I received this pre-publication e-book from John Murray/Two Roads via NetGalley
in exchange for an honest review.
‘The Ninth Child’
tells the story of a massive 19th century engineering project of pipes
and aquaducts bringing fresh water from the Highlands into Glasgow’s disease
ridden heart.
Isabel Aird’s husband is appointed doctor to the engineering camp,
and accompanying him takes her to a world entirely at odds with her prior
life of drawing rooms and miscarried babies. There she meets and employs,
Kirsty the wife of a navvy, whose back story and the story of the engineering
project and life in the camp are quite compelling. Kirsty’s residual fairy
faith lends credence to the proposition that a ragged clergyman is in fact Robert
Kirke who disappeared into fairy 200 years earlier and has been returned to the
mundane world via a pact to deliver up a ninth child in his stead. We also have
curious snap shots of the private lives of Victoria and Albert which are
diversions from the plot but allow the author to show off some solid research.
The story is told
variously from the points of view of Isabel, Kirsty, Prince Albert and Robert
Kirke. The distinctions between the voices are poorly drawn and the formatting
of the ebook supplied by the publishers offered no assistance in distinguishing
them - often one voice continuing on from the next without so much as a
paragraph break. Kirsty is the ‘main’ narrator and a fabulous character, yet we
don’t hear enough of her and her take on life and events. The multitude of
perspectives makes for a disjointed narrative and diverts the reader from investing
strongly enough in any of the characters, which is a shame given how
interesting they all were individually. It feels as though the author couldn’t
decide at the planning stage which of the aspects to prioritise so stuck them
all in for good measure, which serves to dissipate rather than strengthen.
A
firm editorial hand might have made this a much better book than it is - as it
stands, 3 stars.
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