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Review
A compelling tale of death, despair and obsession . . . Wildly and knowingly melodramatic but done with such energy and ingenuity that it's also tremendous fun (Sunday Times )
Richly atmospheric and rattling away in fine style, it conjures 19th century high society and its sordid underbelly with verve and flair . . . Darby knows how to write a cracking novel . . . Darkly enjoyable (Metro )
This book really is a thing of beauty - and that's before you even open the cover . . . The illusion is maintained inside, because the debut novelist Katy Darby has wrought a truly gothic little gem that could almost have fallen through a wormhole, 125 years ago... Darby manages to retain the flavour of the authors she so obviously admires - Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle - but at the same time establishes her own voice and creates a contemporary narrative . . . a rare achievement (Independent on Sunday )
A consistently engaging and suspenseful Gothic melodrama (Herald )
Thrilling gothic romance (Daily Express )
Richly atmospheric and rattling away in fine style, it conjures 19th century high society and its sordid underbelly with verve and flair . . . Darby knows how to write a cracking novel . . . Darkly enjoyable (Metro )
This book really is a thing of beauty - and that's before you even open the cover . . . The illusion is maintained inside, because the debut novelist Katy Darby has wrought a truly gothic little gem that could almost have fallen through a wormhole, 125 years ago... Darby manages to retain the flavour of the authors she so obviously admires - Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle - but at the same time establishes her own voice and creates a contemporary narrative . . . a rare achievement (Independent on Sunday )
A consistently engaging and suspenseful Gothic melodrama (Herald )
Thrilling gothic romance (Daily Express )
Review
A compelling tale of death, despair and obsession ... Wildly and knowingly melodramatic but done with such energy and ingenuity that it's also tremendous fun Sunday Times Richly atmospheric and rattling away in fine style, it conjures 19th century high society and its sordid underbelly with verve and flair ... Darby knows how to write a cracking novel ... Darkly enjoyable Metro This book really is a thing of beauty - and that's before you even open the cover ... The illusion is maintained inside, because the debut novelist Katy Darby has wrought a truly gothic little gem that could almost have fallen through a wormhole, 125 years ago... Darby manages to retain the flavour of the authors she so obviously admires - Wilkie Collins, Arthur Conan Doyle - but at the same time establishes her own voice and creates a contemporary narrative ... a rare achievement Independent on Sunday A consistently engaging and suspenseful Gothic melodrama Herald Thrilling gothic romance Daily Express
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Edward Fraser is, in spite of his youth, something of a dry old stick so when his closest friend at Oxford University, Stephen Chapman, lets his medical studies take second place to his volunteer work at a shelter for fallen women Edward is understandably concerned. Even worse, the main attraction in this line of work for Stephen appears to be the lady who runs the shelter - Diana Pelham - someone Edward suspects, with very strong reason, of having a rather shady past herself. The thing is, are Edward's fears for his friend justified or does he simply want to keep Stephen to himself and away from the lures of attractive females? Where exactly do his interests and motives lie? Edward isn't quite the straight-forward narrator he seems and while Diana Pelham clearly has a secret to hide is she wicked or merely misunderstood?
The Whores' Asylum is the first novel by Katy Darby and all in all it has quite a lot going for it. The action sequences, and the moments which have a touch of the macabre and the surreal in particular are all well handled. The book features an enraged bear dressed in a sort of harlequin outfit and kept prisoner in a cellar; it has scenes of shabby well-to-do men wearing masks and making free with ladies of the night in plush, velvet-draped rooms and it has, best of all to my mind, a description of a duel taking place one foggy morning which packs a real emotional punch; but where, for me, the book suffers slightly is with the pacing. I suspect the novel could lose twenty pages or so and would, if some of the descriptions of what the characters were thinking and feeling emotionally were slightly pared back, rattle along all the better for it. The charcters themselves however are engaging - Edward Fraser the old before his time theology student with a distrust of Diana Pelham that may, or may not, be justified is a wonderful creation and some of the minor characters such as Sukey the abused and betrayed woman who comes good in the end are highly likeable and engaging. The descriptions of the run-down area of Jericho are also suitably atmospheric - at times as heros, villains and imperilled ladies chase each other back and forth through the shadowy, low-life strewn streets the book almost reads like a Sherlock Holmes story transferred from London to Oxford - and there is enough incidental detail to give a real feeling of the late Victorian era.
In a way there is hardly a dearth of fiction set during the Victorian era but even so this is a welcome addition to the well-stocked shelves. What it may lack in terms of depth (it doesn't have quite the same level of emotional intensity as, say, 'The Crimson Petal and the White' or Sarah Waters's 'Affinity') it more than makes up for in well-drawn characters and exciting set-pieces. It's a promising debut and Katy Darby is definitely an author to watch out for in the future. Highly enjoyable.
One final point - almost as an aside. The book itself as a physical object is rather lovely. The cover illustration is delightful and the covers themselves have an embossed feel to them that gives the illusion that the covers are made of cloth. In an age where content is all and where text can be downloaded to e-readers in seconds it's rather encouraging to see such a beautifully produced bookjacket, especially for a first-time novelist.
