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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I enjoy both historical novels and detective stories and so, of course, picking up The Wages of Sin from a work book sale was a foregone conclusion. On the whole, I think the historical side of things works better than the detective side. The situation of Sarah Gilchrist as one of the first female medical students is instantly interesting. The cast of characters, which include professors, their wives and landladies, other students and Sarah's family are all intriguing, even if none of them are particularly deeply drawn at this point. I want to read more of Sarah's story: I'm itching to see how she continues to cope with her past trauma, how her relationships blossom and whether she can escape marriage to Miles Greene.
The detective side of things is less satisfying. I don't remember whether, the first time I read The Wages of Sin, I was suspicious of the character Sarah considers her prime suspect. This time around, certainly, I was convinced that he couldn't possibly be the murderer. It's not surprising that Sarah isn't a very good detective - there's no reason that she should be, since this is her first time in close contact with crime. Nonetheless, as realistic as it is that she keeps running into brick walls and being (somewhat successfully) warned off the case, it's also a little frustrating.
Ultimately, it wasn't the murder mystery that kept me reading, and it's not what I'd be reading any sequels for, either. That said, I still want to read the sequels, so clearly Kaite Welsh is doing something right!
The detective side of things is less satisfying. I don't remember whether, the first time I read The Wages of Sin, I was suspicious of the character Sarah considers her prime suspect. This time around, certainly, I was convinced that he couldn't possibly be the murderer. It's not surprising that Sarah isn't a very good detective - there's no reason that she should be, since this is her first time in close contact with crime. Nonetheless, as realistic as it is that she keeps running into brick walls and being (somewhat successfully) warned off the case, it's also a little frustrating.
Ultimately, it wasn't the murder mystery that kept me reading, and it's not what I'd be reading any sequels for, either. That said, I still want to read the sequels, so clearly Kaite Welsh is doing something right!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma
Minor: Homophobia, Infertility, Vomit
I quite enjoyed this novel, with its fierce heroine! This is a well paced novel with a great deal of suspense and mystery that kept me enthralled from start to finish. I thought the author had done a great job in researching details of life in the 1890s, especially in terms of the rights (or lack thereof) for women, the cultural norms of the times, and the medical procedures that were popular at the time. There were times, I will admit, where I grew weary of Sarah's constant complaints about the injustices women faced. It's not that this wasn't relevant or important; however, there came a time when the point had been made and I just wanted the story to move along. That being said, the mystery itself was interesting. There were many different clues and avenues that the story took to get to its conclusion, and I quite liked all of these twists and turns. I thought the mystery was well planned out and executed and the conclusion was enjoyable. However, character development was another weak point in this novel: while some of the other characters showed growth throughout the story, Sarah did not. This feeling of lack of growth might have been because of her constant complaints but it just felt like Sarah remained the same throughout the novel, and I would have liked to see her change through her experiences. Overall, this was a compelling and engaging read that I really enjoyed, with a good amount of historical detail and a strong heroine. I've heard that there will be a sequel to this novel, and I look forward to reading it when it comes out (February 2019)! I'm giving this a solid 4/5 stars!
For more reviews, visit: www.veereading.wordpress.com
For more reviews, visit: www.veereading.wordpress.com
The Wages of Sin follows Sarah Gilchrist, a young woman who has fled London and scandal to come to Edinburgh and be one of the very first women permitted to study medicine at Edinburgh University. It’s set in 1882 which really was the first year that women could do so, and while it’s a work of fiction, it is heavily inspired by real events.
Sarah has a lot to juggle. She needs to manage her studies as well as her aunt and uncle’s expectations. They have agreed to take her in, provided that she is on her best behaviour, and it quickly becomes apparent that her aunt hasn’t given up on the possibility that Sarah will give up on this education nonsense and get married. Meanwhile, her female peers often snobbishly reject her and her male peers do everything in their power to make life miserable for the lady doctors. When she’s not in lectures about medicine or being lectured about the proper conduct for a lady by her aunt, she volunteers at a charitable hospital.
How she then has time to become fascinated by what she believes to be a murder and go dashing off to try to solve it and bring about justice, is the novel’s second greatest mystery. But that is exactly what she does. She finds herself running around the university, several “charitable enterprises”, bawdy houses and dark alleyways, all most unbecoming of a young lady, of course. More than once she has to rely on her wits and her severely lacking good luck to avoid danger.
I loved this book and I loved Sarah. She’s not perfect, she slips up here and there but on the whole, she tries to do good. All in all, she becomes very believable and very likeable. Indeed, there are few characters in the book which don’t feel like real people with their own stories and as the novel progresses their true characters are gently revealed. I consistently predicted the wrong twists or totally failed to predict that a twist was even going to happen and was kept guessing until the end.
During the book launch, Kaite hinted that a sequel was already in the works. I’ll be first in line to pick up a copy when it’s released.
Sarah has a lot to juggle. She needs to manage her studies as well as her aunt and uncle’s expectations. They have agreed to take her in, provided that she is on her best behaviour, and it quickly becomes apparent that her aunt hasn’t given up on the possibility that Sarah will give up on this education nonsense and get married. Meanwhile, her female peers often snobbishly reject her and her male peers do everything in their power to make life miserable for the lady doctors. When she’s not in lectures about medicine or being lectured about the proper conduct for a lady by her aunt, she volunteers at a charitable hospital.
How she then has time to become fascinated by what she believes to be a murder and go dashing off to try to solve it and bring about justice, is the novel’s second greatest mystery. But that is exactly what she does. She finds herself running around the university, several “charitable enterprises”, bawdy houses and dark alleyways, all most unbecoming of a young lady, of course. More than once she has to rely on her wits and her severely lacking good luck to avoid danger.
I loved this book and I loved Sarah. She’s not perfect, she slips up here and there but on the whole, she tries to do good. All in all, she becomes very believable and very likeable. Indeed, there are few characters in the book which don’t feel like real people with their own stories and as the novel progresses their true characters are gently revealed. I consistently predicted the wrong twists or totally failed to predict that a twist was even going to happen and was kept guessing until the end.
During the book launch, Kaite hinted that a sequel was already in the works. I’ll be first in line to pick up a copy when it’s released.