2 months ago by reneart
A lovely piece of modern Gothic
I thoroughly enjoyed Essie Fox's beautifully written Victorian novel. Her research is excellent, but doesn't get in the way of a well-told story. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Annalise
A sensual delight
The real star of this novel is Victorian London: the sights, the sounds, the smells, the struggles, the expectations. Read more
Published 2 months ago by L. Clare-Panton
hardwork
Started reading The Somnambulist after finishing The Help so maybe my judgement is clouded. The Help, absolutely brilliant, couldnt put it down. Read more
Published 2 months ago by chittychatty
The Somnambulist
I very much enjoyed The Somnambulist. Right from the start I found myself sucked into the world of Phoebe Turner, the young narrator of a tale which twists and turns around... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Y. Johnston
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
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.
|
