If you like fiction set in Victorian times and want to experience the nitty-gritty of life in a workhouse and asylum, with details of its associated horrors then this is a read for you. Kirby doesn't hold back when providing details and the reader certainly gets a taste of what life would have been like for the main character.
The detailed journal entries of the prison photographer could be a touch too detailed for some and may detract from the continuity of the main action, but it does provide vital background information which others will appreciate.
Although the ending could be considered to be quite a hopeful one, the underlying sense of this book is sad and sometimes abhorrent, but that is what makes this compelling.
It was difficult for me to say I enjoyed reading this as the underlying plot and theme are upsetting. However, the notion of the nature/ nurture debate is interesting and this is a novel way of exploring it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oldcastle Books (No Exit Press) for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

What a fascinating novel portraying the life of Cora Burns in the 1880s having been born in prison in Birmingham. The poverty and descriptions of life in prison and in an Asylum are very well described. Descriptions of early photography, how people considered to be insane are treated and then interspersed with Cora's story the Essays and Journals of the use of hypnosis on the insane are fascinating. Many of the scenes are quite horrific to read so well portrayed are they and there is much to be sad about. We see both good and bad in Cora making her a memorable character. An excellent debut. My only disappointment is the way the threads are rounded off so neatly. This tale didn't lean towards happy endings. Look forward to reading more by this author.
Many thanks to Netgalley/Carolyn Kirby/Oldcastle Books for a digital copy of this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Conviction of Cora Burns is set in nineteenth century Birmingham and is the debut novel from Carolyn Kirby. This is a fast paced, dark and fascinating read that brings Victoria England to life. The narration is mainly told from Cora’s point of view, but throughout the book there are articles from Thomas Jerwood published in the science publication The Wyvern Quaretly, and from Doctor David Farley, the doctor at the asylum, in his journal. The book addresses that age old question of nature versus nature, and ponders is someone inherently bad or is this learned in life.

The Conviction of Cora Burns is an enthralling and intelligent read, that works on so many levels. Multi faceted it looks at the social and cultural climate of Victorian England, and combines science with the emotional story of Cora’s life. This is a beautifully written book with plenty of historical detail that raises questions that you will think about long after the book is finished. The chapters from Thomas Jerwood and Doctor Farley show how the poor, and especially women were viewed in society, and how it was very much a man’s world. Farley did have redeeming qualities, in that he had more care in his experimentation of hypnosis to help patients in the asylum. Jerwood had no redeeming qualities, he didn’t seem to care about the consequences of his actions, and how it may effect his subjects, including Cora.

Cora’s story intrigued me, and held my attention throughout the book; if I’m honest I didn’t want the book to finish, I wanted to find out what happened to her after the story came to an end. Born in the prison, she spent her childhood in the workhouse then went to work in the laundry of the asylum until she came full circle and found herself back in the prison. This didn’t set her back however, she is a fiery and intelligent character who wants a better life even in the face of a trauma from the past that still haunts her. Her relationships with others, especially the cook and young girl at Thomas Jerwood’s, show a caring side to her otherwise dark and mistrusting character. Her consent development in the outside world makes for an interesting read, and had me rooting for her.

The Conviction of Cora Burns is a fabulous debut from Carolyn Kirby. She brings to life the grim brutality of the Victorian period in this dark and gothic novel. Her attention to detail in both plot and character drew me in and had me gripped from start to finish, to the point I didn’t want the book to finish. This is a gripping, intelligent and fascinating historical thriller with a heroine you won’t forget; an all encompassing and spellbinding read.

Who is Cora Burns? Motherless, fatherless, brought up in an institution, deprived of love, Cora hasn't had a great start in life, but there's something in her that keeps on going - and she's smart. She's not always good, she's not exactly nice, but there's something compelling about her, so that you will her on. Maybe it's the fact that she is capable of self-reflection? You watch her gradually learn about herself and how to school herself as you move through the book.

There's a lot in here, touched on very lightly. The main thread is the argument between nature and nurture - biology and experience. Cora personifies this, but there are also two men of science, whose voices we hear, who are finding their own ways of looking at this.

There a lot of books with strong, feisty female leads set in the late 19th century,and this book sits on that shelf. Cora, however, takes things just a little further, and you are aware that there is something dangerous in her. The other thing that I was really impressed by was the depiction of poverty, and the depiction of Cora's complete ignorance about so many things. The odds are really stacked against her. She is given a job as a scullery maid, but even here there are things that are completely out of her experience. She is a very believable mixture of ignorant and smart. There is a lot of casual exploitation, and the contrasting attitude of the "men of science" to the poor is fascinating. There are also moments of kindness, and they offer hope.

