The Dress Lodger (Paperback)

from sunfi

A historical fiction piece set in England in 1831 at the start of a cholera epidemic. The story crosses the lives of the well-to-do and the poor and looks at the class struggles and their perception of the epidemic. This story has a little of everything, prostitution, body-snatching, tenement hou...

from bhowell

This is an excellent book and maybe I will now tackle The Mammoth Cheese. This is an historical novel but it is not a light read. It is intense and shocking in its detail of poverty and disease in 1830's England. It also highlights the grisly history of body snatching by the medical profession to...

from Mintypink

The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman might be unsettling at first, especially for readers who aren't used to being directly addressed by the narrators. However, if you stick with the story, which is set right in the middle of a cholera outbreak in Sunderland, England (circa 1830's), you will be well ...

from debnance

Would be fun to do a compare/contrast with this book and Slammerkin. The main character here, like S, is also a prostitute. Surprisingly good story. The historical details felt authentic.

from Donna828

An omniscient narrator implores a young matchstick painter to describe Gustine for the reader... "She is a sumptuous, fantastical wedding cake. A walking confection. A tasty morsel." This is one book that lives up to its book cover. You can see Gustine as a dainty young woman with pale blonde hai...