The other orphaned when she was young and taken in by a jeweller. She is now one of the most talented members of ‘The Forty Thieves’, a well known organisation of thieves. She has no morals and will steal anything from anyone, with the ambition to one day become Queen of the Forties. This was a gem of a novel that told the stories of two independently minded young women negotiating a changing society still struggling to come to terms with the devastation of the Great War. When the light catches a diamond what women can resist. Well none of the Forty Thieves it seems, and especially of them – Ruby Mills. Beautiful and an eye for beautiful things, Ruby is one of the best thieves, but she wants to break out on her own and not be beholden. When you are in deep with the forty Thieves, there is it seems no way out. Whitman’s offer in this section to “wash the gum” from our eyes, to habituate us “to the dazzle of the light” shining through every moment of existence, comes with a catch: we must be bold enough to venture into the unknown, to meet the world stripped of our preconceptions and illusions, to measure the vast within and without; if we have the courage to take to the open road, alert to possibilities heretofore unimagined, mindful of the routines that blind us to what is there, our walk in the sun may lead to a deeper knowledge of the cosmos. “If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is: infinite,” William Blake wrote in “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell,” a signal event in the evolution of modern poetry. “For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro’ narrow chinks of his cavern.” Whitman proposes that we take this lesson to heart, applying to the whole of life the essence of creativity—which is to leave the cavern and see what has been right in front of us all along. The author has clearly done her research and I loved all the historical details she included. I loved learning more about the Forties gang in particular as I hadn’t heard anything about them before so it was interesting following them as they went on raids. The differences between the classes were quite stark at times, as emphasised by the different lives Ruby and Harriet led. It was quite emotional to read about one group struggling while the other drank champagne near by. The treatment of women at the time made my blood boil and made me feel sorry for Harriet as she tries to do her own thing only to be thwarted by her parents.

What a joyous romp of a read! I ended up loving both Harriet and Ruby, and especially enjoyed when they met.When Harriet witnesses Ruby fleeing the scene of a robbery, she becomes fascinated with her and it’s something that Ruby can use. It’s a fictional story but based around Alice Diamond and The Forty Thieves, later becoming The Forty Elephants, who were a notorious London gang around the 1920s. I was fascinated by the depiction of the London slums during this post-war era and the contrast with high society.

Overall, I found ‘The Dazzle of the Light’ an impressive historical novel and it’s one that I feel will appeal to reading groups looking for an engaging read that also examines social issues of the post-Great War period. As the book moves on, Harriet and Ruby’s lives become intertwined through events brought about by Harriet and her journalistic ambitions. Each, in their own way, glamorises the other which makes for an interesting, eventful and tense plot. The plot was simple enough to follow and I really liked how it got more and more complex as the two stories got more and more mixed together. It was so compelling to follow and see how it all panned out for the two women who were the beating heart of this book. The ending annoyed me ever so slightly but that was just because I had wanted it to go in another direction. As I mentioned before and will mention again, the historical aspect of this book and how grounded it was in the historical time period and the focus on the lives of these characters as well. Although both characters are complex, I thought that Ruby was definitely a stronger character; she had presence while Harriet was constantly in her shadow. I appreciate the dual POV for the most part but there was a short POV by Harriet's mother that was slipped in, which kind of broke the reading experience for me. I thought it was so bizarre, like maybe the author was setting the readers up for some kind of twist but no, nothing came out of it and it's not like readers didn't already know that Harriet had mummy issues, with how neurotic and controlling her mother was.

Wordle Helper

But both the Forties and London society have strict rules - and the fallout from Ruby and Harriet's unlikely acquaintance may be more than either woman is prepared for. The writing was also wonderful. As said the historical aspect was amazing and something I always appreciate as part of the historical fiction genre and this was handled so well. It was such a rich and well crafted world that the story took place in and I really enjoyed myself as I read it. A SPARKLING NEW HISTORICAL NOVEL INSPIRED BY LONDON'S NOTORIOUS, ALL-FEMALE CRIME SYNDICATE KNOWN AS 'THE FORTY THIEVES'.