Pinkerton's Sister by Peter Rushforth

Pinkerton's Sister

Peter Rushforth

You really need to persevere with this book to get the most out of it. You will either love the way Alice tells her story - in great detail with some wonderful descriptions of characters and events - or it will drive you mad with her digressions! Not a book to dip into when you have the odd half hour to spare. Give yourself some time with it and reap the rewards.

Extract
Yesterday she had been on display at 5 Hampshire Square, and Mrs. Albert Comstock and all her guests had studied her, eyeglasses raised, spectacles specially polished, elbows vigorously nudging each other in a see-what-she-says sort of way. "Oh joy, oh rapture," she had muttered to herself beforehand, without enthusiasm, distinctly aweary at the prospect of an afternoon with Mrs. Albert Comstock and her farting Pekinese stretching endlessly in front of her like a prospect of the wind-chilled steppes.
Parallels
  • The Alienist by Caleb Carr
  • The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl