The Booksellers Wife by Jane Davis

London, 1775: The only surviving child of six, Dorcas Turton should have been heiress to a powerful family name. But after her mother’s untimely death, she is stunned by the discovery that her father’s compulsive gambling has brought them close to ruin. With the threat of debtor’s prison looming large, she must employ all her ingenuity to keep their creditors at bay.

A truly fascinating read set in Georgian times , a great character in Dorcas who due to the situation she finds herself at the hands of her feckless father decides not to just sit in her parlour and have a fit of the vapours !

After the death of her mother Jemima, Dorcas discovers that her father Samuel has besmirched the good Turton name with his gambling ways.
After being brought up as a young lady she is suddenly having to look after the house and what little finances they do have. Dorcas first takes in pupils thinking this will help ease things when she gets unwelcome visitors at the door.
Dorcas decides to take in lodgers, if only she knew what lay ahead agreeing to take in the Lackingtons. The one thing they have in common is a love of books which feature throughout the story.

A personal opinion, I found it a bit long drawn out. I thought it a bit repetitive in places. I did managed to finish it just.

I really enjoyed this historical novel. It was interesting to read about the characters‘ hardships and how they tried to find solutions. A good glimpse into the time period and an engaging story.

“Books have been her only solace. Now they’re about to change her life.”

This is wonderful historical fiction!

Not only did I get caught up in the lives of the characters, but I also learned about Georgian London. I appreciated reading about Dorcas’ struggle with the expectations society put on women and the tenacity with which she bore her lot. Dorcas’ mother died having buried 5 of her children. Her legacy for her only surviving child was an inheritance from her powerful family. However, Dorcas’ father’s compulsive gambling makes short waste of the inheritance.

With shoulders strengthened by the burdens of her father, Dorcas Turton balances keeping house, paying off her father’s debts, teaching, cooking, and balancing the books for her father’s business. She’s educated, loves books and spends any spare time she has left over in thought about the women in the novels she’s read or encouraging other women to read.

The decision to rent part of their home to shoemaker and bookseller Mr James Lackington and his wife, Nancy, puts Dorcas’s future on a completely different trajectory. It was amazing to see how one person’s misfortune developed into another’s blessing.

“Books are extraordinary things. The more you have, the more you need.”

Author Jane Davis brings ‘vellichor’ alive - ‘the beautiful wistfulness of used bookstores and the strange romance evoked by the scent of old books and paper!’ The Bookseller’s Wife may be volume one of the Chiswell Street Chronicles, but in light of the above quote, you can see why we bibliophiles upon finishing this book, need volume two! One is not enough.

Davis’ story about the power of the written word is one you’ll want on your radar!

An excellent novel that examines the life of Dorcas, who is forced to look after her father due to his debts at the outset of the book. This is a good read, full of detailed historical research. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for giving me a copy of the book.