#Bookvent – Celebrating my high reads of 2024
My day twenty-three #bookvent choice is one that’s, by any measure, fairly dang particular. It was so, so, near being my high learn of 2024 and if I wasn’t being so strict with myself this yr, would seemingly be a be part of winner. It options such great characters, an actual thriller, and such a deep vein of emotion that I’ve to confess to shedding greater than the odd tear by the top of the guide. Transferring, poignant, and a stark reminder of how sure folks in society have been, and nonetheless are unjustly handled for merely eager to be who they’re. My twenty-third decide is the really stunning, and totally really helpful …
by AJ West
The solely sin is betrayal…
It’s the yr 1715, and Thomas True has arrived on outdated London Bridge with a harmful secret. One evening, misplaced amongst the squalor of London’s hidden again streets, he finds himself drawn into the outrageous underworld of the molly homes.
In the meantime, carpenter Gabriel Griffin struggles to cover his double life as Lotty, the molly’s stoic guard. When a younger man is discovered murdered, he realises there’s a rat amongst them, betraying their secrets and techniques to a pair of murderous Justices.
Can Gabriel unmask the traitor earlier than they grasp? Can he save hapless Thomas from peril, and their very own forbidden love?
Set amidst the buried streets of Georgian London, The Betrayal of Thomas True is a brutal and devastating thriller, the place love should overcome evil, and the one true sin is betrayal…
This guide. What to even say? I struggled to jot down my assessment the primary time round as I’m undecided that I did it justice, and making an attempt to convey my emotions on it has not gotten simpler with time. It’s a really stunning factor. Historic fiction – against the law story, of kinds, with a very emotional coronary heart. A narrative of intolerance, worry and persecution. A love story and a thriller in a single. A story of household – each of beginning and of alternative – and which tells the story of the Mollys, London’s underground group of males who defy conference by dressing in girls’s garments and daring to like one another in a method that was, and in some communities sadly nonetheless is, abhorrent to society. It’s a guide that speaks of affection, loss, camaraderie, kinship and, finally, betrayal. It’s eponymous hero, Thomas True, is new to the town and has but to find the seemingly decadent lifetime of the Mollys. He’s a considerably naive soul, however one who’s pure of coronary heart and he couldn’t be extra of a distinction to the tough and rugged Gabriel Griffin. Mired by grief and guilt, Gabriel is a tough man to love maybe, however because the story progresses, as his friendship, unconventional as it’s, with Thomas, is actually a gorgeous factor to behold. However it’s beset with distrust as in amongst the Mollys there’s a rat – somebody who’s promoting them out to the the authorities, ensuing of their incarceration or homicide. There may be that feeling of distrust that underpins the tense drama of the story, however an actual perception that, in opposition to the overwhelming proof on the contrary, Thomas should be harmless of the accusations in opposition to him. It’s darkish, brooding, atmospheric, and so superbly written that I couldn’t pull myself away from the narrative. AJ West actually makes the person personalities of every of the Mollys pop, giving voice to those that society silenced. While the story could also be fiction, the Mollys’ story is just not, and bringing it to life, elevating consciousness of the injustice they confronted, is the very least they deserve. And that ending … There may be sense of tragic inevitability inside the guide from the very begin. Simply by the very nature of who, and what, the Mollys are, you understand that nothing good can occur for them, however nonetheless. There are books which actually hit residence, the place the uncooked emotional impression is felt keenly far past the pure finish of the story. I fortunately admit I shed greater than the odd tear when studying the guide, and as many once more writing the assessment. Unsure I’ll ever overlook Thomas and Gabriel. Fortunately for the marvel of re-reads, I by no means must.
You may learn my full, inadequate, assessment of Thomas True right here.
Pleased #bookvent studying all
Jen