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A review by lauredhel
The Words in My Hand by Guinevere Glasfurd
5.0
DON'T read the book blurb above - there are spoilers!
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This is a lovely book, and very impressive for a debut novel. We know very little about Helena Jans, the woman who bore a child to René Descartes, so Glasfurd fills in the gaps with her imagination.
Helena was able to read and write, very rare for a maid of her time. Glasfurd's description of how she may have come by this knowledge and how she may have developed it, without access to paper or ink, is thoroughly engrossing. I saw Glasfurd do a reading at the Perth Writers' Festival, about Helena making ink from charcoal and beetroot and blood and tea, and writing on plates and pastry and skin, and I knew I had to read this book. Helena's synaesthetic observations of the world were beautifully written - they captivated me and kept me reading. Her relationship with Descartes was a stormy and often unsatisfactory one, so be aware that this is not a Romance.
Thoroughly recommended for fans of historical novels, and for those looking for an easy but satisfying read about how access to literacy, social class, and the privileges of gender influenced life opportunities in the 1600s.
Content note forchild loss .
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This is a lovely book, and very impressive for a debut novel. We know very little about Helena Jans, the woman who bore a child to René Descartes, so Glasfurd fills in the gaps with her imagination.
Helena was able to read and write, very rare for a maid of her time. Glasfurd's description of how she may have come by this knowledge and how she may have developed it, without access to paper or ink, is thoroughly engrossing. I saw Glasfurd do a reading at the Perth Writers' Festival, about Helena making ink from charcoal and beetroot and blood and tea, and writing on plates and pastry and skin, and I knew I had to read this book. Helena's synaesthetic observations of the world were beautifully written - they captivated me and kept me reading. Her relationship with Descartes was a stormy and often unsatisfactory one, so be aware that this is not a Romance.
Thoroughly recommended for fans of historical novels, and for those looking for an easy but satisfying read about how access to literacy, social class, and the privileges of gender influenced life opportunities in the 1600s.
Content note for