A review by anovelbeauty
Madam by Phoebe Wynne

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Book TW:
suicide, misogyny, adult/minor relationship, blackmail, bullying, child death, teacher/student relationship, abortion

I have fairly mixed feelings on this dark academia novel. On the one hand, the format of the book with its classics lessons interspersed into the story that inform the plot of that section is really wonderful. On the other hand, there were some things that were clunky or just… a bit too much, even for the dark academia corrupt officials and conspiracy plot. 
First, the good. As I already mentioned, I loved the format and the classics. Rose was a pretty good main character and I think she was a good medium to impart the full horror of the truth of Caldonbray as the plot unfolds. I liked her almost the entire boom and her passion for Classics was lovely.  Although I was frustrated with how Rose reacted to some of the people in the story who clearly suffered from trauma and learned helplessness and she just expected them to… not and immediately fight injustice and wrongdoing the same way that she did even. Like she would state “this person is a victim of an oppressive system” but then still low-key victim blame them for their perfectly realistic limitations, lack of hope, and ingrained fear of their oppressors. The book does a /very/ good job of building suspense and anxiety because you start to feel as trapped and horrified with the full situation as Rose does. The atmosphere of the book was definitely on point. 
Next, the meh. I really wish some of the side characters like Daisy, Nessa, and Freddie had more fleshed out to them. There was the potential for me to really love them, but I felt like we just didn’t get to know them well enough. I felt similarly about the two main adult side characters: Francis and Antony. Rose was the only character I felt truly invested in. Everyone else, except for those I was supposed to hate/loathe, I was very “eh” about. 
Finally, the not great. There was a couple factual errors that I noticed during the story section with Boudicca? Which was weird (bc the author taught classics) and I listened to it twice to make sure I heard right. But the only reason I caught it was because i spent literally a whole year and a half studying pretty much everything to do with the historical account of her. The lesson stated that the Romans managed to outnumber Boudicca’s rebel forces and defeat her during the battle of Watling Street. The /only/ historical accounts we have of the event (Tacitus’ “Agricola” and Cassius Dio’s “Roman History”, of the two, Tacitus is the more trustworthy because he is telling the life story of his father-in-law, Agricola, who was literally there) state that the Britons /far/ outnumbered the Romans and the only reason that they weren’t slaughtered and driven out of the land was that Paulinus managed to find a place that forced Boudicca’s force to be funnelled in to face the Romans. Paulinus won through strategy alone. Saying that the Romans outnumbered them is just…. a very weird thing to get wrong. 
It also mentioned that Boudicca killed her daughters and then herself after the battle. There is actually no true historical knowledge of what happened to the daughters after the battle. Tacitus doesn’t mention them at all after saying that they rode with their mother into battle and Dio literally never mentions them at all. The two historians also disagree on Boudicca’s death in general, Dio says she fell sick and died after the battle while Tacitus states that she poisoned herself. 
I realize this is a very nitpicky thing to harp on, but it just bothered me so much because the lessons, particularly with the historical women, were just presented as fact and so finding errors in one piece I know well makes me wonder about the stories I /don’t/ know as well. And again, since the author taught classics in the past, it seemed like a really, /really/ weird thing to get incorrect (or I guess technically she could have taken creative liberties with it… but I would have issues with taking creative liberties with history that you still present as full fact). This obviously only applies to the historical women, the mythological ones have more leeway as myths are often shifted and told with different details over time and by different authors. 
I should also say that the resolutions with Francis and Antony, as well as the overall ending didn’t quite feel earned enough. I wanted slightly more expansion in the summer term section of the book to justify the way the plot threads were tied up. Without that, there didn’t feel like enough of a payoff for the level of tension and dread that had built up to that point. 
Lastly, there were a couple nitpicky things I didn’t like the execution of in the plot that are semi-spoilers, so I’ll leave it just by saying the nitpicks existed! 
I still don’t really think this is at all a bad book, but it didn’t live up to my expectations or how much I wanted to enjoy it. It definitely handles a lot of problematic things and tries to unpack the misogyny blatant in both classical history, not-so-distant history, and the modern day. There’s some definite potential for triggering content, so please be wary of that if you’re at all sensitive. Fortunately, all of the problematic/triggering content is actually viewed as problematic, so it’s a bit easier to stomach reading about in the thriller context of the story. 
Basically, I don’t know if I would actively recommend the story, but if my qualms don’t bother you, go for it and see what you think. You may especially like it if you’re an atmospheric driven reader. 
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