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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
For my full review of this book, read: http://berrilynn.kinja.com/murder-manipulation-and-fallen-women-in-the-unseeing-1783751145
Well-documented, unsettling, and impressively written, The Unseen tells an embellished true story of a seamstress named Sarah Gale who is cast as a whore and accused of murdering Hannah Brown, her lover James Greenacre's fiancé. Mazzola has meticulously organized a myriad of factual details into this tightly mapped story of deception and violence, as well as providing a scathing portrayal of the treatment of working-class women in the bridge year between Georgian and Victorian London. It is a lonely, chilling tale, made increasingly problematic by Sarah's inability to implicate anyone other than herself.
Like Charlotte Rogan’s Grace Winter in The Lifeboat, Hilary Mantel’s Anne Boleyn in Bring Up the Bodies, and Hannah Kent’s Agnes Magnusdottir in Burial Rites, Sarah Gale is brought to life through her strange choices and actions, and the author’s vividly-imagined worlds. Grace, Anne, Agnes, Sarah—three of whom have actually lived outside of fiction—are embroiled in dilemmas as powerful and terrifying as any man in their era faced. Yet because they are women, they are forced to employ a uniquely intricate strategy to survive the calamities that beset them—disasters involving men, caused in large part by men—because they are without the same support systems and assistance that men enjoy.
As Claire Ableton, the female protagonist in my novel The Crewel Wing notes, “The truth is not always what people think they want to hear.” In The Unseeing, Sarah's solicitor Edmund sets out to garner the truth of what happened to Hannah Brown. But he begins to realize, the more he hears that truth, that he was actually hoping for a different version of it. This is the centerpiece of manipulation: it is based on truth, but it is an adaptation of it, a version that the deliverer imparts on the listener in a way that will be acceptable to them in order to shift their response to that truth. The response Sarah so desperately tries to draw out of everyone around her will lead to her exoneration or her execution… or perhaps something in between.
Well-documented, unsettling, and impressively written, The Unseen tells an embellished true story of a seamstress named Sarah Gale who is cast as a whore and accused of murdering Hannah Brown, her lover James Greenacre's fiancé. Mazzola has meticulously organized a myriad of factual details into this tightly mapped story of deception and violence, as well as providing a scathing portrayal of the treatment of working-class women in the bridge year between Georgian and Victorian London. It is a lonely, chilling tale, made increasingly problematic by Sarah's inability to implicate anyone other than herself.
Like Charlotte Rogan’s Grace Winter in The Lifeboat, Hilary Mantel’s Anne Boleyn in Bring Up the Bodies, and Hannah Kent’s Agnes Magnusdottir in Burial Rites, Sarah Gale is brought to life through her strange choices and actions, and the author’s vividly-imagined worlds. Grace, Anne, Agnes, Sarah—three of whom have actually lived outside of fiction—are embroiled in dilemmas as powerful and terrifying as any man in their era faced. Yet because they are women, they are forced to employ a uniquely intricate strategy to survive the calamities that beset them—disasters involving men, caused in large part by men—because they are without the same support systems and assistance that men enjoy.
As Claire Ableton, the female protagonist in my novel The Crewel Wing notes, “The truth is not always what people think they want to hear.” In The Unseeing, Sarah's solicitor Edmund sets out to garner the truth of what happened to Hannah Brown. But he begins to realize, the more he hears that truth, that he was actually hoping for a different version of it. This is the centerpiece of manipulation: it is based on truth, but it is an adaptation of it, a version that the deliverer imparts on the listener in a way that will be acceptable to them in order to shift their response to that truth. The response Sarah so desperately tries to draw out of everyone around her will lead to her exoneration or her execution… or perhaps something in between.
Really enjoyed my latest book club read. Set in London in 1837, The Unseeing tells the story of Sarah Gale, a single mother who is sentenced to death for her part in the murder and dismemberment of Hannah Brown, who was found in several pieces around London. Told from the POV of Sarah and Edmund Fleetwood, the lawyer who is tasked with handling her appeal against hanging and trying to sort out the truth. Based on the true story of the Edgware Road murders, this is a good imagining of the details not known about the case and includes good descriptions of what life was like in London at that time and the conditions in Newgate prison where Sarah was kept.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Solid historical mystery fiction. Listened to audio @ 2x. Good detail to period, very descriptive. Seemed stretched out at times, but enjoyed overall.
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
A well-written debut novel, Mazzola does a wonderful job portraying the annoyingly sexist and often hypocritical views of the judicial and clerical system of London in the early 1900's. Everywhere you turn, there's someone explaining with an all-knowing tone the vices of the female sex. These glaring sexist remarks and prejudice are glaring examples of how far we've come and how far we have yet to go in our fight for gender equality. This novel not only is a gripping whodunit mystery, but also is a sharp example of the consequences of presupposition due to the gender of the person(s) in question.
A well-written debut novel, Mazzola does a wonderful job portraying the annoyingly sexist and often hypocritical views of the judicial and clerical system of London in the early 1900's. Everywhere you turn, there's someone explaining with an all-knowing tone the vices of the female sex. These glaring sexist remarks and prejudice are glaring examples of how far we've come and how far we have yet to go in our fight for gender equality. This novel not only is a gripping whodunit mystery, but also is a sharp example of the consequences of presupposition due to the gender of the person(s) in question.
Utterly fascinating read, set in 1837 London as woman pleas for mercy after being convicted for aiding in the brutal murder of her former partner’s new lover. There are so many secrets that twist and blacken this book, that I dared not trust an evidence found or statements given. I was so enraptured that I was shocked when it ended, but upon reflection felt that it had a wonderfully satisfying ending.
Good first book. Author takes a true event from history and creates a novel around it, adding fictitious characters to the real ones. I enjoyed the book and thought the story was developed well. The characters were solid and sympathetic. The conditions of the people, cities and prisons seemed true to the period. Eventually the continued inner dialogue of the accused that she must remain silent grew tedious. Ultimately I didn't think the resolution of the story made sense but it wasn't terribly far fetched and didn't spoil the overall enjoyment of the book.