#jake arnott

Mark Strong as Harry Starks

I think I might be the only one but I actually enjoyed The Abyss more than this one ?!? 🙈😂 I think I just bonded more with Zeno than the characters in this one. It’s strange because my favourite thing about the HoR is that it almost reads like a collection of short stories (that are all interconnected), each chapter had such a different voice, but at the same time I think that stopped me from becoming invested with a character (I didn’t love Larry or Mary-Lou and I think they showed up most (?). I did like the Fleming/Trevelyan/Miller storyline but that seemed to just taper out in the last half or quarter of the novel. I do think Jake Arnott is a GREAT writer though! Some chapters had such drastically different vibes and genres and the variety of writing impressed me. If I’m honest *whispers* I skim read some chapters towards the end and also had to re-read the last few cause my brain broke so I don’t feel like I can give a proper review (lol, when do I ever do more than just flail)

So not my favourite book in the world but I’m glad I read it and I do have some favourite chapters that I like independently of the novel (like The Emperer (my fave), The Female Pope, Adjustment, The Star (second fave, I liked Danny - although it occurs to me now that I took so long to read this book that he may have done something terrible in an earlier chapter that I’ve forgotten about - in which case then I don’t like him😂), the Crowley bits - kind of wanna read more about him some day). It also might have just been that I was in a better frame of mind when I was reading The Abyss and I fell into more rabbit holes which gave the book even more depth, whereas with The House of Rumour I didn’t really do much digging beyond the Divine Comedy comparisons and Tower of Babel *shrugs*

One random point about the novel - a lot of people associated death with the stars/heavens/taking flight and finding Paradise which was a nice image

P.S. Why didn’t I make a mind map at the start??? There are so many people and threads that are all (?) connected 🙈

P.P.S. Nice little Richelieu mention/Musketeers connection at the end!

P.P.P.S. Must we be destined always to have a weird orgy chapter in a Tomblr book? 🙈😂

Well this was a useless review but to end on a happy note I thought I’d share my fave death scene 😂 so SPOILERS for ch4

Harlots, Hulu’s tale of intrigue, power struggles and family drama in feuding 18th century brothels, is campy, complex, raunchy, gorgeously made and completely addicting. It’s a bawd’s-eye-view of a colorful and ruthless slice of London, and the women who are determined to carve a out a place in a city where all the rules are stacked against them. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a second season to binge, but in the mean time we’ve got plenty of books about sex, politics, rogues, and harlots. 

Mistress of My Fate, by Hallie Rubenhold 

A young woman raised among nobility and turned out on the street fights to shape her own life as a courtesan, gambler, and intellect 

The Convenient Marriage, by Georgette Heyer

A frothy comedy of the haute ton and the demimonde of Georgian London, complete with highwaymen, balls, cardsharps and duels 

Slammerkin, by Emma Donoghue

A prostitute-turned-seamstress explores all the ways in which power is an illusion and illusion is power

The Baroque Cycle, by Neal Stephenson 

The rapidly changing world of the Enlightenment, as seen through the eyes of outlaws, concubines, natural philosophers, politicians and moneylenders 

The Fatal Tree, by Jake Arnott 

Thieves and thief-takers, lovers and rogues and prostitutes bring an 18th century scandal to life 

The Crimson Petal and the White, by Michel Faber 

A sensory-heavy, panoramic story of Victorian society and a young prostitute climbing her way up it 

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue, by Mackenzi Lee

If he doesn’t mend his libertine ways, Monty’s father will disown him. But the rakish young aristocrat has big plans for his Grand Tour--and his not-terribly-secret crush on his best friend Percy. 

The Lady In Red, by Hallie Rubenhold 

The history of one of the 18th century’s most infamous scandals, the marriage and divorce of the larger-than-life Lady Worsley 

An Almond for a Parrot, by Wray Delaney 

A quirky, dreamlike tale of sex, food, and murder 

Sex With Kings and Sex With the Queen, by Eleanor Herman 

Entertaining histories of royal consorts and concubines through the ages

Faro’s Daughter, by Georgette Heyer

“The light caught his face and in that moment he looked angelic. The deep, soulful eyes, the delicate chin, the generous mouth, all illuminated as a beatific icon. Thornhill commanded him to hold the pose and sketched quickly. Sheppard’s eyes widened slightly, gazing beyond, and he glowed with the obscure charm that only the truly famous possess. Thus transfigured he lifted his manacled wrists and muscular hands, and gestured with long, elegant fingers. One hand gently clasped the edge of the table, the other pointed away, as if giving some sign of benediction.”

Lena Headey as Ruby Ryder

@elcaminode @vgriffindor

JFYI, I’ve gone and ordered Jake Arnott’s The House of Rumour and it’s supposed to arrive Oct. 5 - 15. Wasn’t easy to find, and it’s shipping from the US.

Just letting you know so we can plan our next Tomblr book club read. Plus, in all the craziness I’m living these days, a crazy Tomblr read may be just the thing to keep me sane.

Care to join me?