Stacey Halls’ The Household offers a compelling blend of historical fiction and mystery. It centres around the [true] setup of Urania Cottage in 1847, on the initiative of Charles Dickens and Angela Burdett-Coutts. This was a house for fallen young women: girls and women reduced by poverty to prostitution or petty criminality or women who had become pregnant out of wedlock. They were either without education and a regular income, or victims of trickery and deception, or had been exploited within the household where they were working as servants.
At Urania Cottage, these young women were welcomed with sympathy rather than punishment, and educated in household activities, basic school skills and religion. Ideally, the women would be able to emigrate to Australia after completing their education there, to build an honest life there.
In The Household, the young women live together in Urania Cottage under the supervision of a dedicated matron/instructor, Mrs Holdsworth. But not all of them are happy and some leave their refuge despite the uncertain future. The novel follows the life stories of some of these characters and addresses social grievances in 19th century England, notably the defenselessness and lack of social security of the working class, especially girls and women.
Even the wealthy heiress and philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts depends on male protection as an unmarried woman. She has been stalked (in a fictional storyline) by an obsessed stalker for ten years and needs a bodyguard’s protection.
The novel is broadly based on historical facts (i.e. the house and its aims). The author provides information about the fictitious additions in an interesting afterword. It provides a fascinating insights into some lesser-known aspects of social reform and social conditions in London around the middle of the 19th century.
As a novel, it’s immersive, intriguing and entertaining, with a vivid narrative style and with the constant change of perspective between the protagonists Martha, Polly and Josephine.
Thank you to @NetGalley_UK, @staceyhallsauthor and @manilla_press for giving me a free copy of this book. All my reviews are 100% honest and unbiased, regardless of how I acquire the book.
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