This is a historical crime page turner set in the Victorian time period. It is a work of fiction but based on a true murder case called The Edgeware Road Murder of 1837. It is set in London.I really enjoyed it.

the unseeing by Anna Mazzola.
It is 1837 and the city streets teem with life, atmosphere and the stench of London. Sarah Gale, a seamstress and mother, has been sentenced to hang for her role in the murder of Hannah Brown on the eve of her wedding.
Edmund Fleetwood, an idealistic lawyer, is appointed to investigate Sarah's petition for mercy and consider whether justice has been done. Struggling with his own demons, he is determined to seek out the truth, yet Sarah refuses to help him. Edmund knows she's hiding something, but needs to discover just why she's maintaining her silence. For how can it be that someone with a child would go willingly to their own death?
a good read. little slow in places but I read it. 4*.

The Unseeing had me intrigued from the beginning. With Hannah Brown laying injured and dying, footsteps approach and Hannah leaves the reader with a thought that sets the theme for the story.

Using fact (newspaper reports/court records) and blending fiction, Anna Mazzola has brought to life not only the crime involving Sarah Gale and James Greenacre but the time it's set in as well. From the heckling of Sarah Gale on her way to Newgate Prison in March 1837 until that last page, I was engrossed. Every page hooked me and drew me in deeper. I was addicted! It wasn't just because I wanted to find out what Sarah was hiding. The nuances of the relationships between the characters, my emotional hook with Sarah and Edmund, life in prison and Victorian London became my world. Edmund's deadline and the threat of what happens if he can't find the truth sets a nail-biting pace. This isn't a book I could put down - I always wanted to know more!

Although I didn't work out the secret Sarah was hiding, I did work out one particular thread (mainly because of a thought that Edward had) and wondered what the repercussions would be. The despair and failure was exactly how I thought it would be. I still can't make up my mind about one character - was it the ultimate hold over someone else or a sacrifice for love? The gift given leads me to believe a perpetuation of fear. I wonder what you will think.

I loved the darkness and depravity of this story. The legal/prison system weighs you down as does the public's enjoyment of the macabre. I enjoy experiencing the shadow side of life vicariously in novels and The Unseeing is rich and beautiful in portraying this. There is hope! I was so relieved at Edward's decision. Anna Mazzola shares the fact of what happened afterwards which I found uplifting.

The Unseeing is a thought provoking read on many levels. It's one of my top reads of 2017 and I have no hesitation in recommending it.