I'm nearly finished reading Kate Summerscale's The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher, which is proving to be just as unputdownable as I anticipated it would be. This has been such a fascinating peek inside the the Victorian world and mindset, and there is much to think about. Summerscale carefully presents all the facts of the murder set against the social mores of the period. And what I especially like is how she shows how it effected the popular literature of the times. Beneath the shiny veneer of Victorian respectability lies something much darker.
"In the early 1860s the emotions aroused by the Road Hill murder went underground, leaving the pages of the press to reappear, disguised and intensified, in the pages of fiction. On 6 July 1861, almost exactly a year after the murder, the first instalment of Mary Elizabeth Braddon's Lady Audley's Secret appeared in Robin Goodfellowmagazine. This novel, a huge bestseller when it was published in full in 1862, featured a wicked stepmother (a governess who married a gentleman), a brutal mysterious murder at an elegant country house, a body thrust into a well; its characters were fascinated with madness and with detective work, and terrified of exposure. Braddon's story gave expression to the disquiet and excitement that Saville Kent's murder had awakened."
It's interesting how the Victorians (at least the middle and upper classes) deplored the very things that also seemed to provoke and excite them. I hope to write more about the book when I finish, though I don't think I can possibly do it justice. If nothing else I have lots of interesting passages to share.
I also wanted to mention that I received the next book up in my postal reading group. I'll be starting this book (the link includes a description of the plot). Although I am familiar with the author and even own a few of their books (I had even recently dug one out thinking I would read it soon), I had not heard of this particular title. I'm excited to read it as it sounds like exactly something I might enjoy.
One other happy note--I was glad to see that Linda Gillard's novel, Star Gazing, has made the shortlist for the Romantic Novel of the Year. It's one I read and enjoyed last year. Fingers crossed as the winner is chosen next month.