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Carregando... The Fair Fight: A Novel (original: 2014; edição: 2015)de Anna Freeman (Autor)
Informações da ObraThe Fair Fight de Anna Freeman (2014)
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Registre-se no LibraryThing tpara descobrir se gostará deste livro. Ainda não há conversas na Discussão sobre este livro. Omg omg omg this is one of those books where I get to the end and I want to flip back to the beginning and read it all over again. At first I was irritated at the carousel of varying viewpoints but I grew to love it because it enriched the novel so much. The descriptions of the settings in various social classes and the different language each class used was marvelous. Love this one so much! ( ) I hadn't anticipated that the 18th-century would feel so alive and present in a novel about female boxers, but this book manages something like magic in creating a story that is both unlikely while also being gritty and real. Ruth is raised in a brothel and starts to box as a child, while Charlotte is brought up in comfort and later discovering boxing as part of a self-awakening. Both women are victimized by men who seek to use the women for their own gain, and Ruth and Charlotte must discover ways to survive and resist. Overall, an excellent book and one that is very rooted in history. I love reading. I learn so many new things. I had no idea there were female boxers in late 18th century England. The daughter of a madam finds she is very capable of defending herself against men, and earns a living through fighting. I loved this story because it is sort of Dickensian in its depiction of the seamy side of life. I have no idea how she was able to battle through such pain from a broken nose to broken ribs. The story is told by two different characters, Ruth, the boxer, and George, a homosexual who lives with a wealthy friend. Between the two of them, a vision of what England was like at the time of the American Revolution emerges.
For a novel that features boxing it would be appropriate, if kitschy to trot out all of my boxing metaphors. It might be a cliché, but clichés are clichés because they often hold at least a grain of truth: so here I go. The Fair Fight is an absolute knock-out. If this novel was a prize fight it would be the Thriller in Manila. To make myself absolutely clear, leaving the cheesy pugilistic metaphors aside, The Fair Fight is the best book that I have read in a long time. Like most of the books I review The Fair Fight is an ARC, and I am not allowed to quote from it, and in this instance I am truly sorry. If I could give you just a taste of Ms. Freeman’s prose you would see what an exceptional novel this is. She writes with such passion, wit and power that I wish I could grab you, dear reader, and point at a page and say “read this!” The Fair Fight is the story of Ruth, born in a brothel and fated to a life of drudgery until she discovers her love of bare-knuckled boxing. We also follow the story of Charlotte, born an aristocrat but scarred by smallpox, trapped by the twisted whims of her drunken brother, and later in a loveless marriage with a man, Granville, who cares only for gambling. He manages, or exploits, first Ruth, and later her husband Tom, whom he believes can be the Champion. Eventually Ruth meets Charlotte, and begins to teach her how to box, setting them both on a journey that will change both of their lives. The narration is shared between Ruth, and Charlotte, and George, another sporting gentleman who is Granville’s friend and confidante. All of their voices are different, distinct, and beautifully realized. Although I was practically cheering by the end of this book it is not all flowers and rainbows. Like boxing its beauty is bound up with violence, and blood. Fighting is at the heart of this book, and no one in it fights harder than the two women at the story’s center. They have a lot to fight about, as well; the class system, poverty, and the absolutely crappy way in which women were treated in the early nineteenth century. Their bravery in facing a world in which most of the deck is stacked against them is truly inspiring, and although this book is full of hard knocks, Ms. Freeman has such style and tells her tale with so much heart and caring that almost found my jumping up and down at the end. I came to care for these character so much that I literally dreaded the end, even as a rushed toward it, propelled by the sheer force of Ms. Freeman’s story. To return to my earlier metaphors, Anna is the Champ. Review by: Mark Palm Full reviews available at: http://www.thebookendfamily.weebly.co...
"A debut historical novel set within the world of female pugilists and their patrons in late eighteenth century Bristol"-- Não foram encontradas descrições de bibliotecas. |
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Google Books — Carregando... GênerosClassificação decimal de Dewey (CDD)823.92Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 2000-Classificação da Biblioteca do Congresso dos E.U.A. (LCC)AvaliaçãoMédia:
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