Historical novel set in London (..an enthralling portrayal of life in 1880’s London..)

19th February 2019

The House on Half Moon Street by Alex Reeve, historical novel set in London.

It is a miserably cold January day in 1880 and the body of a young man, pulled out of the Thames, is laid out on the coroner’s table. Leo Stanhope, our first-person narrator, assists the coroner in his investigation into the cause of death.  It is fair to say that Leo’s mind is not totally on the job in hand; he has a secret – one that, if revealed, might see him confined in a mental institution or even sent to the gallows.  For Leo was born Charlotte, the daughter of a respectable cleric.  Since his earliest days, Leo knew he was meant to be male and, at fifteen, unable to tolerate his life as Charlotte any longer, he runs away to London, where he binds his breasts, dons male attire and begins his life as Leo.  Only a couple of people know Leo’s secret, the main one being Maria, a young prostitute, whom Leo loves.  Leo plans a future for them together, but his hopes are dashed when the next body to turn up on the coroner’s table is that of Maria, who seems to have been brutally murdered.  Things get even more desperate when Leo becomes the chief suspect and, in constant fear of his secret being uncovered, he sets about discovering the truth about Maria’s death and finds that he actually knows nothing about her life.

Now, if you’re looking for a read to cheer you up in these dark, end of winter days, then I’d spar wide of this one, for cheery it certainly isn’t.  If you think of a novel in terms of colour, The House on Half Moon Street would be uniformly grey and black with the odd splash of scarlet blood.  And Reeve doesn’t spare his readers any of the gruesome details of Leo’s life:  graphic descriptions of the sex Leo and Maria share, including the use of prosthetics; a grim account of a back-street abortion; and the details of Leo’s landlord gleefully practising his amateur dentistry, which will remain with me for longer than I’d like.

Grim it may be, but The House on Half Moon Street is a superb novel on many levels. Undoubtedly meticulously researched, it gives the reader an absolutely enthralling portrayal of life in 1880’s London, particularly as lived by the poorest members of society. Then, at the core of the novel, and what ultimately makes it so exceptional, is the vulnerable but hugely fearless narrator/hero Leo, whose transgender issues seem to be still so disturbingly familiar today. Other characters too are intriguing – I loved Leo’s sidekick, the gutsy-and-so-inappropriately-named, Rosie Flowers.  And last, but by no means least, this is just a brilliant, carefully plotted thriller that keeps the reader guessing right to the end.

Paperback cover

The House on Half Moon Streetis an outstanding debut novel, first in a book-a-year historical series, and I’m glad to think that I can soon reconnect with Leo (hopefully aided by Rosie) and discover what the next instalment of his life will bring.

Ellen for the TripFiction Team

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