Marjorie DeLuca
Autor(a) de The Savage Instinct
About the Author
Séries
Obras de Marjorie DeLuca
Doll's Eyes and Other Stories 1 exemplar(es)
The Parasites 1 exemplar(es)
Etiquetado
Conhecimento Comum
There is no Common Knowledge data for this author yet. You can help.
Membros
Resenhas
M. M. DeLuca is a Winnipeg author. Her bio on her web-page credits her mentor, Carol Shields. She has written a number of other books but this is the first one I have read. I would be interested in reading more definitely.
The Savage Instinct is historical fiction set in 1873 in the North-east of England for the most part. Clara Blackstone has just been released from a mental asylum where she has spent a year following the stillbirth of a child. After enduring horrendous physical treatment the asylum finally gets a new medical director who believes there is nothing the matter with Clara. He convinces her husband, Henry, to let Clara join him in his new home in Durham. Henry is a mathematics professor who comes from a farming family. Clara, on the other hand, was raised genteely by her grandmother in Oxfordshire and she stands to inherit her grandmother's considerable estate. This certainly played a part in Henry's wooing of her. The day that Clara comes to Durham is the day that the infamous poisoner Mary Ann Cotton was arrested. The coach that conveys Clara and Henry from the train station is stalled outside the jail by the large crowd come to see Mrs. Cotton. The two women exchanged glances and thereafter Clara was fascinated by the woman who was suspected of poisoning up to twenty children and husbands with arsenic. Clara's home life with Henry is far from perfect. Henry insists on Clara taking an evening tonic supposed to relax her but Clara learns that it contains opium which muddles her brain. He is also increasingly controlling of her. He restricts her from writing to her grandmother who is living in India for her health and he tells her that her grandmother is close to dying but Clara does not believe him. Soon his conduct towards her becomes abusive but there is little Clara can do since women's rights at that time were nonexistent. If Clara's grandmother does die and Clara inherits wealth it will be Henry who controls it. She suspects that he will then have her admitted to an insane asylum for good. Clara's only realease from her worries is to be a visitor to the women's jail (which should demonstrate how horrible her own life is). Clara manages to gain access to Mary Ann Cotton and she soon falls under the woman's spell. Mary Ann says that she is innocent and she is able to convince Clara of this. She also deduces Clara's problems and she advises her to get away from her husband. Clara attempts to do so but she doesn't have enough money to get away from Durham and she is soon caught again. Then Mary Ann tells Clara about a way to obtain arsenic which certainly indicates that Mary Ann isn't as innocent as she proclaims. Almost from the beginning of the book we know that Clara does manage to get away from Durham and that Henry died a violent death but we are kept on tenterhooks as to how that occurred until almost the end. And then there is one more surprise twist. Oh, and, Mary Ann Cotton is hanged for her crimes.
DeLuca apparently grew up in Durham and that is evident from her atmospheric descriptions of the city and the countryside. I'll be keeping my eyes open for other books by this writer.… (mais)
The Savage Instinct is historical fiction set in 1873 in the North-east of England for the most part. Clara Blackstone has just been released from a mental asylum where she has spent a year following the stillbirth of a child. After enduring horrendous physical treatment the asylum finally gets a new medical director who believes there is nothing the matter with Clara. He convinces her husband, Henry, to let Clara join him in his new home in Durham. Henry is a mathematics professor who comes from a farming family. Clara, on the other hand, was raised genteely by her grandmother in Oxfordshire and she stands to inherit her grandmother's considerable estate. This certainly played a part in Henry's wooing of her. The day that Clara comes to Durham is the day that the infamous poisoner Mary Ann Cotton was arrested. The coach that conveys Clara and Henry from the train station is stalled outside the jail by the large crowd come to see Mrs. Cotton. The two women exchanged glances and thereafter Clara was fascinated by the woman who was suspected of poisoning up to twenty children and husbands with arsenic. Clara's home life with Henry is far from perfect. Henry insists on Clara taking an evening tonic supposed to relax her but Clara learns that it contains opium which muddles her brain. He is also increasingly controlling of her. He restricts her from writing to her grandmother who is living in India for her health and he tells her that her grandmother is close to dying but Clara does not believe him. Soon his conduct towards her becomes abusive but there is little Clara can do since women's rights at that time were nonexistent. If Clara's grandmother does die and Clara inherits wealth it will be Henry who controls it. She suspects that he will then have her admitted to an insane asylum for good. Clara's only realease from her worries is to be a visitor to the women's jail (which should demonstrate how horrible her own life is). Clara manages to gain access to Mary Ann Cotton and she soon falls under the woman's spell. Mary Ann says that she is innocent and she is able to convince Clara of this. She also deduces Clara's problems and she advises her to get away from her husband. Clara attempts to do so but she doesn't have enough money to get away from Durham and she is soon caught again. Then Mary Ann tells Clara about a way to obtain arsenic which certainly indicates that Mary Ann isn't as innocent as she proclaims. Almost from the beginning of the book we know that Clara does manage to get away from Durham and that Henry died a violent death but we are kept on tenterhooks as to how that occurred until almost the end. And then there is one more surprise twist. Oh, and, Mary Ann Cotton is hanged for her crimes.
