Caitlin Davies (1) (1964–)

https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3413905.html

One of those novels I had picked up years ago on a whim; Annie Sweet, recently separated from her husband in 2008, becomes obsessed with tracking down the story of Lily Painter, a teenage music hall performer who lived in the same house in 1901. I'm afraid that I worked out what the twist ending was going to be about half way through, and I was also annoyed by the policeman character who seems to have very little grasp of police procedure and writes implausible diary entries. But it's told with a certain amount of emotional force, and if I were in a less cynical mood at the moment it might well have worked better for me.… (mehr)

This was very interesting and very readable. A history of Holloway prison might be a bit dry, but it is also a history of the people who were incarcerated there and those who worked there. The case studies of both the prisoners and the staff made this a particularly well balanced piece, it would have been too easy to just focus on the one side of the story. Divided into parts based on time, there are then a number of chapters dealing with different elements at play during that perios. As an example, during WW2 there were incarcerated foreign nationals, spies and concientious objectors. All of them had different experiences of the same time period, meaning that there is a quite rounded view of the time presented. The case studies of the prisoners tends to avoid the cause celebres and instead to look at the experience of other women at the time. It makes for a very interesting book, as this is not necessarily what you thought you knew.
the author provides an acknowledgement in which she says her first draft was 3 times as long, and I can imagine it. It was a good length, not so long as to be repetitive, but it felt that there was sufficient detail to be informative. I found this an enjoyable read.… (mehr)

Historical fiction isn't always my bag but certain books in the genre do tend to catch my eye and I think the fact that Daisy Belle is inspired by many real life events really captured my imagination. I ended up being completely captivated by Daisy's story and absolutely loved the book.

Daisy is four when she is first introduced to the pleasures of swimming by her father. Straightaway she feels an affinity with the water, be it at the swimming baths or in the wide open space of the sea. Telling her life story to an unknown person who she is watching in the prologue, Daisy puts across in a matter of fact way the many life-changing events she goes through.

Her father is pushy and exploits Daisy, whereas her mother is horrified that Daisy loves swimming. The descriptions of the knitted swimming costumes made me smile but they must have been so uncomfortable to swim in.

I adored Daisy. For a woman in the mid 1800s she was incredibly forward-thinking and held back by convention and by men! I found some of those men difficult to like, such as her father at times, and a man who later on in the story comes to be a major part of Daisy's life. But for all that there were men trying to hold her back (and let's not forget her mother who was totally bound by the conventions of the day and the belief that men should practically think for their womenfolk) there were also men encouraging her along the way, her brother being one of them and another man later on who, again, becomes really important to Daisy.

I couldn't help reading with a sense of awe as Daisy scored achievement after achievement, sticking a metaphorical two fingers up to anyone who tried to stop her.

This is a book that completely put me back into the 1800s. There's a very strong sense of place and I was easily able to imagine, from the beautiful descriptions, the way that Daisy felt whilst in the water, what it was like to be constrained and also to be free.

It's an incredibly evocative read. It's uplifting and moving and in fact I felt like my emotions were thrown up and down as surely as if I myself was out on the ocean wave. It was fascinating to read at the end about the author's research and inspiration, the real-life swimmers on whom Daisy was based, and so good to hear that there were some trail-blazing lady swimmers in the past.

I think Daisy is a character that you cannot help but like. I thought she was wonderful and the story brilliantly written. Caitlin Davies has produced a fantastic novel with Daisy Belle.… (mehr)