March book club - The Butcher's Hook

Found this a bit of a "dark" read and quite difficult to get lost in especially as I received it after coming back from holiday.
Thought the Georgian setting was well described but didn't care much for Anne and could not quite believe in how she turned into such a disturbed and murderous young woman.

I have finished this book now - delays of all kinds, not least being ill for almost 3 weeks, led to it taking me longer than I meant.

This would not normally be my kind of book – a historic novel - but I was intrigued to find out what Janet Ellis could do with words, and am trying to get into the 'switch-off' of reading once again, so requested a copy and was lucky to receive one.

As others have said, perhaps a little hard to get in to initially, but I put that down to me slightly as I must confess I've not been a massive novel reader in recent years, preferring magazines/newspapers and reference books.

What a truly disturbing character Anne Jaccobs is – still somewhat perturbed by her, and especially by the transformation which saw her turn from the cloistered and curbed child in the beginning of the tale to the fully fledged psychopath - a very sinister young lady indeed!

I really enjoyed the book, and like other reviewers was fascinated and impressed by the amazing historic detail Janet furnished her novel with.

Yes, I would be very keen on a sequel!!

I didn't actually get my copy from GN, a friend passed it on to me. I imagine Janet Ellis must have done quite a lot of research and managed to impart a vivid picture of the 18th century, particularly in the inner workings of the Butcher's Shop, both front of house and round the back, which in those days seemed to double as a slaughter house as well, albeit on a small scale. The first part of the story, setting the scene as to the dynamics within the Jacob household unfolded fairly slowly, but gathered momentum half way through when Anne's relationship with the butcher boy Fub deepens as does her animosity towards the suitor her father has lined up for her. Once the pace quickened and Anne's wicked nature came to the fore, the book livened up for me at which stage I found it a far more compulsive read. I think it's a very accomplished debut novel, quite filmic I could see the BBC doing it as a costume drama. Janet Ellis, through her descriptions of smells, food, particularly meat, costume and class presented a very evocative picture of the 18th century. It's almost left open for a sequel, possibly that's her intention. I enjoyed it and I thought the plot was unlike anything else I had read before.

Sorry I just haven't been able to finish this book in time. I wouldn't normally read a period novel so I was interested as to how I'd find it. The abuse scene near the beginning came as a shock, didn't expect that and while it didn't put me off reading further I found it unsettling. Although set in the 18th century I thought the dialogue was generally up to date but both things fitted well together. Quite slow reading (literally!) but am going to take it away with me when I'll have time to finish it.
Overall, so far I don't think this will make me want to read historical novels but that's not a criticism of the author, rather just my reading preference.
Thank you for the book.

I too wasn't able to finish the book. I found it quite difficult to get into for some reason. Maybe it just wasn't my type of story. The historical setting was interesting and well done, but I wasn't so keen on the sex scenes and found it hard to care about the main character/protagonist.

I have not been able to finish this book - it arrived very late - sorry! But I am enjoing it

Finished this Book the other day:
The presentation... the book cover..and inside is excellent and does a lot to add to the enjoyment of reading a hardback.
I enjoyed the way the author told us how "they used to live" and found it very interesting and informative.
The story line development was totally unexpected and the ending left you wondering if the author was intending writing a sequel.

I'm afraid that I just couldn't get into this book,although it is very well written and full of historical description that brings the period to life.The characters were hard to believe in and sympathise with,while the storyline was a little fanciful in my opinion.
Sorry,Janet but I do think your writing style is excellent so would not be put off reading a different novel of yours in future.

I took this book on holiday with me (along with two small boys so please factor in that I read it whilst exhausted), but I have to say the only reason I didn't give up on it was in order to write this review.
I didn't find a single character that was in any way appealing or believable and for most of the book the development of the plot was soooo slooow that I found it simply boring. The sex scenes were crude and implausable and as for the rest - sorry, I just couldn't believe in Anne or her supposed actions. Her 'mental illness', supposedly triggered by earlier events, just needed me to suspend too much in the way of belief and knowledge.
However, I do think that Janet Ellis may be one to watch in the future.

Not able to complete read of this in time, I'm afraid - do you want me to return the book?

My question to Janet:-
There is a lot of dry humour in the book. Did you plan for this at the start of writing or did it happen as you developed the character of Ann?

Thank you for my free copy of this book. I had saved it to take into hospital as I had day surgery on Tuesday and as I was last on the list for my surgery it did help to distract me.
I enjoyed the book and found the descriptions of Georgian London and the characters good. I would have enjoyed seeing Ann get rid of her father or the awful Onions rather than poor Margaret. While the setting and most characters rang true I did feel that Ann's relationship with Fub not entirely realistic as I am sure that she would have been above looking at a Butchers boy and more modest. Also would she not be afraid of getting pregnant given her poor mothers' experiences. As others have mentioned it is a little like Sarah Walters books which I think I found more convincing.
I would be interested to read another book by Janet . Perhaps a sequel to this book could start with a destitute and pregnant Ann. It's a shame the Scotsman is dead because he could have rescued her!

