Book Review: The Hourglass Factory

I've been meaning to write this review for ages but there was one thing holding me back: I'd read the book on my kindle and it just doesn't photograph as well as the real-life book. I've read quite a few books on my kindle recently, and I know a picture of the cover doesn't really tell you much about the story, but it definitely makes the review on my blog more pleasant to look at. Luckily when I stayed at my cousin's recently, I noticed that she had the hard copy, so I photographed that! Now onto the actual review...

(I just went on Amazon to find the blurb and got distracted by their 3 paperbacks for £10 offer, which this title is part of.. go go go!)

The suffragette movement is reaching fever pitch but for broke Fleet Street tomboy Frankie George, just getting by in the cut-throat world of newspapers is hard enough. Sent to interview trapeze artist Ebony Diamond, Frankie finds herself fascinated by the tightly laced acrobat and follows her across London to a Mayfair corset shop that hides more than one dark secret.

Then Ebony Diamond mysteriously disappears in the middle of a performance, and Frankie is drawn into a world of tricks, society columnists, corset fetishists, suffragettes and circus freaks. How did Ebony vanish, who was she afraid of, and what goes on behind the doors of the mysterious Hourglass Factory?

From the newsrooms of Fleet Street to the drawing rooms of high society, the missing Ebony Diamond leads Frankie to the trail of a murderous villain with a plot more deadly than anyone could have imagined...

 I read this in the weeks leading up to the General Election and it definitely made me want to vote (I was going to anyway, but this added to the cause). I love the way Lucy Ribchester describes London in the early twentieth century. It feels a bit Dickensian but I also liked the mentions of recognisable streets and landmarks so you feel like you could follow Frankie George's footsteps if you wanted to today. It really brings home how much soceity has changed in just over a hundred years, and I am so so thankful for the suffragettes.

Anyways.. enough social history.. onto the book! We follow Frankie around London as she tries to get a photo of Ebony Diamond for a story, but this quest leads her deeper and darker into the sideshows of Soho and the questionable pasttimes of high society. There's a murder and we know the killer is trying to strike again, but whodunnit? And why? Everything kicks off with the police, suffragettes, politicians and performers all pointing the finger at eachother. There is a major plot twist that I did not see coming and the conclusion is nothing like what I might have expected from the first chapter.

I highly recommend this book, its an important (if ficitonal) glimpse into the suffragette movement but also a really good murder mystery. If you get the change to read this - do!

Oxfam Bookshop

Charity or second hand bookshops are the perfect places to find absolute gems. Whilst visiting my friend Ruth in Manchester last weekend, we popped into the local Oxfam shop. They had one room for clothes and things and another room full of books.

My first find was a Collins 30 minute Watercolour book - with lots of tips and instructions on different watercolour techniques - hopefully I'll get a bit more arty with this!

I also picked up Polly by Freya North - I think all my Freya North books are second hand, and I've read the others in the series so I'm glad I've found this one.

Now for the interesting bit... beautiful old books!

The first is this stunning leather hard back edition of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. I love the gold filigree detailing on the cover. Inside are pen-and-ink drawings of scenes from the story. I already have a copy of Wuthering Heights, having studied it for AS Level English, but I couldn't really leave this one on the shelf.

I deliberately found this section to feature - this was scary before horror films were around! If you haven't read Wuthering Heights I thoroughly recommend it. Also, listen to Kate Bush's song of the same name - one of my favourite shower hits ;)

The second wee beauty I found was Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. It is the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and features the famous poem The Jabberwocky, and Tweedledum and Tweedledee. Like the Wuthering Heights book, this has beautiful illustrations. This edition was published in 1931.

 I love how worn the cover is - it looks well-loved.

What do you think? Where are your favourite places to browse books? If you love everything book-ish, check out the youtube channel of Ness from Wanderness. I recommend her library/bar tour video (you'll be so jealous that this isn't in your home!) and her cover buys video, if like me you like pretty covers!