The Unseeing

I requested this book on a whim; and I have never been so happy to take a chance. This isn't my usual fair when it comes to relaxing reading, however this book had me gripped! For example sometimes a story slowly draws you in and you reach a part which has grasped you so thoroughly you NEED to reach the end and find the authors conclusion.
Usually for myself, this is when my kindle shows I've got between 70-80% left of the book and I think only a few chapters more and I'll finally know what happens. I felt compelled to finish this story in one sitting following chapter 8; there are 46 chapters in this book! I do not recommend reading just before bed; you will not sleep until you have finished! The story that the author has presented I found completely engrossing. The two main leads, Sarah and Edmund, are so different yet so compelling each in their own unique way. You completely fall under Sarah's charms; even though you know she is hiding an awful secret (which you cannot help but think you know). You can completely sympathize with Edmund and the difficult position he finds himself towards the conclusion and why he finds the manipulation of his naturally honest and good self so hurtful. I cannot recommend this book highly enough, the brief description on the back tells you what you need to know of the basic plot, but it doesn't tell you how visceral and compulsorily you find the authors writing, which I completely fell in love with. I am so looking forwarding to finding out what this authors does next.

There’s nothing like a good meaty true life thriller to get your teeth into. The case of the Edgeware Road murder intrigued me as I love to go back to real events, no matter how brutal, to see for myself what could have happened and how the people who never seem to have their voices hear can do via fiction.

Sarah Gale was an intriguing figure as I couldn’t work out why she was hiding something. Of course it all makes sense by the end but the journey there was a very intriguing one. It really made it sound authentic having the real newspaper headlines of the day at the start of chapters asI could almost hear the sound of the little boy crying read al about it, drowned out by the hansom cabs trundling over the cobbled streets.

I really found this intriguing in so many ways - the use of flashbacks to built up a picture of Sarah’s life, the violence of the men and how this seemed to be accepted in life how women were controlled in each and every way on a man’s whim. I think it reveals a lot more about society at the time than you may first realise.

This novel has evocative, realistic and raw written all over it and it's a journey you'll never forget. I've never felt quite as involved with a story - the fate of a woman before and it was intriguing to find all the threads coming together. It was fascianting to learn that it was written arounda real life case and this was an ideal chance to delve into a real yet brutal part o London's history.

The Unseeing paints a dark and dingy picture and you may feel you need to have a wash afterwards such is the cleverness and evocative writing all through the novel. The Unseeing deserves to be seen by many many readers.

What a fabulous, gripping read this stunning debut novel is. I SO enjoyed it, it is one of those unputdownable page turners which lulls you into thinking it’s merely a competent and enjoyable story, when really its grasping hold of your windpipe ready to squeeze it tightly and leave you breathless and buffeted.

It’s ingeniously woven around a true crime committed in the first half of the nineteenth century in London. Yet the author has shrewdly delved deeply behind the sensational headlines of the day – with themes on the lines of …. “Womans body brutally chopped to pieces” “Murderer carries murder victims severed head through London” and fleshed out the main characters involved, taking us inside the depths of Newgate prison to meet Sarah Gale, a single Mother, who isn’t saying much about her participation in, or knowledge of, the murder of her ex-boyfriends other woman Hannah Brown on the evening before she was due to marry.

Sentenced to death, convicted of playing an active part, along with her lover the sometimes violent James Greenacre, in the gruesome murder of Hannah Brown; Sarah has all but given up hope of redemption when fledgling lawyer Edmund Fleetwood is appointed to re-investigate Sarah’s part in the crime and determine whether she is less or perhaps more guilty than charged and see if an appeal against the death sentence might be an option. But Sarah seems reluctant to speak out on her own behalf, even to save her own life. It’s clear she is hiding something but is it guilt, fear or some other secret making her so reluctant to speak out? ..... read more on my blog

A definite 5* review for The Unseeing: a gripping tale and extremely well crafted and written.

The theme is taken from a real life gruesome murder that took place in December 1837. After Sarah Gale, an unmarried mother, is convicted of assisting the murder and condemned to hang, her case is sent to appeal. She refuses to say much at all of the events that took place the night of the murder. Who is she protecting? The murderer who has confessed? What else is she hiding?