I hope this book does well. I really enjoyed reading it.

A historical fiction novel with many twists and turns. Cora is a likeable character, even with all her flaws. Her history is torrid and awful, and the experiences she has only make you wonder how she survived. I can easily envisage this novel to be turned into a Netflix or Stan drama in the near future. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review.

Striking historical/sociological novel with an empathetic lead and an engrossing story.

4.5 stars

I love historical settings, and Birmingham makes a great choice for this story set right in the heart of Victorian poverty-stricken Britain. Cora exemplifies the problems of the period - born in a gaol and then raised in a workhouse, what chance does she have?

As a child, Cora makes one friend in the workhouse. Later, she looks back at her young life and certain incidents with unease, with questions, and also thinks of her absent mother and the way her life has turned out. Released into the world, she accepts an offered position as between-maid in the house of a nearby scientist. The unusual household offers Cora yet more questions, as Violet, apparent ward to the owner, becomes a patron and friend but her own role in the residence is uncertain.

Cora bares all for us, her faults and foibles, her past, and I found her a credible character and one I could relate to, despite our evident differences. She exemplified for me the faults of a society that did not take care of its poorer members. I enjoyed the inserted doctor and scientist writings as well, that added the sociological elements of the plot and took their time to connect the dots of Cora's story and those of the people around her.

The themes of photography and perception are well portrayed with different characters and situations, and it's an intriguing plot that I was keen to get to the heart of.

I think at the heart of the novel, for me, was this, taken from the author's Readers' Questions:
"In mid-Victorian Birmingham, the prison, lunatic asylum and workhouse were built side-by-side... What does this show us about attitudes to the poor, the mentally ill and the criminals in Victorian Britain?"
The novel conveys a fantastically involving psychological story while giving us the chance to observe the sociological problems of the period.

With thanks to Netgalley for the sample reading copy.

Cora Burns was born in gaol and was taken away from her mother to be raised in the Union Workhouse and (for reasons I won’t go into in this review) spends time in The Borough Lunatic Asylum where her skills as a laundry maid lead to her finding work at the home of eccentric scientist and amateur photographer, Thomas Jerwood. However, we soon find out that Jerwood’s motives for employing Cora are rather dubious as she unearths some dark and sinister practices in this apparently respectable household.

This is a very atmospheric, dark and Gothic novel and I though the characterisation in particular was excellent. Cora is a multi-layered, complex and feisty character and the supporting cast (notably Cook, psychiatrist Dr Farley and Jerwood’s young ward Violet) are fully fleshed out characters in their own right.

I love a dark Victorian tale and this one, set in 1880s Birmingham, has all the right ingredients – a workhouse, a gaol and an asylum, a well meaning psychiatrist with revolutionary ideas, burgeoning technology (photography, bicycles) and a strong heroine who battles adversity to escape her beginnings and improve her station in life – all of which adds to the claustrophobic and menacing atmosphere which runs throughout the book.

I can't say I enjoyed this book, although it was well written with a good storyline and explicit characters. I find stories set in Victorian times very depressing and hopeless for those in the lower stratum of society. That is just my opinion and I am sure most people will enjoy the book.

A Victorian gothic novel which investigates ideas that a person can be born 'bad’ and can be identified as a criminal by their features. The story centres around Cora Burns, a young woman who has grown up in a workhouse, an asylum and has spent time in gaol for a crime. She finds a position in a mysterious house where the owner is doing research mainly on Violet, a mysterious little girl.

The storyline is very well plotted, using different timelines and journal entries from another researcher who is hypnotising a woman in an attempt to find more about her. There is a strong sense of mystery about the story, and the reader has to prize out the puzzle of what is going on, what happened in the past and how the characters are related. I thought this was brilliantly done and kept me guessing until the end.

Cora is an incredibly interesting character, at turns meek and submissive, then resisting violent emotions and desires to hurt people who cross or annoy her. I love what the author did with her friend Alice, I thought that was really clever. Cora develops throughout the story from someone who has no control over what happens to her and is institutionalised to a woman who is fully in control and making her way in a society which stands against her. The story perfectly illustrates the position of lower class women and in particular the lives of the outcasts in society and how they were treated in the period. I thought that the author presented a historically accurate view - this was a tragic childhood but it was not all beatings and starvation, she was treated reasonably by some of the staff, who just didn't know what to do with her.