DeLuca apparently grew up in Durham and that is evident from her atmospheric descriptions of the city and the countryside. I'll be keeping my eyes open for other books by this writer.… (mais)
England, 1873. Clara Blackstone has just been released after one year in a private asylum for the insane following a breakdown after suffering a tragic loss. Now Clara just hopes to settle back in with her husband in their new home, and to do whatever necessary to remain free from the asylum, but when an unconventional relationship between herself and a serial killer blossoms many questions arise compelling readers to turn the pages as quickly as possible to see just what comes of Clara.
Marjorie Deluca has provided us with one gripping gem that hooks you from the start with absolutely stunningly constructed prose, the reader is immediately catapulted in to the past where we are caressed with striking period accuracy, not once is this illusion broken throughout the whole book, which is a huge breath of fresh air in the historical fiction genre as of late.
The Savage Instinct is certainly a dark, twisty, slightly uncomfortable (in the best way possible) story. History mixed with a stunning fictional narrative this is one you do not want to miss!
A huge thank you to netgalley, publishers, and Marjorie DeLuca for providing me with an advanced digital copy for me to be able to provide my honest, unfiltered feed back.… (mais)
Marjorie Deluca has provided us with one gripping gem that hooks you from the start with absolutely stunningly constructed prose, the reader is immediately catapulted in to the past where we are caressed with striking period accuracy, not once is this illusion broken throughout the whole book, which is a huge breath of fresh air in the historical fiction genre as of late.
The Savage Instinct is certainly a dark, twisty, slightly uncomfortable (in the best way possible) story. History mixed with a stunning fictional narrative this is one you do not want to miss!
A huge thank you to netgalley, publishers, and Marjorie DeLuca for providing me with an advanced digital copy for me to be able to provide my honest, unfiltered feed back.… (mais)
England, 1873. Clara Blackstone has just been released after one year in a private asylum for the insane following a breakdown after suffering a tragic loss. Now Clara just hopes to settle back in with her husband in their new home, and to do whatever necessary to remain free from the asylum, but when an unconventional relationship between herself and a serial killer blossoms many questions arise compelling readers to turn the pages as quickly as possible to see just what comes of Clara.
Marjorie Deluca has provided us with one gripping gem that hooks you from the start with absolutely stunningly constructed prose, the reader is immediately catapulted in to the past where we are caressed with striking period accuracy, not once is this illusion broken throughout the whole book, which is a huge breath of fresh air in the historical fiction genre as of late.
The Savage Instinct is certainly a dark, twisty, slightly uncomfortable (in the best way possible) story. History mixed with a stunning fictional narrative this is one you do not want to miss!
A huge thank you to netgalley, publishers, and Marjorie DeLuca for providing me with an advanced digital copy for me to be able to provide my honest, unfiltered feed back.… (mais)
Marjorie Deluca has provided us with one gripping gem that hooks you from the start with absolutely stunningly constructed prose, the reader is immediately catapulted in to the past where we are caressed with striking period accuracy, not once is this illusion broken throughout the whole book, which is a huge breath of fresh air in the historical fiction genre as of late.
The Savage Instinct is certainly a dark, twisty, slightly uncomfortable (in the best way possible) story. History mixed with a stunning fictional narrative this is one you do not want to miss!
A huge thank you to netgalley, publishers, and Marjorie DeLuca for providing me with an advanced digital copy for me to be able to provide my honest, unfiltered feed back.… (mais)
Estatísticas
- Obras
- 12
- Membros
- 128
- Popularidade
- #157,245
- Avaliação
- 4.0
- Resenhas
- 12
- ISBNs
- 18
Meet The Savage Instinct, by M. M. DeLuca.
Another good cover, I’m really pleased with the contrast between the drawing and the font. While the plot is the only part I care about when it comes to picking books, covers help me through the very first screening process. Kudos to the artist!
The story itself is a cool one, too. I’m not gonna lie, the beginning feels a little slow, but then the pace picks up and it all starts flowing in a very satisfying way.
[Keep reading @ Bookshelves & Teacups. Thank you NetGalley for providing this book!]… (mais)