Review by Yvann Stephens - We Love This Book
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NZ$36.99
In 1845, Timothy Wilde becomes a member of the newly minted New York Police force after a fire destroys his home, his employment and his looks.
Despairing of ever winning the delightful Miss Mercy Underhill’s regard, and seeking to avoid his louche brother Valentine at all times and costs, Timothy tries enforce some law and order while being kind to the impoverished Irish immigrants. When a girl in a blood-drenched lace nightgown crashes into his knees one night in full flight, he finds a purpose to his employment: to avenge a terrible evil.
Faye’s novel slips into 1840s New York with ease: the rickety buildings full of Irish immigrants, the news-sellers with their cigars and flash language. Tim is a standard tragic protagonist: good-hearted and cursed; nevertheless, he is likeable, realistic and pleasantly articulate. Mercy is a touch twee, always buried in Harper Brothers’ latest or charmingly tucking a strand of hair behind an ear, but Valentine rides the line between good and evil marvellously.
The writing is almost too rich at times, stuffed with simile and metaphor, but smooth; the plot is well paced without racing. Faye strides the historical crime path with confidence. This is a most absorbing debut.
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