The Whores' Asylum is the first novel by Katy Darby and all in all it has quite a lot going for it. The action sequences, and the moments which have a touch of the macabre and the surreal in particular are all well handled. The book features an enraged bear dressed in a sort of harlequin outfit and kept prisoner in a cellar; it has scenes of shabby well-to-do men wearing masks and making free with ladies of the night in plush, velvet-draped rooms and it has, best of all to my mind, a description of a duel taking place one foggy morning which packs a real emotional punch; but where, for me, the book suffers slightly is with the pacing. I suspect the novel could lose twenty pages or so and would, if some of the descriptions of what the characters were thinking and feeling emotionally were slightly pared back, rattle along all the better for it. The charcters themselves however are engaging - Edward Fraser the old before his time theology student with a distrust of Diana Pelham that may, or may not, be justified is a wonderful creation and some of the minor characters such as Sukey the abused and betrayed woman who comes good in the end are highly likeable and engaging. The descriptions of the run-down area of Jericho are also suitably atmospheric - at times as heros, villains and imperilled ladies chase each other back and forth through the shadowy, low-life strewn streets the book almost reads like a Sherlock Holmes story transferred from London to Oxford - and there is enough incidental detail to give a real feeling of the late Victorian era.
In a way there is hardly a dearth of fiction set during the Victorian era but even so this is a welcome addition to the well-stocked shelves. What it may lack in terms of depth (it doesn't have quite the same level of emotional intensity as, say, 'The Crimson Petal and the White' or Sarah Waters's 'Affinity') it more than makes up for in well-drawn characters and exciting set-pieces. It's a promising debut and Katy Darby is definitely an author to watch out for in the future. Highly enjoyable.
One final point - almost as an aside. The book itself as a physical object is rather lovely. The cover illustration is delightful and the covers themselves have an embossed feel to them that gives the illusion that the covers are made of cloth. In an age where content is all and where text can be downloaded to e-readers in seconds it's rather encouraging to see such a beautifully produced bookjacket, especially for a first-time novelist.
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this gripping novel almost in one sitting; I curled upon a wet winter Sunday and disappeared into Ms Darby's world. And it's not a comfortable world, full of vice, disease, betrayal and not-so-righteous anger, shot through with veiled horror.
I really enjoyed the way the story unfolded piece by piece, one contradictory narrative following another so that the reader is drawn in to make judgements, piecing together the full picture from clues and hints.
It's a wonderfully dark story, richly evocative of the seedy Victorian underworld. I particularly admired the way Ms Darby dissects her characters' outmoded attitudes and mores without ever judging them by 21st century standards. She leaves the reader to do that, and the impact of the story is much stronger because of it.
I really enjoyed the way the story unfolded piece by piece, one contradictory narrative following another so that the reader is drawn in to make judgements, piecing together the full picture from clues and hints.
It's a wonderfully dark story, richly evocative of the seedy Victorian underworld. I particularly admired the way Ms Darby dissects her characters' outmoded attitudes and mores without ever judging them by 21st century standards. She leaves the reader to do that, and the impact of the story is much stronger because of it.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Post-modern Victoriana is well-trod territory these days, but it's rarely as well-executed as this. In some ways, The Whore's Asylum is comparable to Sarah Waters' early stuff, or Alan Moore's League Of The Extraordinary Gentlemen. Fans of either, or neither, will not be disappointed. It surpasses Moore and Waters' work, in some ways, I think. It's an intellectual, literary bodice ripper that somehow steals your heart away, at the end. You'll laugh, you'll cry and mainly, you'll want more.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
a ripping yarn with naughty bits
There are murky misdeeds and heinous acts of mischief happening beneath the sedate society of Victorian Oxford, wicked villains that must be hissed at and a central dubious heroine... Read more
Published 4 days ago by David Spanswick
A page turner that stayed with me for days afterwards
I loved this book. I'm relatively new to the historical novel genre, having previously only read 'A Dark Anatomy' by Robin Blake (another novel I would recommend). Read more
Published 6 days ago by C. L. Goodwin
gothic melodrama
I should admit that this isn't a genre I normally read, and I requested this book because I thought it might make a nice change. Read more
Published 27 days ago by H. Ashford
Does the end justify the means?
I enjoyed this book. Many of my views have already been written here by other earlier reviewers so to engage with the plot again seems pointless. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Michael Watson
doesn't seem to know what it is
This story is set in Oxford in 1887 at a time when making "the right marriage" could confirm or improve a young man's position in society and the "wrong marriage" could destroy it. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Susan Belcher
Quaint
The book definitely feels as though it might have been written in the Victorian era: like reading Sherlock Holmes stories, the people, mores and language are quaint and the action... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Martyn Davies
Great title, okay book.
This book is a bit of an enigma, a tale of three principal characters who are linked by love and tragedy. I am not entirely sure if it works. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Perfectbub
High hopes dashed
This is an intriguing idea which is made up of sections, each narrated by a different character, to reveal the story of the mysterious Diana. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Gillian
Mysterious, gothic novel
The idea of a Victorian gothic novel intrigued me. And this book certainly draws the reader in from the first few pages. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Bess_Wheat
A good first novel, but a little unsure of its tone.
The basic premise of this pseudo Victorian gothic novel is that first impressions are not necessarily the right ones. Read more
Published 1 month ago by J. Mcdonald
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