‘Theatre of Marvels’ is a book that I couldn’t put down! Lianne Dilsworth writes with superior knowledge of the conditions imposed upon women in the 1800s, with even further diabolical treatment for mixed race or non-whites. At a time when white supremacy ruled along with male domination, women had to fight to be treated with respect. Zillah, stage name ‘Amazonia’ knows only too well what it feels like to be scorned and subjected to scrutiny in a society where diversity, is as unwelcome as womens’ rights.

A great read, unlike anything I’ve read before. A meaty, yet sensitive observation, of racism, feminism and the battle for equality, which still goes on today.

Set amid the bustle of Victorian London, an irresistible story of an ambitious young Black actress, an orphan from the slums who has finally achieved a dubious stardom as “The Great Amazonia, a savage African queen”—but everything she has fought for depends on hiding the secret of her own identity.

This is a poignant story of Zillah, a young free woman and her will to survive.
I enjoyed this, it's not an easy read at times, due to the cruelty that these people had to endure but still a good story none the less.
Thanks to Netgalley and Publisher for the ARC.

Theatre of Marvels by Lianne Dillsworth is an interesting story set in Victorian times after they abolished slavery. But even so, in the world of variety shows there is still shows where slaves are thrust into the limelight because of differences and forced into partaking in “Freak Shows”.
But one girl, Zillah a mixed raced girl, born in the heart of London. Her mother was a slave. Has her own show fooling the audiences pretending the be The Great Amazonia a tribal African Queen. Zillah is a free woman but still under the eye of Vincent a local socialite. Until she meets Lucien Winters who changes her perspective of things and her own identity.
Zillah is a strong and determined woman and wants to find her own identity and her own place in the world. But she must fight against prejudices in society. And when she taken to a private show where she meets the “leopard lady”. Who is similar markings and tied up in a cage. She is disgusted in the injustice of it all and she is determined to free the woman but, she must find the woman first because the next day she has disappeared.
Thank you, Random House Cornerstone, for a copy Theatre of Marvels. I found this this really slow at first and I thought of giving up. But I am glad I stuck at it. This is a richly descriptive atmospheric novel of Victorian London. And one’s journey of discovery of a better life. The is a good story for a debut novel. 4 stars from me.

This is one of my favourite reads so far this year. I had been looking forward to it since first hearing about it (I am in a debut 2022 with the author but don't know her personally). I had high expectations and they were met and exceeded. This is like a grown-up version of Phillip Pullman's Ruby in the Smoke series, with a good heap of racial and class issues added on top. Lianne's depiction of Victorian London and theatre is vivid and detailed, and the theme of slavery, exploitation, and what freedom really meant in Victorian London was tied in beautifully. I highly recommend this book and will sing its praises to everyone. I hope it gets televised!

This is a gripping rather unique historical novel last in a world just after the British abolished slavery but continued to exhibit uniquely different humans in freak shows
The narrator is a young black free English woman who is part of a variety show where she blacks herself up to appear on stage as an Amazonian savage .Her own gradual realisation that this is exploitive and demeaning is bought to a head by the discovery that the same theatre producer has another show where he is effectively holding captive a woman and child so that he can exhibit them because of a skin condition causing her black skin to be spotted with white patches
The book deals well with the biases between black and white poor and rich and men and women in a thoughtful thought provoking way .The author manages to do this without making you feel lectured at as a reader and this is not easy to do .
I found the setting interesting theatrical and colourful and enjoyed spending my time immersed in this well described very believable world

Loved the concept and the setting, but the language and characterisation really didn’t work for me. I think this one of those books where if you know a lot about the subject matter, you’ll find the dumbing down of it for the lower end of the YA audience frustrating, as I did. If you’re someone who doesn’t, then you’ll probably embrace the story and not be fazed. I think it is a good book, it just wasn’t what I wanted for the subject.

I gave up on this just under half way through.
I'm very much aware I am not the target audience,but even so,what I read seemed over simified.
I was hoping for a bit of magic,and didn't feel it at all

Thanks to Netgalley, Lianne Dillsworth and the publisher for a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book - it was much more YA than I was expecting, and the topics could have been delved into much more and it could have been much more of a grittier book if it was an adult fiction novel.