What follows is how people can be misled into thinking that what they are told and what they believe they see is the truth. Hence the aptness of the title of the book.

Readers of Sarah Waters and Kate Summerscale will love this book as well as those who have read Julie Myerson's recent novel, The Stopped Heart.

I recommend The Unseeing highly and look forward to reading more by Anna Mazzola. Thanks to Netgalley and Tinder Press for the opportunity to read and review the novel.

The big news story of early 1837 is the 'Edgware Road Murder' in which a dismembered body was found in pieces all over London. Found guilty and sentenced to death are James Greenacre and his common-law wife Sarah Gale. Whilst Grenacre admits disposing of the the body, the evidence against Gale is scanty and idealistic young lawyer Edmund Fleetwood is tasked with reviewing the case and making a recommendation as to whether the death penalty is appropriate.

Whilst this book is based on a true-life case, Mazola has chosen to weave a fiction around the few facts in evidence. The circumstances of the finding of the body, the trial and the sentences are fact but the motivation and many of the characters are fiction. Therefore this story fits somewhere between fact and fiction, I chose to read it as purely fiction - a novel inspired by a true event rather than a historical novel. When viewed in this way the book is actually a great read, the facts are horrible but the fiction creates a more romanticised view of motivations than was probably the truth. The book is well-researched, showing an understanding of life in late-Georgian London and the difficulties faced by women who are without the support of a man. This includes wives frustrated by the lack of household income, abandoned after an affair, the wife left alone after being deserted, and the family driven to poverty after the death of the father. Ultimately a sad but beautifully written novel.

In this intriguing conundrum, the bones of a true Victorian crime are impressively dressed with fictional liberties in an arduous fight for justice. The author’s embellishments may offer an extra twist of the knife to a real murder investigation (The Edgware Road Murder), but undoubtedly The Unseeing is as curious as any you may read.

According to the prosecution one of the accused wears many faces. Sarah Gale: mother, seamstress, victim, nurse, liar, prostitute, haunted by her past. It’s clear that some considerable peeling of layers will be required to reveal the true person behind the wall silence she is hiding behind.

In 1837 she was imprisoned in the hostile, putrid walls of Newgate Prison in London to await her fate among the piercing screams from the other inmates. The male jurors who convicted her decided she was a calculating woman, whose reputation had fallen long ago. Or was this simply a witch hunt to provide an example to others of her gender with ‘loose morals’ ?

After she was incarcerated for aiding and abetting James Greenacre in the grisly murder and dismemberment of Hannah Brown, his wife to be, Greenacre maintained that his lover, Sarah Gale, played no part in the crime. Despite his protest both received the death penalty.

Most are unsympathetic to her situation leaving only a few diehards campaigning for her freedom. All hope of reprieve is lost, that is until she learns that her sentence is to be reviewed. Naïve criminal barrister, Edmund Fleetwood, is appointed to independently re-evaluate the evidence and report his verdict. Although he is keen to make his mark on the legal world, Sarah Gale will test both his professional and personal resolve, as the grey areas of this challenging investigation are quite revealing. I cringed throughout his endeavours when his patronising father breathed down his neck to ensure Edmund puts in a worthy performance of someone afforded such a public responsibility.

In the eyes of the public she is already condemned as callous and despicable, yet Edmund is conflicted as he senses there's more to her story, she's just not allowing anyone to see it. During their meetings he gently teases information from her. These interviews offer a sketchy peek into both Sarah’s and Edmund's parental relationships, but oddly she never volunteers anything that directly helps his investigation, and ultimately herself. The only fact you never doubt is that Gale has been separated from her young son and she feared what would become if him if her sentence was carried out. At the end of his seemingly impossible task I was willing the emotionally exhausted lawyer to draw the right conclusions about so many more things, mainly for his own sake.

The Unseeing is atmospheric and utterly fascinating. There's an interesting bonus as the chapters are headed with snippets from the actual trial that took place, with others quoting from newspaper reports to compliment the next step of the journey. It all combines brilliantly to create a cunning historical mystery, which is certainly worth a look if you get the chance. Nicely done.