Category: HF Reading Challenge

Book Review – The Housekeepers by Alex Hay

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About the Book

Book cover of The Housekeepers by Alex Hay

UPSTAIRS, MADAM IS PLANNING THE PARTY OF THE SEASON.

All eyes are on the grandest house in Mayfair as the countdown to their lavish summer ball begins. Everything must be perfect. But with the chandeliers gleaming and the cellars stocked, loyal housekeeper Mrs King is suddenly dismissed.

DOWNSTAIRS, THE SERVANTS ARE PLOTTING THE HEIST OF THE CENTURY.

As the clock strikes twelve on the night of the ball, Mrs King will return to strip the house of its riches – right under the nose of her former employer. And she knows just who to recruit to pull off the impossible: a bold alliance of women with nothing left to lose and every reason for revenge.

Format: ebook (365 pages) Publisher: Headline
Publication date: 6th July 2023 Genre: Historical Fiction, Crime

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My Review

This was a book club pick by members wanting something lighthearted after a series of rather serious books such as last month’s choice, The Zone of Interest by Martin Amis.

‘Imagine it, ladies: the grandest house in London, licked clean on the biggest night of the season.’

I liked the idea of a group of women coming together to plan an audacious heist, a female equivalent if you like of the group of men in the 1960 film The League of Gentleman in which the involuntarily-retired Lieutenant Colonel Hyde (played by Jack Hawkins) recruits seven other dissatisfied ex-servicemen to commit a bank robbery. Although the women who christen themselves ‘The Housekeepers’ each have slightly different reasons for wanting to take part, the underlying motivation is revenge but other motivations become apparent as the book progresses. As a result, the operation turns into a desire to obtain justice for others as much as for themselves.

I found the book entertaining although a bit on the slow side as the heist doesn’t actually take place until nearly two thirds of the way through the book, at which point it all becomes rather frenzied and a little confused. I found the mechanics of the heist (involving the use of rope swings, winches and extendable poles amongst other things) stretched credulity, although perhaps it was the author’s intention to introduce an element of outrageous absurdity to the proceedings. The secret of what has been going on in the de Vries household didn’t come as much of a surprise although it did provide some vindication for the women’s actions. The relationship between sewing maid Alice with her mistress Miss de Vries introduces what has become a familiar trope in historical fiction.

My favourite character was Hephzibah Grandcourt whose gift for acting produces some very amusing scenes and whose sheer chutzpah proves vital to the mission when it encounters some sticky moments. I also liked Mrs Bone, a woman who has built a criminal enterprise to rival – if not outdo – her male counterparts.

To steal an observation by one of my fellow book club members, The Housekeepers ‘does what is says on the tin’. It’s an entertaining book that doesn’t take itself too seriously but sets itself apart from the current wave of ‘cosy crime’ novels by focussing on those carrying out the crime rather than those solving it. (Readers may also want to note there is a bonus chapter in the paperback edition which is not in the ebook. The audiobook version was also highly praised by book club members.)

In three words: Engaging, undemanding, humorous
Try something similar: The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton

About the Author

Author Alex Hay

Alex grew up in Cambridge and Cardiff in the United Kingdom. He studied History at the University of York and wrote his dissertation on female power at royal courts, combing the archives for every scrap of drama and skulduggery he could find. He has worked in magazine publishing and the charity sector and lives with his husband in London. His debut novel, The Housekeepers, won the Caledonia Novel Award 2022 and was published to great critical acclaim. (Photo: Amazon author page)

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Book Review – Estella’s Revenge by Barbara Havelocke

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About the Book

Book cover of Estella's Revenge by Barbara Havelocke

You know Miss Havisham. The world’s most famous jilted bride. This is her daughter’s story.

Raised in the darkness of Satis House where the clocks never tick, the beautiful Estella is bred to hate men and to keep her heart cold as the grave.

She knows she doesn’t feel things quite like other people do but is this just the result of her strange upbringing?

