Highly
recommended and I wish I could give this book 100 stars.
If you are initially shocked by the subject matter - child abuse in the nineteenth century - please do not be. Set in the nineteenth century, the book is written with immense literary skill, and is never lurid, descriptive or erotic. It merely tells the sad, sad, psychological story of poor little Lizzie, used as a sexual rag doll by her revolting upper class Uncle, and his inner circle of perverted businessmen. Written in the same vein as Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale, and The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, the story begins at the end of her life, and, through a series of chronological flashbacks, explains her long miserable years of terror, and resulting dementia. Any more details will give away the cleverly constructed plot, and I can assure you that every word, including the end, is wholly satisfying. Congratulations to Gary Dolman, and I would hope that Esther Rantzen might hear about it, and endorse it. In addition, how tragic it is that in our own times there are so many trials and enquiries currently in the headlines, concerning child abuse. How far have we come from the hidden agendas of the Victorian age? `The Eighth Circle of Hell' should be shortlisted for every prize going, and I look forward to reading more novels from this author.
If you are initially shocked by the subject matter - child abuse in the nineteenth century - please do not be. Set in the nineteenth century, the book is written with immense literary skill, and is never lurid, descriptive or erotic. It merely tells the sad, sad, psychological story of poor little Lizzie, used as a sexual rag doll by her revolting upper class Uncle, and his inner circle of perverted businessmen. Written in the same vein as Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale, and The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, the story begins at the end of her life, and, through a series of chronological flashbacks, explains her long miserable years of terror, and resulting dementia. Any more details will give away the cleverly constructed plot, and I can assure you that every word, including the end, is wholly satisfying. Congratulations to Gary Dolman, and I would hope that Esther Rantzen might hear about it, and endorse it. In addition, how tragic it is that in our own times there are so many trials and enquiries currently in the headlines, concerning child abuse. How far have we come from the hidden agendas of the Victorian age? `The Eighth Circle of Hell' should be shortlisted for every prize going, and I look forward to reading more novels from this author.