Overall, I thought this was a good story and particularly liked the inclusion of the journal entries. The gothic elements were well handled and didn’t become too over the top. It was also a book that made me think but without becoming too obvious about it.

I so wanted to love this book but I spent so much of what I read being bored and forcing myself to continue. It's not that this book is bad but it just felt quite mediocre and a bit dull when compared to similar books. The comparison to 'See What I Have Done' raised my hopes very high as that is one of my favourite books as it got a rare five stars from me. This in comparison is a lot weaker in terms of the slow burn, as the slow burn is more like a very tiny fire that goes out after 50 pages. It's a good book but just not the right fit for me.

DNF at 40%.
The premise of this book sounded great, but unfortunately I couldn't get into it at all. The style didn't grab me, and I found the pace too slow moving. The story alternates between past and present, but I found I didn't care for either of the storylines. There was nothing which interested me, so I decided to put it down.
However, many readers have enjoyed it, so don't take only my word for it.

Written by Carolyn Kirby, The Conviction of Cora Burns is set in 1880’s Birmingham. Cora has had a difficult start in life after being born in a Gaol, then sent to the workhouse and as she grew up, at sixteen was sent to work as a laundress at the Asylum.

Her childhood friend, Alice Salt was a bad influence and many awful things happened, which Cora cannot fully recall,but she knows there is a violence inside her. Cora ends up in Gaol herself for 19 months but when released is sent to work for the Jerwood family as a between maid. There she settles in and is good at her job and then she meets a young girl, Violet, who is part of an experiment into nature versus nurture being carried out by Mr Jerwood.

Cora begins to believe there is more going on in the house and that she is involved somehow as the mistress of the house calls her Annie in her more lucid moments.

This is historical fiction with a gothic feel, the dark atmosphere of the time, with women being admitted to asylums for depression or ‘hysteria’ and generally treated poorly. The characters are well written and rounded and Cora for all her ‘issues‘ is likeable and you have such sympathy for her. The language of the book is beautiful, the intrigue believable and it comes to a truly satisfying end. I can see this being a must read and a favourite for book clubs everywhere.

Thank you to The author, publishers and NetGalley for a free copy of the ebook and this is my honest, unbiased review.

This is totally intriguing, a cracking read set in Victorian Birmingham in asylums, prisons and grand houses. Need I say more. But it is also a well told tale with many different strands, and full of period detail. Cora Burns is the product of a prison, workhouse and asylum and she is hard. She has done some dreadful things but she is bright and resourceful and has an enquiring mind. In a time of discovery, experiments are being conducted on the balance of nature v nurture and the manifestations of parentage along with hypnotherapy and other treatments. It makes a really good read.

The Conviction of Cora Burns is the debut novel by Carolyn Kirby, it is a well written historical novel set during the Victorian period. Having read about this period in reasonable depth I found the main character convincing and the period detail made the novel come alive for the reader. Cora’s story is told by going back in time and also through the inclusion of notes from “an eminent scientist” of the day conducting experiments into the theories of nature or nurture.
Cora is born in prison to a convict, she is then sent to the workhouse and from there to work in laundry in the asylum. She ends up in prison herself and on her release she is sent to work in the house of a Thomas Jerwood as a between maid. Here becomes friendly with his young niece, Violet. She soon however begins to question what Jerwood is actually doing and what effects his experiments may have.
Although she encounters many people who take advantage of her and treat her badly there are a few characters who shine through in the way they offer her a way out of her plight. Most notable amongst these is young Mr Thripp from the photographic studio.

The novel, with its flawed central character, is well constructed and reveals the deeply entrenched class divisions and the questionable morality of the way in which the Victorian poor were treated. An excellent and well researched novel which I would recommend it to those who enjoy hard hitting historical fiction.

An astonishingly assured historical fiction debut, The Conviction of Cora Burns by Carolyn Kirby is a layered mystery with an almost Gothic flavour. Set in 1880's Birmingham, the book tells the tragic story of Cora Burns, a young woman born to a prisoner in the local women's gaol, who grew up in the workhouse and eventually was sent to work in the local Lunatic Asylum as a laundress., a life of real hardship and deprivation. When ignorance and tragedy combine she finds herself back in the prison, this time as a prisoner and while there she catches the attention of a member of the gentry who is carrying out a pseudo scientific study on the relationship between appearance and predisposition to criminal behaviour. When Cora has served her time he offers her a position as a maid in his household , and it soon becomes clear that he is still studying and observing her, but she may not be the only one.
This book is dark in tone, and it's heroine matches up to that, she is definitely a flawed character, but I would say all the more interesting because of it. The setting is very atmospheric, and the author does not shy away from the more unpleasant aspects of life in that era, particularly for the less well off. By moving between Cora's past and her current situation, we as readers are challenged to question whether nature or nurture lies at the heart of human behaviour, and I think this complicated question is well served by such a complex character as Cora. As the full history of her story is unveiled, it is difficult not to feel some sympathy for her situation.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

