*Many thanks to Sarah Burton, Legend Press and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
I found this debut novel by Ms Burton quite interesting and very much in the sentiment of the 17th and 18th centuries literary classics. The title, 'strange adventures of H', hiding the actual name of the female protagonist, feels like we are reading an actual memoir written by a woman who honestly describes her adventures and misfortunes, and eventually fortunes. H, the narrator, tell us about her childhood and her adolescence years, and what kind of life she led until she was rewarded in later years. Brought up far away from London, orphaned although with several elder sisters, H finds herself under the care of an aunt and considers herself both happy and lucky until she is seduced by a cousin and finds herself pregnant. She flees home and faces the 17th London reality.
I enjoy reading novels by Defoe, Richardson, Smollett or Fielding, so this novel was truly up my street. Two tragic events, the Great Fire of London and the Great Plague that struck in 1666 are depicted very well and with terrific care and thorough research on the side of Ms Burton. The characters are believable and so are their actions, and although the end of the novel was somehow predictble, it did not spoil the pelasure of reading.

Set in the 1660s in London, the story follows the life of H following the death of her father. The Plague and the Great Fire impact on her life and she finds herself struggling to survive. It is her close circle of friends that provide the warmth and support to help her thrive.
The book started out at a great pace, with a strong sense of Restoration London. Unfortunately the pace slackened as the story progressed but it did pick up again towards the end. Most of the time, the story was a little too predictable and the ending was rather contrived. The characters were mostly likeable although I didn't particularly like H herself.
Overall it was a reasonably entertaining story.

What an unexpected surprise this book was!
I have to say I did not see it coming when I requested to review this title. I fell for the cover and a story in London more than anything however the story catapulted itself to stratosphere after the first few chapters. T
he extraordinary plot twists, the story, the narration, the characters: I absolutely loved them!
I would not image living in London in 1660s. Our protagonist, born and raised in a poverty-stricken environment that lacks fortune encounters first the plague, then the Great Fire and as if that not enough, experienced first hand The Bawdy House Riots (Shrove Tuesday) within a 3-year period. The soul-crashing life she leads, how her adventures turn out create a most amazing story! My brain short-circuited after the first half; the surprises, twists and turns never end in her story. The misadventures continue within the style of “L’homme propose, le Dieu dispose,” (as Frenchie would say), God laughing at the plans she makes by creating obstacles every step of the way. A beautiful, creative piece of literature for fiction lovers and one of the greatest examples of historical fiction of the year.

Very much enjoyed this read. The author put time into making the reader feel immersed in the time and place of 16th century London. The pacing can be a bit slow but the details added are worth the atmospheric quality. Overall, I would recommend to those a fan of historical fiction.

Started and finished this one all in one day—I couldn’t put it down. The story follows H from childhood; following the death of her religious, overbearing father, H and one of her sisters are sent to London to live with their aunt. The events that follow see H navigating a series of triumphs and tragedies (including the plague and the Great Fire of London), doing what it takes to survive and ensure the survival of those she loves, in a time and place in which women have very little power. H was a wonderful protagonist, the story was complex and compelling, and there are few settings I love more than historic London! ✨

What an amazing book and what a prescient time to have read it. This story takes place during the plague of 1666 in London followed shortly thereafter by the great fire. During the time I find myself now, reading a book of quarantine in a time when little was known about diseases and how they spread, was very interesting.
The tale centers around H, a young orphan, and her sister Evelyn who have been given into the care of their Aunt. During the book, we are taken through different ups and downs in H's life and I found that though it was somewhat depressing subject matter times, it was very uplifting and had a wonderful character arc. The characters were all very well thought out, and I found myself wanting to know more of Godfrey and Jasper than I was given in the book itself. Though I was unfamiliar with the author previously, I feel as though she has a wonderful story laid out in this book and hope to read more from her in the future.
It was a wonderful quarantine book for me, and hopefully, it will be something you will choose to pick up in the future!
This ebook was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I found the language in the book to be period appropriate, which made it a pleasure to read. I even picked up some new 17th century slang.
The story was interesting but a bit too predictable. The characters were very well drawn and very likeable. The "bad" characters were extremely unlikeable. The strongest aspect of the tale was the wonderfully described life during the Plague time in England.

I really wanted to love this book, the premise of this story is great.
A young girl ‘H’ is orphaned and sent to live with her aunt. There she faces plague, fire and the loss of her innocence. She finds herself cast out onto the streets of London, whilst London is laying under a quarantine order. (Very apt at this dreadful time!)
What follows is the story of her fight for survival. The opening scene is both wonderful and horrible, it’s the sort of scene that stages with you, and so I had high hopes for the rest of the book.
I loved the first half of the book, unfortunately for me, the book then seemed to lose direction. I found the writing hard to follow but the storyline predictable and I’m sorry to say that I skim read the last few chapters.
The character of H was also difficult to like and root for, and for me the love story added nothing but predictability.
I wanted to love this but didn’t, and I’m sorry for that as there are some good points. If the author could continue the skill she showed at the beginning of the book all the way through then it would have been brilliant.

I liked this book and found the plot interesting, the book has a lot of characters and I found it hard to follow at times.

* spoiler alert ** For the most part,this was a good entertaining read.
Involving playhouses,bawdy houses,the plague that run rampant through London,and of course the great fire.
They were all excellent backdrops to the story of H.
There were some amusing bits too,and a couple of central friendships that were quite heart warming.

At times though,it felt over long,and a bit too predictable.
Especially the ending.

Mostly though,it was entertaining