Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The Covent Garden Ladies: Pimp General Jack & The Extraordinary Story of Harris' List by Hallie Rubenhold

1 review

vasha's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

4.0

Some general light shed on class relatons and sexual attitudes in 18th century London -- mostly a story of men behaving dreadfully and blaming it on women. It is also a geography of the rise and fall of Covent Garden and the rise of Mayfair. But above all, the very individual lives of the three main characters are the subject of this  book and it is they who gave life to it, for me: switch off any judgemental part of your mind and you, too, can follow with pleasurable suspense the changing fortunes of Samuel Derrick and Charlotte Hayes. Only the third protagonist, Jack Harris/Harrison, remained a bit shadowy; the author several times called him "enigmatic" and could not find the source material to depict him to her satisfaction. Although this story is told with verve, it's really not as scholarly as I'd expected from an author who won a prestigious history prize for another work. I can't give it high marks for that reason.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Trafficking, Rape, Pedophilia, Misogyny, and Child abuse

Moderate: Sexual violence, Abortion, Violence, and Miscarriage

Minor: Slavery, Terminal illness, Religious bigotry, and Child death