Among the Fallen by Virginia Frances Schwartz
Publisher: Holiday House
Special thanks to Penguin Books for sending a copy for review.
Summary:
Though haunted by nightmarish flashbacks and withering in the miserable conditions of Tothill prison, an infamous Victorian workhouse, Orpha perseveres, doing what she can to befriend and protect the other girls imprisoned alongside her. She doesn’t speak about what happened– no one would listen. No one would believe her.
But then a mysterious letter arrives, offering her a place at Urania cottage. This experimental home aims to rehabilitate so-called fallen women– many of them victims of sexual abuse, suffering not only the trauma of their experiences, but the blame and loss of reputation and livelihood.
It sounds too good to be true– but with nowhere else to go, Orpha decides to take her chance. Soon she discovers her unknown savior is none other than Charles Dickens, whose writing deals extensively with the plight of the lower class, and whose friendship and guidance offers Orpha a new way to express herself.
With the support of the other women of Urania and the promise of a real future, Orpha will have to confront the darkest parts of her past– and let go of her secrets (Goodreads).
Thoughts:
Among the Fallen by Virginia Frances Schwartz is an eye-opening historical novel set during the mid-1800’s revolving around the stories of poverty-stricken young women in Victorian England.
Although the plot was not as action-filled as I’d like, the moral of the story shed light on the hardships young women faced. This novel followed the story of Orpha, who was an actress when she was young and faced abuse from her uncle. This led to her becoming a scapegoat when she was charged for her uncle’s crimes and sent to Tothill prison. Half the book was set in this prison. Despite that some of Orpha’s day-to-day life in prison is required to set the mood for the story, too many of these scenes made the book boring. Some of the events that happen in the prison are irrelevant to the story, such as each time they are working with oakum.
Other than that, some scenes made no sense whatsoever. When Orpha thinks it’s “so fitting [to be] put in charge of the chickens” (99), her train of thought is not explained and readers may have a hard time comprehending the meaning behind it. Moreover, it is not clear what is meant by “Mr. Dickens is small” (106). In what sense is Mr. Dickens small? On top of that, the term “[flying] across the room” (130) does not match the situation in the book. The term implies being thrown or falling across a long distance, unlike when Orpha trips and falls onto a desk.
I don’t know what to make of the Urania girls. They’re two-faced and each scene with them disrupts the building of their character: one moment they’re nice and the next they become people to watch out for. Some of the Urania girls, such as Fanny and Sesina, are perfect examples of this. At first glance, Sesiana seems kind, which encourages Orpha to tell Sesina part of her own story, yet only a few pages later, Sesina tells the whole Urania home Orpha’s darkest secrets. Fanny is no better as Orpha helps her learn the alphabet and practices writing with her, but Fanny makes fun of her knitting a few hours later. The only character other than Orpha who has a consistent, 3D personality is Ivy. She’s kind and generous throughout the book and never once changes her personality or betrays Orpha.
The author’s writing style is confusing in some places yet highly detailed in others. The similes used throughout the novel refer to some main elements in the book; for example, “[Ripping] it open like oakum” (72) refers to one of the painful tasks in Tothill where the prisoners have to rip oakum to process it into rope.
Overall, this book was fairly good. I would recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction novels.
Reviewed by Romina P.