Hester Whites life started out well enough her Dad the Vicar of a Church in Lincolnshire enjoying a life in the Parish with her Mum as well along with a family maid plus a gardener. Her parents died early so having no other family she was looked after by the maid and gardener who were husband and wife. This meant moving back to their roots which was the opposite of idealic Lincolnshire, but Smithfield Market place in London in the late 1820's. The story takes of in 1830 when Hester is knocked over by a horse and cart by a City Gent who takes her home to help her recover. There is a ever increasing number of missing people to increase the plot of this wonderful book if that's the right word for a thriller which I'm thinking not. There are a number of twist and turns including the noise of pages turning for a very addictive book. For a debut book this is very promising in my view and I am looking forward to Laura's next one.
I have been given a free copy of this book from NetGalley in return for a honest review.

I flew through this novel, and despite quite a slow middle, the last third kept me up reading until the end. A bit darker than I expected, Carlin transports the reader back in time to the dark, gritty, poverty-sticken areas of London in this rags-to-riches-esque historical mystery. Her writing is atmospheric and creates vivid imagery through her descriptions. The tension between some of the characters and the desciption of Hester’s daily routine at Waterford was reminiscent of Du Maurier. It left me feeling uneasy in the first third of the story as I wasn’t sure which whispers to believe in regards to the Brock family. In fact, Carlin is excellent at making you feel unsettled which fit the mystery-murder plot well. The crimes were very much of the time which I appreciated, and I felt it came together believably.

There are times where the writing is a bit clumsy and could do with a more show-not-tell approach and I think the middle section could be cut down to keep the pace flowing. I also felt that perhaps the romance could have had a slower build up. I realise that it begins in the slower section of the book, but i felt Hester became too obsessive a bit too quickly for it to feel natural. Even a comment on Hester’s previous feelings towards family/friends/potential love interests would have fleshed her out a little more and shown us how she normally interacts with people. The rapidity of her obsessiveness contrasts with the apparent ease in which she leaves other characters behind without much care as to whether they’d miss her, or her them. She didn’t seem to be particularly attached to anyone until Waterford, but I digress. Overall a good, fun read and I look forward to seeing more from the author.

Susan:

Hester Hester what a character you are. How I loved being dragged into your world. I say dragged as it’s a fully immersive experience and the stench and squalor of your London is not for the faint hearted but what a journey it was!


A girl from a poor family, raised by a rough couple and then in to a workd of gentrification. There’s a good story right there. But this had missing children, missing children no one seemed to care about as they were from the ppor part of town.


Hester gets right into the thick of things and I liked her from the get go. She is friends with Rebekah from the other side of the tracks but with the same issues and problems in a man’s world. The two worked well together and they were both strong and very interesting characters.

Their friendship and bond is unique and the story develops nicely with a good ending I was only partly expecting or was it hoping for?


Laura, Laura - please write more!

I have to be honest I was intrigued by the blurb but when reading I really struggled to get through it. The story itself is cleverly thought out and well written but for me it was all a bit too slow and it just didn't have enough pace behind it to have me really turning the pages.

I'll admit I was tempted often to skip to end to find out what happens but I persevered with the novel. Just for a comparison a book normally takes me no longer than 2 days to read, this one took me 3 weeks.

I'm not sure if it was the historical side of things and the language used that made it harder for me to connect to it all but being honest The Wicked Cometh just wasn't for me.

If you enjoy the historical genre then I'm quite sure this a book that would appeal to you as like I said at the beginning it is well worded, just not my cup of tea.

This is not the usual type of book that I would go for. I'm glad I did because it's very well written and definitely worth a read!

I found this book to be intriguing and interesting, set in a period of history when much seemed to be dark and gloomy I felt Laura Carlin set the scene well. Her heroine, Hester, is a woman who, due to circumstances beyond her control finds herself at the lower echelons of society. A chance accident leads to her being temporarily living with an upper middle class family and eventually she finds friendship with the Rebekah, the niece of the house's owner. Throughout the novel there is an undercurrent and mystery surrounding young people going missing and Rebekah and Hester join forces to solve this. Much of the storyline surrounding Hester and Rebekah is improbable but this is fiction and it makes a good story!

I absolutely loved this book. Not my usual genre but I was just hooked from beginning to end!

If I’m honest, I’m not a great reader of lesbian romantic fiction, but I did enjoy Fingersmith and sensing something similar, decided to give this a try. I’m really glad that I did.

For a debut novelist, Ms Carlin has taken two significant risks. Firstly she has written a pastiche which can so easily (but not in this case) descend into parody. Secondly she has used the first person present tense which some people don’t seem to like but can work very effectively in the hands of an experienced novelist like Hilary Mantel or David Mitchell. In this novel, it works perfectly and the intimacy and immediacy which is created by writing in this style, draws the reader deep into the story.

Ms. Carlin has clearly done an enormous amount of research into life in the early 19th century and her prose is full of the sights, sounds, smells and language of London which to my admittedly limited knowledge, make it very authentic and believable. She also knows how to tell a good story and this novel rattles along at a great pace and is often genuinely exciting.

