{"id":4499,"date":"2019-06-26T11:52:33","date_gmt":"2019-06-26T06:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/?p=4499"},"modified":"2020-03-20T11:43:47","modified_gmt":"2020-03-20T06:13:47","slug":"things-in-jars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/things-in-jars\/","title":{"rendered":"Things in Jars \u2014 Victorian Crime Novel with Circus Freaks, Pickled Babies & Irish Folklore"},"content":{"rendered":"

The year is 1863 and London is suffocating in crime, violence, and grime, covered in a \u2018low, thick fog that has descended upon the city like an unwashed bedsheet\u2019. The Thames is murky, merrows influence the weather, circuses thrive, fortunes and gained (and lost) in the blink of an eye and the people love a good spectacle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Red-haired Bridget \u2018Bridie\u2019 Devine, is the best female detective in the city. She wears a dagger strapped to her thigh and smokes, several concoctions, like a chimney. She has an admirer in the ghost of a tattooed boxer, Ruby Doyle, even though she is \u2018not in the market for haunting.\u2019 He sees her through her nightmares, lends a helping hand and has a mermaid tattoo (that often animates itself!). Cora Butter, a 7-ft tall, self-proclaimed, bearded housemaid (\u2018Bridie hasn\u2019t had a decent meal since\u2019), rescued from spending her life as a \u2018giantess in a bear cage\u2019 at a circus, is Bridie\u2019s sidekick.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Book
Things in Jars by Jess Kidd<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The tension builds up as Bridie is entrusted with the task of finding a missing child, Christabel Berwick, with no clues whatsoever. The child was kept hidden in her father\u2019s country mansion and even the maids in house do not know of her existence. This child is peculiar \u00ad\u00ad\u2014 pike\u2019s teeth, smell of the sea, the ability to draw people\u2019s memories out of them and even drown them on land. A rollicking, action packed hunt for the kidnapped child ensues.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Things in Jars is Utterly Atmospheric<\/h3>\n

I would be at odds if I had to choose whether it is Bridie that made me fall in love with the novel or the atmosphere. Typical of a Victorian era, it is dark grisly, and not-so-pleasant-yet-makes-you-want-to-know-more. There are wicked doctors, pickled babies, circus proprietors competing with collectors of curiosities for the best \u2018items\u2019, audiences cheering performing surgeons on stage (think anaesthetic-free surgeries and amputations; the Victorian life wasn\u2019t pretty, was it?), love sick ghosts and unscrupulous middlemen. Life is macabre, cruel and dirty, but a certain warmth emanates from the characters that make them worth sticking with. Humanity appears as a silver lining even in the tooth and nail fight of an over populated city.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Genre non-specific<\/h3>\n

This book bends genres \u00ad\u2014 it is historical, gothic, mystery, fantasy and exciting characters, all combined into a single novel. It has the oomph of a Victorian crime novel, puffs of Irish folklore and includes real people like Elizabeth Garrett (doctor) and Jamrach of Ratcliff Highway (menagerie owner, earlier mentioned by writers like Bram Stoker and Saki in their fiction). It is playful, witty, and dramatic; the kind of book you pick up to have a long, entertaining afternoon. Lovers of The Mermaid and Mrs. Hancock <\/em> by Imogen Gowar Hermes (review) <\/a><\/span> and The Essex Serpent<\/em> by Sarah Perry (review)<\/a><\/span> are in for a treat in Kidd\u2019s latest novel.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\nJess Kidd astonishes with THINGS IN JARS, her Victorian crime novel with a badass lady detective, circus proprietors, curiosity collectors, love sick ghosts, merrows, wicked surgeons & an audience that craves spectacles <\/a><\/span>Click To Tweet<\/a><\/span>\n

 <\/p>\n

Final Verdict<\/h3>\n

I want to read Things in Jars<\/em> once again. Or even better, I\u2019d love to listen to it because there is so much beauty in Kidd\u2019s prose. It is marvellous, I loved it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Title : Things in Jars
\nAuthor : Jess Kidd
\nPublisher\u00a0: Canongate Books
\nPublication: 2019
\nLanguage :\u00a0English
\nPages : 404
\nRating : 5\/5<\/p>\n

Disclaimer : Much thanks to the publisher for the book. All opinions are my own.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

YOU MIGHT ALSO ENJOY<\/h4>\n

The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock<\/em>, Imogen Hermes Gowar’s debut, about a merchant, a courtesan and a mermaid, is a romp through the London of 1700s<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The Essex Serpent<\/em> by Sarah Perry is about a sea monster; set in the 1890s when scientific and medical discoveries were mushrooming\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The year is 1863 and London is suffocating in crime, violence…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6307,16],"tags":[51,7030,462,6369,187,5114,6368,5115],"thb-sponsors":[],"yoast_head":"\nThings in Jars \u2014 Victorian Crime Novel with Circus Freaks, Pickled Babies & Irish Folklore | The Book Satchel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A pipe smoking, red haired lady detective solving crimes in 1800s London, battling circus freaks, wicked surgeons and collectors.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thebooksatchel.com\/things-in-jars\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" 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