Book description
An elegant, powerful novel, set in Victorian England, a time not so
different from our own… perfect for fans of THE INTERPRETATION OF MURDER
and THE SHADOW OF THE WIND
Ambitious young journalist Thomas Kitson arrives at the battlefields of
the Crimea as the London Courier's man on the ground. It is a dangerous
place, full of the worst horrors of war but Kitson is determined to make
his mark. Under the tutelage of his hard-bitten Irish boss Cracknell,
and assisted by artist Robert Styles, he sets about exposing the
incompetence of the army generals.
Two years later, as Sebastopol burns, Thomas returns to England under
mysterious circumstance. Desperate for forget the atrocities of the
Crimea, he takes a job as a 'street philosopher', a society writer
reporting on the gossip of the day. But on the eve of the great Art
Treasures Exhibition, as Manchester prepares to welcome Queen Victoria,
Thomas's past returns to haunt him in the most horrifying way… 'A
galloping good story'
The Times
'Lust, avarice, envy, revenge all play their part in this brilliantly
told, well-paced story, which also begs the question, so relevant today,
of just how close to action journalists and recorders of war should be allowed'
Daily Mail
'Plampin's historical research is impressive, as is his command of
detail….his true gift of descriptive power'
Independent on Sunday Matthew Plampin was born in 1975 and grew up in
Essex. He read English and History of Art at the University of
Birmingham and then completed a PhD at the Courtauld Institute of Art,
London. He now lectures on nineteenth-century art and architecture. This
is his first novel.