Not usually a fan of historical novels but really enjoyed reading this book. Like others I was also disappointed with the ending, not the fate of Anne, Onions or possibly both that I had anticipated. Also wondering if there will be a sequel and if it was difficult for Janet to maintain the style of vocabulary from the past, so very different from today's, throughout the writing of the book?

I really like Janet Ellis (from seeing her on the Wright Stuff, rather than remembering her from Blue Peter - I was a Valerie Singleton/Christopher Trace girl!) but unfortunately I didn't really like this book.
It goes against the grain to criticise, since I've never written a book myself, but I just didn't find it believable. Even though Anne was clearly a screaming psychopath, I can't help but feel that she'd have had so much modesty instilled into her from birth that she would never have looked at the butcher's boy.
Although it was very easy to read, I did not rush home thinking that I couldn't wait to get to it.
Grannyjacq1 if you read Janet's notes at the end, you'll see she deliberately set it in 1763 precisely because nothing else was going on - except that was the year Boswell met Dr Johnson.

I really enjoyed this surprising novel. Who knew that Janet Ellis could write! To me she is like a modern day Dickens. I would like to ask Janet how she did her research. It was as if she herself had lived in the 18th century. I learned a lot, especially about the workings of a butcher. At first I thought that Anne was a young teenager so i was surprised at her willingness to have sex with Fub. However I went back and checked, and realised she was actually nineteen. What a sad and lonely upbringing she had. Her poor mother had a hard life too, she was basically a baby making machine. Janet, you did well, it's a great story.

Have just finished the book and have rather mixed feelings about it. I felt that the setting and characters were very well described and gave me a great sense of what London would have been like at that time.To begin with I had great sympathy for Anne's predicament and was keen to find out how she would fare in trying to avoid her enforced marriage. However I did not feel that the level if her sexual awareness in her relationship with Fub rang true and the gruesome descriptions of the murders made me shrink from reading further (and I am quite a fan of crime fiction). I found the ending a little disappointing - was Janet trying to bring back a little 'humanity' in Anne's final interactions with the Scotsman but then took this away when Anne took the money back? Strangely that act shocked me more than anything else in the book. Overall, I think I would certainly try other books written by Janet as I enjoyed the style and pace, but would not seek out a sequel to this particular one.

I finished reading this book this afternoon, having found it rather difficult to ' get into'. It was a little dark for my taste - perhaps I read too many Georgette Heyer novels in my youth! I did find the combination of an observation of an adolescent's emotions against a very accurate description of the historical period interesting. Ann did not stir my sympathy. It wasn't until I finished the book that I realised that Janet had highlighted the unintentional consequences Ann's actions had on others ( e.g the daughter of Ann's tutor, and the loss of the butcher's business) and I wondered if this was deliberate.

Very pleased to have received a copy of this book and it went to the top of my pile straight away, given the short time we had to read it. Despite its gruesome content I very much enjoyed reading it. I found the prose style refreshingly unusual and particularly evocative. There were a couple of occasions where I went back to re-read sections, to check I hadn't missed something; I don't think I had, but just felt the meaning was sometimes hard to pin down. I liked the way in which you only gradually became aware of Anne's intentions. The ending felt perhaps like a bit of an anti climax, after so much action. My question for Janet would be whether she considered other endings and why she chose the one she did. Thank you.

Many thanks for the book. Have now finished reading it. Found it rather strange, and was a little disappointed at the ending as it was so inconclusive. I can only assume it has left a chance for there to be a sequel. What a nasty piece of work Anne Jaccob is!!! Well researched for the period and the prose was very vivid and illuminating.

Hi my lovely free copy arrived on about 20th of the month so had very little time to read before comments requested .
I nearly put book down after first few chapters as thought oh no more of the same old, girl forced into unwanted marriage etc blah, blah. But glad I did not as this young lady turned out to be a very complex and intriguing character and as she is still so young lots more to come I hope. Really good first novel, congratulations, Janet.

Sorry this book is not for me. I could not get into the characters and felt no sympathy for Anne.

I have just finished the book, a slow start and I didn't think I was going to enjoy it but I did, up to a point. I wasn't expecting it to be quite so gruesome and actually found it quite shocking, and in some ways hard to believe that a well brought up middle class girl could behave the way she did. These days she would be called a psychopath.
I did like Janet's writing style, very accomplished and for a first novel, very impressive. I would like to ask her how she got the idea for the novel in the first place.....it is such a far cry from Blue Peter

I finished this over four days, which is quick for me, so compelling did I find it. I liked the first person narrative which gave Anne more voice to her thoughts and emotions and a more natural character. It's a simple plot - girl falls so passionately for man she will do anything to keep him - easily told with the descriptions of slaughter, blood and gore giving it something of a gothic horror. But Ms Ellis has added her own sharp wit and humour to lift the darkness. It may be 18th century but Jane Austen of not much later it is not. After a slow start the pace picks up and the reader has to gallop along to keep up towards the climax as if a deadline was approaching, something I found off-putting. A good read but sorry to say, for me, nothing special.
Questions: Is Anne's story totally fictional or based on a case/legend/rumour you have found from the period? You have given Anne a very strong will and self-determining character. Is this you making a feminist point - not a criticism - or just the way the story turned out?