A fascinating portrayal of womanhood in Victorian England that is also a nail-biting thriller that will keep readers riveted until the very last page.
-- Booklist Perfect for fans of Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace and Hannah Kent's Burial Rites , this taut psychological thriller offers a delicious take on deviant and defiant Victorian women in a time when marriage itself was its own prison.
England, 1873.
Clara Blackstone has just been released after one year in a private asylum for the insane.
Clara has two goals: to reunite with her husband, Henry, and to never--ever--return to the asylum.
As she enters Durham, Clara finds her carriage surrounded by a mob gathered to witness the imprisonment of Mary Ann Cotton--England's first female serial killer--accused of poisoning nearly twenty people, including her husbands and children.
Clara soon finds the oppressive confinement of her marriage no less terrifying than the white-tiled walls of Hoxton.
And as she grows increasingly suspicious of Henry's intentions, her fascination with Cotton grows.
Soon, Cotton is not just a notorious figure from the headlines, but an unlikely confidante, mentor--and perhaps accomplice--in Clara's struggle to protect her money, her freedom and her life.
| Goals | To reunite with her husband |
|---|
Inkshares The savage instinct, paperback/marjorie deluca
