Agnes Trussel is from a poor, rural family where life is changing. The enclosure of common lands threatens their food supply and, with another baby on the way and a father who can't earn enough to feed the children he already has, Agnes sees only deepening poverty and shame ahead of her. She's young, pregnant, and desperate to avoid the fate meted out to girls such as she in 1752.
When fate presents her with the opportunity to run away and head for London, with some ill-gotten gold coins in her pocket, Agnes leaves her family and trusts to fate and her own luck. She narrowly avoids an even more desperate fate and, with luck on her side, finds a position in the household of John Blacklock, a maker of fireworks.
Blacklock is a widower, a quiet and secretive man, who takes Agnes as his apprentice, teaching her how to mix, prepare and make fireworks, which are all the rage in London at this time. Agnes believes she is keeping her pregnancy a secret and, through the winter, bundles herself into layers of warm clothing as she works in the draughty workshop. But does Blacklock, or either of his domestic staff, suspect Agnes's secret? In her innocence and continuing denial of her precarious situation, is she fooling herself that she will find a way out when her time comes?
At first sight this novel looks like a bit of a bodice-ripper but it's actually finely drawn, delicately woven and gently poetic. Touches of factual history enhance the store telling and help us understand the enormity of Agnes's fear. We're kept guessing, right until the end, about her fate and the ending could have you either……………well, I'll leave you to decide for yourself!
I enjoyed this story, which was shortlisted for the Orange prize for new writers, and will watch for Jane Borodale's next publication. Recommended.
Published by Harper Press, ISBN 978-0-00-730573-5
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