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A review by zefrog
The Betrayal of Thomas True by A.J. West
On the whole The Betrayal of Thomas True got me interested and engaged right to the end (and increasingly so as the story went on).
There were, however, several elements of the storytelling that rather grated with me. The few outbursts of magic realism felt unnecessary (other than as ways to conveniently move the plot forward for an author who had painted himself into a corner, perhaps?). Naming the book after a character who is not the real main protagonist felt strange too (Although I suppose West really wants us to keep guessing whether Thomas is really true as long and as much as possible, and this was clearly part of it). Some of the dialogue felt caricatural at times (Cor blimey, guvnor!), and there were many scenes when I wasn't sure what I was reading, due mostly to break down in internal logic, resulting in a kind of foggy vagueness that I found rather alienating. Finally, having read Rictor Norton's (non-fiction) book, Mother Clap's Molly House: The Gay Subculture in England 1700-1830, I was a little annoyed by some gratuitous inaccuracies in what purports to be an homage to the molly culture of 18th centre London.
I liked the idea of the story, I was not so keen on the execution (no pun intended).
There were, however, several elements of the storytelling that rather grated with me. The few outbursts of magic realism felt unnecessary (other than as ways to conveniently move the plot forward for an author who had painted himself into a corner, perhaps?). Naming the book after a character who is not the real main protagonist felt strange too (Although I suppose West really wants us to keep guessing whether Thomas is really true as long and as much as possible, and this was clearly part of it). Some of the dialogue felt caricatural at times (Cor blimey, guvnor!), and there were many scenes when I wasn't sure what I was reading, due mostly to break down in internal logic, resulting in a kind of foggy vagueness that I found rather alienating. Finally, having read Rictor Norton's (non-fiction) book, Mother Clap's Molly House: The Gay Subculture in England 1700-1830, I was a little annoyed by some gratuitous inaccuracies in what purports to be an homage to the molly culture of 18th centre London.
I liked the idea of the story, I was not so keen on the execution (no pun intended).