The Pleasures of Men
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2.8 • 11 Ratings
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- £3.99
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
Dark and compelling, The Pleasures of Men is a gothic thriller which marks Kate Williams as a stunning new voice in historical fiction.
Spitalfields, 1840.
A murderer nicknamed The Man of Crows.
A heroine with a mysterious past and a vivid imagination.
Catherine Sorgeiul lives with her Uncle in a rambling house in London's East End. When a murderer strikes, ripping open the chests of young girls and stuffing hair into their mouths to resemble a crow's beak, Catherine is fascinated, and devours news of his exploits.
As the murders cause panic throughout the city, she comes to believe she can channel the voices of his victims and that they will lead her to The Man himself. But she's already far closer than she realises - and lurking behind the lies she's been told about her past are secrets more deadly and devastating than anything her imagination can conjure.
'Wonderfully imaginative and gripping' Times
'Intense, intelligent and hugely entertaining' Guardian
'Intoxicating and disturbing . . . a soaring talent let loose' Independent on Sunday
'Fans of Sarah Watesr will love this' Good Housekeeping
'A spine-tingling and seductive thriller' Woman & Home
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Biographer Williams (Becoming Queen) does something new with a familiar trope in her promising first novel, a thriller set in 1840 London. A Jack the Ripper like serial killer, dubbed the Man of Crows, leaves his stabbed victims displayed with their hair stuffed into their mouths, their chests gouged in the shape of a star, and a penny placed on the exposed heart. The search for the murderer's identity largely falls to Catherine Sorgeiul, an orphan living with an ostensibly kindly uncle. Still adjusting to the tumult of the big city, Catherine also struggles with her own sexuality and the hypocrisies of early Victorian society, even as the body count rises. In one distinctive touch, the author has Catherine identify so closely with the Man of Crows' victims that she writes narratives in their names. Readers looking for more psychological sophistication than is usual in such historicals will be pleased.
Customer Reviews
The Pleasures of Men
Whilst this book is well written it was a disappointment, I expected something like 'Perfume' one of my favourite novels but it was dark without substance. The leads in the narrative led nowhere very satisfactory, the ending was weak and the characters one dimensional. In it's favour it was disturbing and therefore did have some impact. It felt like a poor version of the gothic novel without the plots of 'Jane Eyre' or 'A Picture of Dorian Grey'. Catherine's deluded mind does not move the reader in any way like her namesake in 'Wuthering Heights'. Iwas interested I'm the back stories but it felt like the writer got lost, didn't know how to conclude buy just wanted it finished.
Waste of time.
This book reaches no conclusion what so ever.
Disappointing
Obtuse & self indulgent. Kate should stick to fact rather than fiction. Why bother - go for Robert Edric's The London Satyr instead.