The Crimson Rooms

 
Unheralded or pioneering women from history have always been a great interest of mine (many of them subjects of my blog The History Bucket) so this novel about Evelyn Gifford, one of the earliest female lawyers in Britain, drew my attention in a local remainder bookstore.

In 1924, like countless other women who seem destined to remain single due to the dearth of eligible men following World War I, Evelyn must rely on making her own way in life. Fired with a deep sense of belief in justice, especially for the underprivileged, she works as an assistant in a firm where is she is lucky enough to be taken under the wing of Mr Breen, who sees her potential in spite of her sex. Progressively, she becomes involved in two separate cases that will see her having to pit wits against the male establishment while also dealing with an unexpected attraction to the barrister, Nicholas Thorne.

All of this is complicated by events at home where Evelyn lives with her mother, grandmother and a great aunt. A capricious woman called Meredith arrives from Canada unannounced with a small boy, Edmund, in tow and claims to have been the lover of Evelyn’s late brother, James, who is deeply mourned by everyone in the family following his death in the war. Everything Evelyn believed about her late, sainted brother is called into question as she battles to find the truth and understand Meredith’s motives.

Complex storytelling that never falters, realistic emotions, well-drawn characters, important social issues and an excellent historical sense of the era come together in this marvellous novel, which I may well read again – a very rare occurrence for me.

Quite a few years ago I recall that Katharine McMahon had me enthralled with her brilliant novel about the Crimean War, The Rose of Sebastopol. She is definitely one of the best historical fiction writers around and deserves a much wider readership. I am currently sourcing her other books to read, including the sequel to this one, The Woman in the Picture.
 
Five Stars

amazon.com

amazon.co.uk (Kindle)

(Second-hand or remainder copies can be found through your usual booksearch links.)

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