I have two minor caveats. Firstly, and perhaps surprisingly, I felt that the author’s prose got a little out of hand in describing the growing relationship between Rebekah and Hester. The trembling lips and quivering thighs (or was it vice versa ) seemed to me to border on gay Mills & Boon territory. Secondly, I’m still not really sure about the ending which for me felt a bit contrived.

However, these are minor quibbles. This is a very fine first novel and I am very much looking forward to Ms Carlin’s follow-up.

I am grateful to NetGalley, Hodder & Stroughton and Laura Carlin for an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I was immediately drawn into this story by the brilliant, atmospheric descriptions of grimy, gas-lit 19th century London and the strong, likeable character of Hester. The mystery unfolds gradually as does the romance but held my interest throughout

A disappointing book. The author has obviously done a great deal of research on the period, but the writing seemed to veer between a textbook and a parody of historical London life with the accents and coming together of rich and poor. Sadly not one I would recommend.

I have not enjoyed a book as much as this in a long time. If you like authors like Sarah Moss, Susan Hill, Sarah Perry you would enjoy this debut novel.
In the same vein as the classic Rebecca this story has the atmosphere and character of a true gothic story.

3.5*
A strong, intriguing beginning but a slow development where the book pretty much lost me, for then to pick up again towards the end. The story line is rather interesting and historically accurate or better said believable in the historical context. I particular liked Rebekah's character: a strong, logical female character. Highly educated, friendly and just. Not shying away from danger and difficulties in order to help those she cares about. I've enjoyed Hester less : an insecure girl, prone to impulsive actions rooted in her insecurities. I could say this is in line with her age, and story wise it does make sense, but not enough to be likable, in my view! The happy end seems a bit forced, not really convincing, therefore another miss for me. And on top of that, I cannot really say I cared about the romance, even if I actually think it possible despite being rather unusual for the time. Overall a 3.5* from me, rather a promising debut and hopefully an interesting author who will deliver another nice story in the future.
Thank you Hodder and Stoughton for offering me the opportunity to read this.

I read this for a change from my usual choices. Enjoyable and uncomplicated romp. Descriptive but easy to read and leave, pick up again. Perfect for an afternoon on the sofa.

Not my usual genre but always good to try something different, unfortunately it wasn't for me

I have a huge soft spot for big, Dickensian style Victorian-set novels like Sarah Waters’ “Fingersmith” and Michel Faber’s “Crimson Petal And The White”. Some recent much-hyped offerings have not lived up to my expectations but this debut novel certainly does. I think Laura Carlin has got everything more or less spot on here and has written an authentic historical novel and a really good thrilling page-turner.
Young people have been going missing from the London streets for some time and eighteen year old Hester, the narrator of the novel, has fallen on hard times. An incident in Smithfield Market leads her to an association with a family who could provide her with a future or who may bring about further downfall. The story builds beautifully, and although the situations and characters may feel familiar for Dickens fans Carlin puts it all together in a way which is inventive, thrilling and feels new.
At the heart is a relationship between Hester and the daughter of the family, Rebekah Brock, who has been persuaded Pygmalion-like to educate Hester in a plan arranged by her brother Calder, a leading light of The London Society for the Suppression of Mendicity and it is this connection between the two women which will attract all Sarah Waters fans to this novel.
Like Dickens, secrets are revealed gradually by characters brought in to move the plot along and Hester’s account turns into a quite extraordinary tale of grim London existences underneath the cloak of the respectable and socially acceptable. The last third sees the plot move up a gear considerably as revelations follow one after another and the danger Hester puts herself into had me holding my breath.
This novel is proof alone that Carlin is a major new talent and her brand of literary historical fiction should provide her with big sales. I absolutely loved it.

The Wicked Cometh by Laura Carlin takes you on a trip back in time to Victorian London and the trials of being poor and living in slum conditions. I really liked the beginning of the book and the character of Hannah, but when she teamed up with Rebekah to try and solve the mystery of the people who had gone missing, I found the book lost a little of its charm. I would like to thank NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review

'The Wicked Cometh', is a good Victorian ‘romp.’ It doesn’t really do anything to add to the genre, but instead is just a very silly, very melodramatic and very readable little book. Comparisons to ‘The Crimson Petal and The White’ will inevitably be made, but they have nothing in common bar being set in London at a particular moment in history.

If anything, this reminded me more of ‘The Observations’ and ‘Fingersmith’, and owes a fair debt to the 'sensation novels' set in the era Carlin writes about. As others have noted, it would benefit from a tighter edit (some sections in the middle really do drag) and some characters seem to exist more as handy plot devices than people we should actually care about. However, if you manage to stick with it (and suspend your belief for a few hours, particularly towards the end!) you will be justly rewarded.

a brilliantly dark tale I absolutely loved it! would certainly recommend.

A historical novel set in Victorian England. It concerns a young girl, a vicar’s daughter, left destitute due to the death of her parents with no relatives to take her in. Due to force of circumstances she ends up in the dregs of society where she learns to merge into the culture and to survive. As the girl grows and seizing every opportunity to better herself, she also finds true love with an older woman and together they embark on a mission to solve the disappearances of a multitude of young people and also get embroiled in the revelation of dark family secrets. Through her eyes the reader is treated to a very rich experience of the life and times of the Victorian era. All together a most interesting and engaging read.