With that in mind, I did enjoy the story - Zillah was an engaging character, and seeing her find out more about her culture (although tenuously) was great to read.

I felt the ending was mostly unexpected, though not too sure if I enjoyed it.

In general, some good, some bad and probably wouldn't read again but I would recommend it to any YA fans that I know.

Not for me unfortunately - young adult story, many interesting topics but simplistic in style and content.

Such an incredible, enveloping relevant read. It really touched my heart and reeled me in. To follow the protagonist Zillah on her journey was so emotional. The theatre setting was a huge appeal to me. Such a great adventure of a read.

Many thanks to Netgalley/Publisher/Author for an advanced copy of this!

I really enjoyed this book, despite it being more YA than I was expecting, it still hit home with the message it was portraying.

Zillah is a young mixed-raced actress who is performing as if she is an African queen on the stages of London, however, all is not as it seems as Zillah is just trying to avoid poverty.

Zillah, after being grossly exploited, meets a young man who is an ex-slave, and soon learns more about her history and culture!

This book was great from the start, the character development of Zillah is also incredible to read!

Would highly recommend this book.

Great to see a woman of colour write historical fiction as black characters were so often overlooked or ignored in the past. Zillah is an actress who dresses up as an African Queen for her successful act. When a real tribal woman captured and brought to the UK from Africa she realises she must act and she reevaluates her identity and role.

A reasonably entertaining young adult book. Set in Victorian London, Zillah works on the stage as an exotic. In real life she is a poor mixed race girl from St Giles, trying to escape poverty, on the stage she is a proud and vicious African queen. Her life changes when she meets Lucien Winters who encourages her to question her identity and the role she is playing. From then on she begins to feel guilty for the lie she is performing each evening on the stage.
As well as freedom and identity, the story deals with race and exploitation.
I must admit that the synopsis given by the publisher led me to believe that this story would be more action packed than it was. I found the narrative, particularly in the first half of the book, to be very slow. Indeed, it is not until after the halfway point that anything of significance happens.
As this is a young adult book it felt rather lightweight. A lot of the issues were given very little depth and I didn't feel that the characters were fully-drawn.
Nevertheless this is an easy to read story and Zillah's journey of self-discovery was worth reading.

A stunningly evocative read exploring the life of a mixed raced young actress, who dons black make-up and performs as a tribal woman, conning the audience. She navigates the tricky relationships with the other actors, who are jealous that she is the headline act, a relationship who is out of her league in terms of class and colour, and her own relationship with her ethnicity which is challenged by Lucien and the Leopard Lady, whom she is determined to find.
I read this book in one breathless sitting. I was so invested in the characters and the story. I’ve read the reviews by others on Netgalley and I’m not sure why this book is being viewed as YA. It’s not. There’s difficult themes such as racism and abuse. Perhaps the story could’ve been grittier and I wished the relationship with Lucien was more developed; I didn’t think there was an attraction on Zillah’s part. Besides these minor grapples I genuinely loved this read. It was uncomfortable at time but so compelling.

