The Corset by Laura Purcell

Our Score:★★★★★★★✩✩✩

GENRE: Gothic, Historical Fiction

Selected by Gemma - July 2019

SYNOPSIS:

Is prisoner Ruth Butterham mad or a murderer? Victim or villain?

Dorothea and Ruth. Prison visitor and prisoner. Powerful and powerless. Dorothea Truelove is young, wealthy and beautiful. Ruth Butterham is young, poor and awaiting trial for murder.

When Dorothea's charitable work leads her to Oakgate Prison, she is delighted with the chance to explore her fascination with phrenology and test her hypothesis that the shape of a person's skull can cast a light on their darkest crimes. But when she meets teenage seamstress Ruth, she is faced with another theory: that it is possible to kill with a needle and thread. For Ruth attributes her crimes to a supernatural power inherent in her stitches.

The story Ruth has to tell of her deadly creations – of bitterness and betrayal, of death and dresses – will shake Dorothea's belief in rationality and the power of redemption.

Can Ruth be trusted? Is she mad, or a murderer?

(Synopsis taken from Goodreads)

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STORY BEHIND THE BOOK:

I recently read the novel The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell and absolutely loved it. I enjoyed the style of writing, the historical setting and the Gothic feel to the book. Therefore, when I saw that the author had recently published another book following the same Gothic feel I knew it would have to be my next book club choice.

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THE DISCUSSION (Contains spoilers):

It's funny how by discussing a book you realise how detailed and complex a book actually is. We all agreed that we enjoyed the book but during our discussion the love and appreciation of the book increased. As we discussed the two female narrators: Dorothea and Ruth we admired their strength and determination.

Ruth:

For us Ruth was a character we all felt great warmth towards and wondered if by the end of the novel our thoughts would change. Was she really a cold heartless killer? In our opinions no, just a child who had faced the most horrendous heartache and short life. When we think back to all that she faced living at home; the bullying and beating, the sewing up of her mother after childbirth, the death of her baby sister and her thinking she was to blame, the suicide of her father and finally having to leave her mother blind and homeless whilst she paid off her mother's debt to Mrs Metyard. The guilt she was burdened with was immense and to then find herself, with a group of girls her own age sleeping on bundles of straw in the cellar, having to work long hours with little food to keep them going just added to her heartbreaking story. All things considered Ruth remained a hardworking, pleasant girl. She took the blame to save Mim from Miss Metyard's (Kate) beatings and tried to rescue Mim when she had disappeared for a few days. We found it very peculiar when Mrs Metyard became Mr Metyard as it was all a bit too strange and weird for us. This was our least favourite part of the novel.

We really enjoyed how the story developed with Ruth's escape, Mrs Metyard's death and subsequently Kate's own death. The twist with Kate's death was a surprise and one we didn't see coming. Ultimately Ruth's own ending was sad and tugged on our heartstrings.

Dorothea:

Our initial thoughts were of a strong-headed privileged woman who was determined to breakaway from her expected life of marriage, kids and socialising. Dorothea was interested in phrenology; a theory which claims to be able to determine character, personality traits, and criminality on the basis of the shape of the head; and therefore would visit the prison to study the inmates skulls. Hence how she met Ruth. It was clear that Dorothea was leaning more towards Ruth's innocence than her guilt. As the story developed we start to hear more about Dorothea's life, the death of her mother and her hidden romance with the local police man. We are led to believe that her mother's death was not in fact an illness but a deliberate poisoning. This sub plot added to the novel as we were intrigued to find out more about the death of her mother and who was behind it.

Throughout the book there were many clever links. From Ruth's belief that her stitches held so much power and the words surrounding her thoughts whilst she was sewing, to the final pages when Dorothea's own Father is found dead.

The Ending:

For us this caused the most confusion and if we hadn't discussed it it may have put a dampener on the whole novel. With the help of our own thoughts coming together and google here is what we think the ending was about.

We believe Dorothea did not leave the house like we were led to believe and instead put the handkerchief outside her own Father's door. Dorothea revealed that she found murderous lumps on her own forehead implying that she was capable of murder. As Ruth is sewing the R on the handkerchief Dorothea discusses Mrs Metyard's hanging. Dorothea is therefore planning the death of her own Father as she knows he is guilty of her mother's murder. So I guess it begs the question was Ruth's stitches really capable of causing harm to those that received her garments? I personally love an ending like this...

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REVIEW: (Contains spoilers)

Gemma's Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book, but to be fair I knew I would from previously reading The Silent Companions. I am so at ease with the author's writing style that the words just flowed from the page and immersed me straight away. I loved the two main characters; Dorothea for her determination and passion to break the stereotypical role of being a lady of privilege, and Ruth for her strength and survival during all her hardship. Although I know that during the Victorian times the divide between the rich and poor was immense, I didn't realise that you could be sent to a debtors prison for owing money. This did actually shock me. The treatment of the girls in Mrs Metyard's care was Dickensian, which although was gruesome I actually liked this about the novel. The whole corset part fascinated me and I loved how the colours blue and green were portrayed (describing Miss Kate and Miss Rosalind Oldacre) and which tied in with the different cover editions. I enjoyed the two story lines of Dorothea and Ruth and was stumped by the ending. I have to confess I needed to google an explanation for the ending, I did have to do this for The Silent Companions too!! A real bonus for me was the hint of supernatural powers that Ruth may have had in her sewing ability. I really like elements of the supernatural in books as it fascinates me.

Emma's Thoughts:

Immediately after finishing this book I had to call our Book Cosy founder, Gemma for an explanation. I don't usually like books when I get to the end and have no idea what happened! I was left totally confused and frustrated. After speaking to Gem and discussing the ending together (see 'The Ending' section above) I was actually really impressed with how the author left us on a cliff-hanger and to decipher the ending ourselves. Very clever!

I liked how the chapters switched between to the 2 main characters, which gave a real sense of their class and personalities. There were definitely some graphic and heart breaking moments for Ruth, who you need to remember is really just a child. In saying that , I loved how positive, happy and fearless she was at the end of the book and her excitement for where she was heading next. I was then totally bowled over by what Dorothea wanted to test, which in effect solved all her problems! Is it a special power, or all just a coincidence?

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THE SCORES:

Donna: 8

Emma: 7

Gemma: 8

Kim: 8

Nic: 8

Pamela: 7

Sandra: 7

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Average 7.5

Let us know what you thought about this book. We would love to read your reviews and hear what you would score it.

If you enjoyed this book why not try:

• Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

• The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

• The Girl on the Landing by Paul Torday

Happy reading!