PositiveHistorical Novel SocietyA wonderfully tangled Gothic tale. It features Agnes, a silhouette cutter with a troubled past; Pearl, an albino child medium; and a serial killer on the loose. We encounter early experiments with photography, Victorian medicine, and Mesmerism. The city itself is a character: dank and decaying, often musty ... I enjoyed the descriptive prose of The Shape of Darkness , and the story was full of mystery and intrigue. A satisfying and compulsive read.
Janice Hadlow
PositiveHistorical Novel SocietyAs a Jane Austen tribute novel, this book has plenty to recommend it. Hadlow is excellent in capturing the social nuances of the time. She shows the reality of middle-class women’s lives: the endless tedium and the economic and social necessity to find a suitable husband. I liked the characterisation of Mary but must confess to some dismay at the unsympathetic portrayal of Mrs Bennet ... as a historical novel I don’t think the book works so well. It is very light on historical detail: apart from the occasional description of clothes or fabrics, there is little to allow the reader to form a picture of the daily life of the times ... That criticism aside, if you read it as social commentary, and to find out what happened to Mary Bennet, then this is a most enjoyable novel.
