THE BOOK OF FIRES - Softcover

Borodale

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007305737 ISBN 13: 9780007305735

Publisher: William The 4th, 2010

Synopsis

A stunning historical novel, 'The Book of Fires' is the unforgettable story of Agnes Trussel – and love, fireworks and redemption.

Brought up in rural Sussex, seventeen-year-old Agnes Trussel is carrying an unwanted child. Taking advantage of the death of her elderly neighbour, Agnes steals her savings and runs away to London. On her way she encounters the intriguing Lettice Talbot who promises that she will help Agnes upon their arrival. But Agnes soon becomes lost in the dark, labyrinthine city. She ends up at the household of John Blacklock, laconic firework-maker, becoming his first female assistant.

The months pass and it becomes increasingly difficult for Agnes to conceal her secret. Soon she meets Cornelius Soul, seller of gunpowder, and hatches a plan which could save her from ruin. Yet why does John Blacklock so vehemently disapprove of Mr Soul? And what exactly is he keeping from her? Could the housekeeper, Mrs Blight, with her thirst for accounts of hangings, suspect her crime or condition?

Historical fiction at its very best, ‘The Book of Fires’ is utterly intriguing, completely compelling and impossible to put down.

About this title

Review:

'Jane Borodale displays a deft touch in this very pleasing story' MAUREEN WALLER, Daily Telegraph

‘Borodale's refreshingly original approach and engaging style makes 'The Book of Fires’ a welcome addition to the historical fiction genre' Yorkshire Evening Post

'A dark atmospheric novel from a fantastic new voice in fiction' Bury Free Press, Book of the Week

'This author's debut excels in it's portrayal of the lot of the 18th-century underclass, of the development of the dark art of pyrotechny and of the swift and usually harsh treatment of those whose sole crime was that of poverty... this 'Book of Fireworks' really works and it sparkles along at a fizzingly glorious pace. Literary pyrotechnics on a grand scale' Lady

From the Author:

Agnes Trussel’s story came to me in a flash, one cold night at a bonfire on Dartmoor, and grew from there, slowly, over four years. I began to write and found there were different layers to the shape I was attempting: there were the ideas I wanted to explore, and the more concrete occurrences I needed to show for the story to progress. There were the atmospheres and textures I wanted the story to steep in, and there was the path through the information I’d gathered whilst researching eighteenth-century life and the history of pyrotechny. I also found that a novel has its own microclimate, and often things seem to just happen inside it, of their own accord.

I had a childhood passion for fireworks; the fifth of November was quite significant where I grew up in Sussex, and the man who ran the local shop made his own fireworks – very loud, plain and erratic, which he would set off later in the evening when the display was over and the bonfire had died down. It struck me even as a child as a vigorous kind of subversive activity.

I loved the idea of fire being the catalyst for change, for luck, for strength, for magic, and for danger. It is rich in symbolism, and I wanted my firework maker John Blacklock to be enigmatic, dark, with something of the Promethean myth about him. I was fascinated by the discovery of coloured fireworks – which finally happened towards the end of the century – but even more intrigued by the thought of the time before the discovery itself; the period of searching and experimentation, hope and disappointment, that led to the crucial moment when the gap in knowledge was filled.

Whilst writing I also became increasingly interested in the lot of the rural and urban underclass as enclosure and industrialisation rapidly altered the countryside and town. The Old Bailey accounts of those hanged in the name of the law, for often the smallest of crimes in the face of abject poverty, became part of the story as parallels and quickeners to Agnes’s plight. I felt that her character grew directly out of the landscape she had left behind – and I was interested in exposing her to the city as a place of ideas, of change. I also wanted to explore the tug of home in dream and memory during a life lived elsewhere.

About this edition

• Publisher: William The 4th
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0007305737
• ISBN 13: 9780007305735
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 416