As a teenager, Tess falls into environmental activism – and the arms of a charismatic older protester. When he suddenly disappears, leaving her pregnant and alone, her happiness is shattered. Slowly, though, she rebuilds a life for herself and her daughter Mia. It was eight years since Tess had left Sylvie’s house for the last time. There must have been cicadas that day, birdsong, the dis- tant shush of the sea, but Tess remembered only the silence and Sylvie standing at the gate, her face like the face of the wooden saint who proffered his bread in Quimper cathedral, sombre and unshakeable. She was still standing there when Tess turned the corner out of sight. Long Arm Tom is a lonely old man who finds comfort in the company of an ugly dog. He makes his living collecting rats from the sewers and selling them to tavern owners like Frank Brassey who runs a rat pit for the Fancy in his parlor. William and Tom spend a fair amount of time in the sewers and eventually their paths cross. Eileen M Hunt: Feminism vs Big Brother - Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life by Anna Funder; Julia by Sandra Newman

Trespass by Clare Clark - review by Tom Williams Trespass by Clare Clark - review by Tom Williams

This book doesn't make for the easiest of reading, but this coupled with the short chapters, broken up nicely with correspondence to and from the other characters, balance out nicely. E tutta via non basta a far sì che questo romanzo prenda. Lo stile è semplice e descrittivo, scurrile in molte parti poichè narrato dal punto di vista di Eliza, che non brilla per cultura o educazione. Sicuramente compie un'evoluzione da personaggio negativo a positivo, ma tutto ciò risulta quasi forzato, poichè tutto il resto dei personaggi attorno a lei è -per usare un francesismo- una merda. E siccome gli unici personaggi positivi erano giusto Mary, che essendo ritardata non può essere granchè come personaggio, e due comparse, bisognava rimediare sacrificando l'antieroina. Con queste premesse da romanzo dell'orrore non potevo non essere interessata; eppure è incredibile come una sinossi così avvincente riesca a diventare un romanzo storico noioso e senza colpi di scena. Il tutto avviene in una Londra descritta con disgusto, tanto che non si capisce se la Clark la ami o la detesti. Londra è quasi personificata, una grassa, lurida signora che puzza di pesce, feci e altri graziosi aromi. The story opened with a pregnant woman escaping the great fire of London. The piece was well-written and interesting both in story and characterization. But then the book switches to fifty years later, where we are immersed in the explicit lustings of a sixteen year old farm girl for a gentleman who her mother is trying to ‘capture’ via pregnancy (it works). The problem is that it was too explicit for me and once past all that, not all that interesting.

Edinburgh Gliterary Lunch with Laura Barnett and Clare Clark

From the no. 1 bestselling author of The Versions of Us comes a novel about how wonderful and sad and difficult and happy and strange Christmas can be. Stories to inspire, move and comfort. A novel about love — and state-sanctioned impunity … Paranoid fantasy or reality? Brilliant, chilling’– Helena Kennedy QC

TRESPASS | clareclark TRESPASS | clareclark

Let me begin with a warning: this is not a book for someone with a weak stomach. Expect to come across gruesome, vile, downright revolting, in-depth descriptions of Victorian London’s notorious underground sewer which was responsible for its reputation as the filthiest city in the world in the mid 1800s. An aside: The great stink of London was so all-pervasive that even distinguished medical professionals attributed the frequent outbreaks of cholera and dysentery to the miasma which they believed was caused by the noxious fumes emanating from the river Thames. This is pre Jospeh Lister times and the link between sanitation and infection was hitherto unknown.

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As memorable for her sharp and even funny social observation as it is for the powerful outrage that drives it’ Sunday Times I really enjoyed these characters,especially Long Arm Tom and his relationship with Lady, the dog. I thought the details were wonderful, the intrigue or mystery part of the story was well done and I liked the resolution of the story. All in all I was very pleased with this book and I'm looking forward to reading more from Clare Clark. Clare Clark is the author of six highly acclaimed historical novels, including The Great Stink, Savage Lands (both longlisted for the Orange Prize) and The Nature of Monsters. Born in 1967, she graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge with a double first in History, and now lives in London with her husband and two children. * * * * * Overall the story is somewhat heavy and dark, but has a very satisfactory ending. Not a wrapped-up-with-a-bow-happily-ever-after type ending, but a realistic, pleasing ending nonetheless.

Trespass by Clare Clark | Goodreads Trespass by Clare Clark | Goodreads

This book is shitty. No, honestly, it's shitty. Any book titled "The Great Stink" better deliver, and this one does in the shittiest possible way. So I started skimming. And I kept skimming. (Oddly enough, the only overwhelmingly sexual scenes were in the opening.) In the garden the ants were taking flight, clouds of them swirling upwards like ash from a bonfire. When Tess closed her eyes, the ants went on rising in the darkness, only now the swirls were silver.

Set in the 1700’s. The book starts out with a woman fleeing from a devastating fire. Then it jumps ahead 50 or so years and we meet Eliza who is a young woman all worked up over a sexy young man. The opening scene was something akin to an erotica novel but you won’t hear me complain. Eliza’s mother is the local midwife but fears being accused of witchcraft and wants to have her daughter safely wed to someone with lots of cash and property before it happens. Thus she encourages her daughter towards the wealthy and randy young fellow and performs a hand fasting ceremony. Pregnancy immediately follows and once the dupe realizes he isn’t legally wed he hightails it out of there and she’s left penniless, ruined and nauseous because of the “worm” in her belly. Ah, the best laid plans. The book is supposed to cover her change of heart, from this cold hateful girl into a caring woman. It certainly does this, but offers no context. One days she hates Mary--another victim of the mad scientist, and a chapter later, she's trying to save her life. There's some thread through the book about St. Paul's dome, but it never amounts to anything important. This book had a huge amount of promise. I liked the premise, but I never bonded with the heroine and overall it didn't hold my attention. Clare Clark’s critically acclaimed The Great Stink “reeks of talent” ( The Washington Post Book World) as it vividly brings to life the dark and mysterious underworld of Victorian London. Set in 1855, it tells the story of William May, an engineer who has returned home to London from the horrors of the Crimean War. When he secures a job trans­forming the city’s sewer system, he believes that he will be able to find salvation in the subterranean world beneath the city. But the peace of the tunnels is shattered by a murder, and William is implicated as the killer. Could he truly have committed the crime? How will he bring the truth above-ground? This is one of those books where the synopsis on the sleeve turns out to be better than the story. I wanted to like this book; I actually thought it started out pretty strong but by the middle I was beyond depressed and bored-- strange combination, and not one that goes hand in hand with a good read.