WOC authors writing historical fiction is not that common sadly, especially historical suspense reads. I loved The Confessions of Frannie Langton, and Theatre of Marvels filled the void for me. It’s it own unique story, original and intriguing. I loved the London Victorian setting and the world created. Dillsworth has done her homework but she doesn’t beat you over the head with it. The characters are convincingly conniving but they are also people of their time and they have own reasons for their dogshit behaviour. At the end of the day they’re all just trying to survive. It’s a messy and a cruel world where even though slavery has been abolished, the racist mentality has not. There’s many themes that feels topical and relevant to the world today, such as fetishising WOC, and toxic workplace environments. This world is not inclusive, but neither is 2021.
Zillah is a desperate mixed race girl, trying to make ends meet. It’s why she goes with the only role offered to her: blackfacing and fooling the audience that she is a savage from the deepest heart of Africa. On the stage she “sacrifices” animals and “drinks” their blood, followed by her “primitive” dance. She has concerns about her role but it isn’t until Lucien appears in her life, a black man, that she begins to question her world and herself...Then she also witnesses another woman forced into a degrading role. But this woman isn’t pretending like her. She’s genuinely from Africa. She’s been captured and brought. Zillah is shocked by her despicable treatment and it acts as a foil to Zillah’s performance. It triggers Zillah to take charge of her life and save those captured people...
I was utterly blown away by this. The voice is compelling; there is intrigue and danger at every corner; and the pace is breathneck. Definitely a debut to look out for. I will be recommending this one to everyone!!!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this arc. I was drawn to the title, and the premise, and I can safely say this was an absolute five star read for me!!!
This is narrated from the perspective of Zillah, a mixed raced young woman from East London. Zillah pretends to be an African woman from the deep forests who was captured; a real “savage”. She darkens her skin ebony and performs every night at this theatre run by Crillick, a creepy older white dude, who fetishes POC. Zillah is in a relationship with Vincent, a wealthy white man, who is currently not speaking with his family and staying with Crillick. We witness as Zillah tries to navigate London, as a WOC and a relationship with a white man. She faces micro-aggressions of racism from people including Vincent’s servants. But Zillah finds her life changed irrevocably and witnesses the Leopard Lady - Crillick’s latest acquisition, a real tribal woman who’s been brought and subjected to horrific experimentations of fetishised curiosity. Zillah is determined that that she must rescue her, and finds her own view as a WOC Londoner challenged.
This is definitely one of the best Victorian historical fiction I’ve ever read. We hardly see WOC in Victorian London except as footnotes, so it was great to a story from Zillah’s POV. I found parts of it relatable and relevant as a WOC who is born in London myself and identifies herself a Londoner. The characters are messy and relatable including Vincent and all the others. Each character is entrapped in their own restrictions including the white characters. The setting is beautifully evoked and the character dynamics are tense and fascinating to read. I felt like the history wasn’t dumped, this does have the pace of a thriller. However the ending while feminist and brilliant, is perhaps neat and I wanted there to be more closure especially for Leopard Lady. Nonetheless I was completely hooked and raced through this. I couldn’t help devouring this book in a day. A confidently written debut, with an unique voice.

📚📚Book review 📚📚

Thank you to @ netgalley and author Lianne Dillsworth

Theatre of Marvels
Random House UK Cornerstone

I received an ARC of this eBook for free, I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Zillah is our main character and the book is predominantly from her perspective. She’s a fake \"Amazonian\" in a freakshow. She doesn’t think that she has much in the way of friends, but a true friend sticks by her.

The boss of the show is called Crillick, he is a creeper.

Vincent is Zillah’s lover interest but really he’s a bit bland.

Lucien – fighting to save the ‘Black Poor’ and send them to Sierra Leone for a fresh start.

Zillah is a self-appointed saviour for a woman she has only briefly seen but for whom she feels responsible and a sense of kinship.
This is a lovely tale of a young woman finding her place in the world and learning to love and accept herself.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I enjoyed the London backdrop and the light and suffrage of the characters.

4 ⭐

I immediately felt myself to be an audience member in the theatre at the heart of the West End. Victorian London then becomes more widely known and I felt further immersed into this world.
Difficult subject matters dealt with well, and a fascinating read.

I had no idea that this was a YA novel, but wasn’t phased at all, as I have read and thoroughly enjoyed YA books in the past.

However, whilst this book may be a useful tool for an educator, for me it missed the mark. The writing was definitely dumbed down for the younger market, so much so that the language and experiences used were totally out of keeping for the period. The narrative was slow and the repetition spoilt the flow of the story.

When such important issues are the main focus of a story, it is important to be true to the era.

Not one for me I’m afraid. From reading other reviews it does appear that I am in the minority, so maybe it was my expectations at fault, my apologies to the author if this is so.

Thank you NetGalley.

This great Victorian vaudeville set novel is a story of race and class in London with a great cast of characters and actress Zillah as a main strong and likeable protagonist. Set not long after abolition, the book explores the mistreatment of people of colour at that time and doesn’t shy away from difficult themes such as the exploitation of people in freak shows. A really good read, and a lot packed into a short novel.