Maude Horton’s Glorious Revenge by Lizzie Pook
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Special thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada for sending a copy for review.
Summary:
When Maude Horton receives a letter from the British Admiralty informing her of her younger sister’s death, her world is shattered. Bold and daring, Constance had run away from her life in Victorian London two years prior, disguising herself as a boy to board the Makepeace, an expedition vessel bound for the Arctic’s unexplored Northwest Passage. The admiralty claims Constance’s death was a tragic accident, but Maude knows when she is being deceived.
Armed with Constance’s diary from her time at sea and a fiery desire for justice, Maude sets her sights on the Makepeace’s former scientist, Edison Stowe, a greedy and manipulative man whom she suspects had a hand in her sister’s death. When she learns he has a new venture, a travel company that escorts spectators across the country to witness popular public hangings, she decides to join the latest tour, determined to extract the truth from Stowe and avenge her sister—no matter the risk to herself (Goodreads).
Thoughts:
This book has a very interesting premise. Maude, the protagonist, is trying to find out what happened to her sister after being given little to no explanation about her cause of death. I liked that this book was set in the Victorian era of London. The synopsis and the title drew me in, but I found that the things I wanted to read about were not executed very well. Nonetheless, I still think this book was overall enjoyable.
I liked reading through the POV of a dislikable character. This was not done to excuse the fact that the antagonist, Edison Stowe, was cruel; instead, it only further explored his barbaric nature and apathy. I liked the fact that Stowe rarely mentioned his evil deeds and was, instead, concerned with money and his complicated situation for most of his narration. Because of this, he came off as greedy and arrogant in the beginning but not evil. I only figured out his true nature when I read Maude’s sister’s letters. This showed how little guilt Stowe had for his victims and how entitled he felt about his actions. He showcased psychopathic and narcissistic traits by killing animals mercilessly since he was a child, and constantly blaming the world instead of himself for his misfortunes. He would also claim that people did not recognize his brilliance and that he deserved to be rich because of it. Although I enjoyed his POV, we were given too much of Stowe’s side of the story. Most of the action happened when we were in his head; Maude, who is supposed to be the main character, seemed to just follow him around and make little progress on her revenge. This book is about Maude’s revenge, and I wish we got more of her instead.
I found Maude’s character to be too simple. Her main trait was being the “responsible” one who did everything she could to protect her sister, Constance. Maude constantly mentioned how she sacrificed her own happiness and chose to be selfless for her sister, but that sentiment did not feel genuine to me. Why did she feel the need to restrict herself so much? What was the root of her desperation to protect her sister? The author did not put much of a spotlight on the sisters’ relationship other than how different they were. Through their perspectives, I could tell they cared for each other, but I wanted the author to show me more about their dynamic rather than tell me how it was.
Although there were a few flashbacks showing their life together, they felt a bit solemn. I wish we had more meaningful moments between the sisters so Constance’s death and Maude’s revenge would have been more impactful. Also, despite being obviously devastated about her sister, I wished Maude was angrier. I don’t think she ever yelled, kicked something or got into an argument because of her conflicted feelings. Maude was more of a strategic and non-adventurous person, which I can understand, but even people like her lose their cool when dealing with grief and revenge. If there were stronger emotions, I could have sympathized with her more. Even though Maude had her revenge in the end, it still felt too tame for me.
Constance’s POV was my favourite out of the three. This POV had more action with her sailing the cold and ruthless arctic seas in a boat called the Makepeace. There were also many shady things happening on that boat that Constance witnessed and put her in dangerous situations. I could definitely see how Constance was somewhat brave for investigating the shady situations, but I also wish that I saw more of her adventurous side. With the things she witnessed, I don’t blame her for being gloomy and scared in her letters, and I understand she had to stay low to keep the fact that she was a woman a secret. Still, I could feel Constance’s excitement when discovering new creatures in the arctic at the start, so this is only a small gripe.
The author did a great job with the setting of the story overall. I could tell she put a lot of research into this book, and I could picture everything clearly through her writing. I liked how she showed London’s hangings, and how many murders and executions were happening at the time. I also liked Mr Inchbold’s store of bones, which was one of the interesting settings.
I think this book is still worth the read, but I would not get into it solely for Maude’s revenge because it was not the best part of the story.
Reviewed by Lara C.B