This book has been garnering fabulous advance reviews so I wanted to read it to see what the fuss was about! Thanks to NetGalley for granting me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.,
The novel focuses on two unconventional marriages in late-Victorian England. The first couple, John and Catherine Addington, have older children who have flown the nest, something that gives John more freedom with which to pursue a relationship with Frank, a working-class painter. The second marriage, between Henry and Edith Ellis, is dealing with Edith’s love for the jealous and strong-willed Angelica. Both John and Henry think a ‘New Life’ is possible, with people able to lead their authentic lives – and it is this that brings them to co-author a controversial new science book on homosexuality. When Oscar Wilde’s trial takes centre stage in society, both men are forced to consider the costs and repercussions of living this ‘New Life’.
This is a beautifully-written account of the strains of living a life counter to society’s expectations. It captures the repression of the age – in a kind of E M Forster-y way – and the interior life of those pushing for new freedoms. The reader is invited to respect John Addington and Henry Ellis for their willingness to take on society’s attitudes to homosexuality and bravely defend their book in the face of the fall-out of Wilde’s trial.
Of all the characters, John and Henry were the ones explored in most depth and, therefore, the ones that seemed most credible. I did feel that Crewe definitely was stronger at portraying the male figures – I really didn’t like Angelica much and couldn’t really understand her character’s motivations. Edith also seemed a little unlikeable and problematic, but maybe I’m judging her by her actions towards Henry which seemed unfair. In contrast, the affair between John and Frank was described in vivid detail – gosh, there were a lot of lovingly-described testicles in there!
The ‘New Life’ was presented as fairly idyllic for those willing to shake off the shackles of society and love as they wished – John and Edith seemed to be living their best lives in a lot of ways. However, because of society’s restrictions around homosexuality, it came at quite a cost for those partners living as the ‘third wheel’ in the relationships. Of all the female characters, Catherine was the most developed and she got a tough deal from the ‘New Life’ proponents: a lifetime of raising John’s children to adulthood while he brought male lovers home and then moved Frank into the marital house. Henry also got a bad hand and seemed mostly bewildered that his wife was much more interested in Angelica to the point that the married couple didn’t even live together.
Overall, I felt a bit put out for those characters who didn’t really sign up to the ‘New Life’ thing and were stuck in relationships that didn’t make them happy; it made me feel that leading the ‘New Life’ in Victorian times was an intrinsically selfish choice and resulted in lots of collateral damage. Maybe this is Crewe’s point – that Victorian morals ruined it for everyone – but it meant that I found it hard to warm to the characters pioneering this way of life at considerable cost to others. I’m absolutely not advocating living a lie, but it did mean that I felt more for the ‘wronged’ characters – Henry and Catherine – than anyone else.
This is an engaging and thought-provoking look at the problems of living an authentic life within the rigid Victorian moral code. I enjoyed the exploration of the idea of sexual freedom in a repressive age. The story of the medical textbook on homosexuality is grounded in historical fact, but Crewe populates his fictional account with a range of interesting characters, even if I didn’t like them all! This is Crewe’s debut novel and it will be an absolute pleasure to see what he produces next.
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Header photo by Zoriana Stakhniv on Unsplash
