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London, the 1880s, and Jack the Ripper is at large. Two childhood friends meet again having found very different fortunes in the fog-bound, Ripper-stalked streets of Victorian London. Plain but witty Dot is a music hall star; pretty Kate (Eddowes, a true-life Ripper victim) has fallen on hard times.
‘Poignant and unsentimental, Dot’s whipllash humour had me cheering’ DAILY MAIL
When star of London’s Victorian music hall, Dot Allbones, bumps into her childhood friend Kate Eddowes outside the Griffin theatre in Shoreditch, it’s a blast from the past. The two grew up together in the Midlands, but life has treated them very differently since then.
Told through the eyes of the irreverent Dot, this is the story of a London populated by chancers, some rich, some destitute. During one hot summer in the 1880s Whitechapel famously became the scene of unspeakable horror, and Kate Eddowes found a grisly fame that would far outshine Dot’s.
Because out there, in the stews of East London, Saucy Jack is sharpening his knife . . .
‘Poignant and unsentimental, Dot’s whipllash humour had me cheering’ DAILY MAIL
When star of London’s Victorian music hall, Dot Allbones, bumps into her childhood friend Kate Eddowes outside the Griffin theatre in Shoreditch, it’s a blast from the past. The two grew up together in the Midlands, but life has treated them very differently since then.
Told through the eyes of the irreverent Dot, this is the story of a London populated by chancers, some rich, some destitute. During one hot summer in the 1880s Whitechapel famously became the scene of unspeakable horror, and Kate Eddowes found a grisly fame that would far outshine Dot’s.
Because out there, in the stews of East London, Saucy Jack is sharpening his knife . . .
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Reviews
A delightfully smart and sophisticated historical novelist
A tour de force . . . will have you laughing and crying in equal measure
Another gem from Laurie Graham
Laurie Graham is one of my favourite writers, now and ever
Mistress of atmosphere and smart humour Laurie Graham takes us deep into the landscape of the Whitechapel Mystery
One of my favourite writers
What a wonderful, life-enhancing, truly funny writer she is
Why is Laurie Graham not carried on people's shoulders through cheering crowds? Her books are brilliant!
Poignant and unsentimental, Dot's whiplash humour had me cheering
The sheer panache with which Graham conjures up the era's music halls ... is particularly appealing and the author is to be congratulated on creating a story in which, for once, a victim of the Ripper rather than the East End bogeyman himself takes centre stage
[Graham's] strength is the voice of her narrator, Dot ... a wonderful companion
Another gem from the should-be-bigger-than-Jesus Laurie Graham