This was a really interesting read. I really like historical fiction and this story is woven into the poverty of the late 1800s. Cora is an intriguing character and that compelled me to keep reading.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Whilst The Conviction of Cora Burns was well written I did not find the book interesting and struggled to read it so it's not one I would recommend

The Conviction of Cora Burns is a remarkably accomplished debut from Carolyn Kirby, a gothic piece of atmospherical historical fiction set in the Birmingham of the Victorian era. She relates the story of Cora's life in a narrative that goes back and forth in time, born in prison to a convict, brought up in a workhouse where she forms a friendship with Alice, and works in a asylum. This is a dark and intense emotional roller coaster of a read, with a central character that is flawed and at times her actions make for uncomfortable reading, but the odds are stacked against her, and she fears the violence within herself. She is taken on as a servant by the scientist, Thomas Jerwood, a man interested in studying people and their behaviours. She gets better acquainted with Violet, his ward, and begins to harbour suspicions as to what exactly her role is and of the circumstances in which she came to be employed by Jerwood. This is a story of loss, friendship, identity, intrigue, secrets, and morally questionable science.

Kirby writes a multilayered, complex and well constructed novel with rich descriptions of Victorian poverty, stink, the deeply entrenched class divisions that leave the poor with such few choices, the asylums, and the historical period's morality. Her characterisation is excellent, particularly that of the hard edged Cora, of the trials and tribulations she faced in her life, all of which have helped to shape her into who she is, and the secrets that lie in her past. She is a memorable character, one that will insist on lingering long after the reader has finished reading the novel. I especially liked the way Kirby painted a picture of her interior life, and the debate between nature and nurture. A brilliant read which I recommend to readers interested in this historical period and appreciate the darkest aspects of the time. Many thanks to Oldcastle Books and No Exit Press for an ARC.

This book is set in Victorian Birmingham, the narrative switching back and forth between 1865 and "present day" 1885/1886, interspersed with extracts written in medical journals by some of the characters. It tells the story of 20 year old Cora Burns who has had a tough start in life. Born in prison to convict mother Mary Burns, she grows up in the workhouse until a job is found for her at age sixteen in the laundry of the nearby asylum. Cora has always had a violent unpredictable temper which has manifested several times and eventually it lands her in the same prison as she was born in. Never having met her own mother or indeed her father, she is left wondering whether this is something she has inherited or is it a result of her poor and harsh upbringing. And just where did Alice Salt, her childhood friend from the workhouse fit into it all? Upon her release from prison after serving a nineteen month sentence (just for what crime is revealed much later in the book) she is found a place as between maid in a rather strange doctor's house, and she resolves to try to understand what has made her as she is and to fill in the blanks of her past. The only clue she seems to have is a half medal with the words "IMAGINEM SALT" engraved on it and left by her mother. Finding herself in the house of a scientist obsessed with heredity, photography and performing strange experiments only adds to the mystery and confusion that Cora feels. Eventually she discovers pieces of her past with the help of unlikely friends that she makes, and the events of the last twenty years start to unravel and reveal the alarming truth.

This is a difficult book to review without giving away too much of the plot. It is also hard to believe that this is a debut novel except perhaps a feeling at times that the author is trying a little too hard to throw lots in which gets a bit confusing. It is not a quick read and gives plenty of food for thought along the way. There are mysteries to be solved in the book, and the whole story is bound up with the ongoing "nature versus nurture" question, as well as moral dilemmas and the Victorians' interest in understanding and treating diseases of the mind as they perceived them. Having spent much time in the area I was interested to read about places that still exist today and what they were like all those years ago, and it was nice to have a book like this set away from London for a change. The story is fictional but I do believe that there is a great deal of historical accuracy here, and some parts could indeed be the true story of some poor girl living in those times. The ending is definitely satisfying in many ways and overall it was a very enjoyable and challenging read.

This book was not for me at all. I really likes the sound of it but i struggled to get into it. The language was hard to follow as I am not a reader of historical fiction