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The Exhibitionists by Russell James (view source)
Revision as of 11:11, 25 August 2020
, 11:11, 25 August 2020no edit summary
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On one particular London night in 1834 three children start a journey that will mould their futures. Newly born Maddy is abandoned in Mrs Cuthbertson's establishment (a thinly veiled baby farm) causing Maddy to spend years looking for the reasons that led her there. Baby Sam is fished out of the Thames and grows with a burning desire to uncover the truth, shaping his career as a journalist. Meanwhile , Hannah is conceived that night by two people fated to live lives that don't coincide, until…
As the children grow, the city around them hosts exhibitions that reverberate throughout history: the Royal Academy exhibition that introduces the Pre-Raphaelites to the world, the Great Exhibition of 1851, the competition for artwork to embellish the rebuilt Houses of Parliament and the exhibition of accomplished art lecturer Benjamin Haydon, remembered for reasons of tragedy rather than triumph.
The little factoids that, to me, are the cherry on the top of good historical fiction are also there: William Holman Hunt (who painted ''The Light of the World'' now in St Paul's Cathedral) had a typo on his birth certificate. He should have been Hobman Hunt. Turner kept cats to stop the mice eating his work. Millais won a Royal Academy prize at the age of 12, rat fighting was a lucrative sport… the list goes on.
My only mild grumble is that ''The Exhibitionists'' feels like two books jostling for prominence under the same cover. The artists were so fascinating they deserved a book of their own and I also wanted to spend more time with the children, feeling that their development was sometimes interrupted rather than enhanced by having to leave them to go back to the artists. (I know – I'm a contrary oosit sometimes!) However , this is a minor gripe and I could bore you for ages recounting scenes and nuances whilst never running out of enthusiasm myself; the sign of a good read. Indeed, if Russell James is 'a cult' as one critic termed him, he deserves the wider audience that ''The Exhibitionists'' will attract. And then perhaps he could write some more historical fiction/faction fusion… please?
A special thank you to G-Press Fiction for sending us a copy of this book for review.
If you've enjoyed this and would like another novel based on an artist, complete with a 'solved' mystery, try [[A Name in Blood by Matt Rees]]. You might also enjoy [[Effie Gray by Suzanne Fagence Cooper]].
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