The Pleasures of Men (Voice)

by Kate Williams

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

'A juicy book, with sumptuous period detail and crammed with intrigue' Sunday Telegraph

'Fans of Sarah Watesr will love this' Good Housekeeping

'A spine-tingling and seductive thriller' Woman & Home

• ISBN10: 0241954541
• ISBN13: 9780241954546
• Publish Date: 5 July 2012 (first published 1 January 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 29 June 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Penguin Books Ltd
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 416
• Language: English

Reviews

[wyvernfriend]

This should have been a winner with me, a pre-Peeler Victorian murder mystery with an undercurrent of mental illness, this one was largely a miss for me. There were moments that worked, but overall it just wasn't me.

Catherine Sorgeiul lives in Spitalfields with her Uncle. She is getting older and there is a possiblilty that she won't find a husband. Her uncle is eccentric and she herself is prone to what were referred to as fits of imagining. She has spent some time in institutions after her mother dies followed rapidly by her father going missing. She was passed from relative to relative and her sanity has been eroded at every turn. It is possible that with a focus for her life she could ahve found something to do and made something of her life but the Victorian era didn't really allow for this.

And it was for Catherine I kept reading. However I was never sure if what she was experiencing was real or imagined. There were several times that I suspected her as the killer. In the end I disliked her unreliable narration and the story. It just didn't really work for me and I finished it feeling somehow cheated.