As she watches the brutal treatment of women around her, hatred hardens into a core of vengeance and when she finds herself married to the abusive Drummle, she is forced to make a deadly choice: should she embrace the darkness within her and exact her revenge?

Format: Hardcover (336 pages) Publisher: Canelo
Publication date: 9th May 2024 Genre: Historical Fiction

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My Review

I’ve read quite a lot of reviews of Estella’s Revenge that start with a ‘confession’ that the reviewer has never read Great Expectations. I don’t think that’s necessarily a disadvantage; in fact, it might actually be the opposite in this case. Although someone who does not know Dickens’s novel won’t be able to tell how the author has reimagined or enhanced it, they also won’t find themselves comparing it to the original.

I have read Great Expectations – a number of times – and it’s my favourite Dickens novel. Therefore, especially in the parts of the book set during Estella’s childhood in which many of the scenes – and even the dialogue – mirror the original, I found it exceptionally difficult to avoid noticing changes to timelines, characters and events. Estella’s childhood encounter on the marshes one night, for example. If you’ve read Great Expectations, you’ll be aware that it has a significance that would not be apparent from just reading Estella’s Revenge. Looking at it another way, perhaps it is a little gift from the author for readers who know Dickens’s novel.

Seeing events from Estella’s point of view provides an interesting perspective and the author does a great job of conjuring up the dark, gloomy and forbidding atmosphere of Satis House and what it must have been like to grow up in such a household. I liked how the author transformed the Pocket clan from merely obsequious to malign, especially in their attitude towards Estella. It’s one of the clever ways we see why Estella might be so receptive to Miss Havisham’s manipulation, because she fears she might be displaced in her affections by someone else, such as Pip.

Actress Martita Hunt as Miss Havisham in Great Expectations (1946)

For me, Miss Havisham is one of Dickens’s most inspired creations and Barbara Havelocke really gets to the heart of this twisted, vengeful and sad individual. Personally, Martita Hunt’s portrayal of Miss Havisham [left] in David Lean’s 1946 film adaptation is the one that always comes to mind. I admit I struggled a bit with the way the author has Miss Havisham’s character develop later in the book. It seemed an unlikely epiphany.

The ‘missing years’ of Estella’s story in Great Expectations, the period she spends abroad at finishing school, provide an opportunity for the author to let her imagination run riot. We see Estella using some of the wiles she developed during her childhood to come to the aid of someone she forms a close connection with. It bolsters the belief instilled in her by Miss Havisham of her power to manipulate men and the rightness of it becoming her mission in life. ‘Make them love you, make them hate you, make them destroy themselves with their desire for you, because that is the only power a woman has.’ But during her time in Paris, Estella also experiences herself what it is to be betrayed.

If you’ve read Great Expectations, the name Bentley Drummle will fill you with dread but, even if you haven’t, it soon will. Estella is quickly disabused of the notion that Drummle will abide by the conditions she has placed on their marriage, with devastating consequences. For Estella her treatment at the hands of Drummle is proof that what Miss Havisham has drilled into her from an early age is true: men are not to be trusted and will always seek to exercise power over women. I was sad at the path Estella chooses because it seemed it could only bring her sorrow, and I was sorry that the little spark of compassion that Pip ignited in her earlier in her life was not sufficient to change the course she decides to follow.

Although there were aspects of Estella’s Revenge that didn’t quite work for me, it’s definitely a powerful reimagining of a classic story which at the same time demonstrates the debt owed to Charles Dickens’s original creation.

I received a proof copy courtesy of Canelo.

In three words: Atmospheric, dramatic, suspenseful
Try something similar: Lady MacBethad by Isabelle Schuler

About the Author

Author Barbara Havelocke/Barbara Copperthwaite

Barbara Havelocke is an international bestselling author whose psychological thrillers have topped Amazon and Kobo. Her writing career started in journalism, interviewing the real victims of crime – and the perpetrators. The realistic, complex characters who populate her fiction reflect this deep understanding. When not writing, Barbara is found walking her two dogs, Scamp and Buddy, or taking photos of wildlife.

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