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The Pleasures of Men

Name: The Pleasures of Men
Author: Kate Williams
ISBN: 9781401324230

by Kate Williams

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Overview

"An intense, intelligent and hugely entertaining read" --The Guardian

July 1840: The young Queen Victoria has just entered her third year on the throne when a major recession brings London's desperate and destitute into its sweltering streets. While the city crackles with tension, orphaned Catherine Sorgeiul stays locked away in her uncle's home, a peculiar place where death masks adorn the walls and certain rooms are strictly forbidden. Nineteen years old and haunted by a dark past, Catherine becomes obsessed with a series of terrible murders of young girls sweeping the city. Details of the crimes are especially gruesome--the victims' hair has been newly plaited and thrust into their mouths, and their limbs are grotesquely folded behind them, like wounded birds--and the serial killer is soon nicknamed the Man of Crows.

Catherine begins writing stories about the victims--women on their own and vulnerable in the big city--and gradually the story of the murderer as well. But she soon realizes that she has involved herself in a web of betrayal, deceit, and terror that threatens her and all those around her. A remarkable fiction debut, The Pleasures of Men is a gripping and spine-tingling thriller.

"Don’t even think about starting Williams’ tantalizingly unnerving thriller unless you’ve cleared your schedule for the next few hours."--More

"[A] promising first novel . . . Readers looking for more psychological sophistication than is usual in such historicals will be pleased." --Publishers Weekly

"A wonderfully ripe, imaginative and gripping piece of Victorian pastiche."--The London Times

"A charged, fast-paced ride through the dark underbelly of Victorian London . . . Fans of Sarah Waters will love it."--Good Housekeeping (UK)

"This intoxicating and disturbing novel is properly thrilling and extraordinarily well-written. . . . The Pleasures of Men shows a soaring talent let loose." --The Independent on Sunday

"Part bodice-ripper, part-slasher, the book's elaborate plot moves along at a brisk clip with a nod to the likes of Sarah Waters and Peter Ackroyd."--The Daily Mail

About the Author, Kate Williams

Kate Williams earned her BA at Somerville College, Oxford, where she was a College Scholar; she received her MA from Queen Mary, University of London, and her DPhil at Oxford. Her debut book, England's Mistress: The Infamous Life of Emma Hamilton (Ballantine, 2006), was shortlisted for the Marsh Prize for Biography and her second book, Becoming Queen (Ballantine, 2010), about the passionate youth of Queen Victoria and Princess Charlotte was a Book of the Year in the Tatler and Spectator. She is currently writing a biography of Josephine Bonaparte, Mistress of Empires, for publication in Spring 2012 by Ballantine. She teaches creative writing at London University. The Pleasures of Men is her first novel. She lives in London, England.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

Biographer Williams (Becoming Queen) does something new with a familiar trope in her promising first novel, a thriller set in 1840 London. A Jack the Ripper–like serial killer, dubbed the Man of Crows, leaves his stabbed victims displayed with their hair stuffed into their mouths, their chests gouged in the shape of a star, and a penny placed on the exposed heart. The search for the murderer’s identity largely falls to Catherine Sorgeiul, an orphan living with an ostensibly kindly uncle. Still adjusting to the tumult of the big city, Catherine also struggles with her own sexuality and the hypocrisies of early Victorian society, even as the body count rises. In one distinctive touch, the author has Catherine identify so closely with the Man of Crows’ victims that she writes narratives in their names. Readers looking for more psychological sophistication than is usual in such historicals will be pleased. (Aug.)

Kirkus Reviews

A young lady of the privileged class becomes intrigued with a series of violent crimes in this thriller set in Victorian England. It's 1840, and orphaned 19-year-old Catherine Sorgeiul resides with her uncle in his London home. England is in the midst of a recession, and the streets in this section of the city are dangerous to traverse and strewn with clutter and filth. While her uncle encourages Catherine to become socially active--potential suitor, Constantine Janisser, and his parents come calling as do the daughters of a prominent family--she shuns their company and prefers to stay within the confines of the home. But when a serial killer, christened the Man of Crows by the newspapers (because of his unique positioning of each body), begins preying on young, vulnerable working-class women, Catherine's imagination is sparked, and she is irresistibly drawn to the case. She writes about each victim's life as she imagines it to be and begins to slip out of the house to secretly visit the murder sites. Fixated with each slaying, Catherine agrees to accompany Constantine and Miss Grey, an acquaintance, to a magic show that reenacts the murders, with unpleasant consequences. As each killing strikes closer and closer to home, and more people disappear from Catherine's life, the circumstances behind Catherine's delicate emotional state are slowly revealed, and eventually, the identity of the killer is disclosed. Veteran nonfiction author Williams' (England's Mistress, 2006, etc.) first attempt at fiction is uneven at best. While she writes with authority about this era in English history and paints a graphic image of the difficulties people faced during that time--be thankful for hot showers--the meandering narrative is often difficult to follow, and the story seems to lose its focus. At times the story is a pleasure to read, but not often enough to recommend.