Name: The Strange Adventures of H
Rating: 3.714285714285714 (7 reviews)
ISBN: 9781004023158

Sarah Burton

Orphaned young, H is sent to live with her doting aunt in London. H's life is a happy one until her lecherous cousin robs her of her innocence, and the plague takes away the city and the people she loves. H is cast out - friendless, pregnant and destitute - into the rapidly emptying streets of London under quarantine.

The Strange Adventures of H

Orphaned young, H is sent to live with her wealthy and doting aunt in London. London is good to her, and H's life is a happy one until her lecherous cousin Roger robs her of her innocence, and the plague arrives to take from her the city and the people she loves. H is cast out, friendless, pregnant and destitute into the rapidly emptying streets of London under quarantine. When the plague finally lifts, and without a home or family to return to, H falls into the care and employment of Mother Cresswell, an infamous Clerkenwell bawd. It is under her watch that H endeavors to make a new kind of life for herself, and to use all the tools at her disposal to ensure that she never falls into poverty again. H will face a villain out for revenge, find love in the most unexpected places, and overcome a betrayal that she never could have foreseen. Weathering it all, she will charm or scheme her way to the life of freedom and autonomy that she longs for.

Moray Lyle McIntosh

This is the story of H, a woman born to a large family of sisters in the seventeenth century. After the death of her father she removes to the London home of a kind and generous aunt. But the seventeenth century is a perilous time in the capital and H persists through ill-treatment, plague and fire. Separated from her family she finds that prostitution is the only way to survive. 

For a book with so many dark themes it never feels depressing or overly weighty. There are many sad, difficult moments but H is so full of heart and determination, she always lifts her narrative above the things that happen to her. She is also surrounded by a host of excellent characters who add humour and depth. The setting is well-rendered and while the plot is outlandish, its twists and turns and coincidences mirror the style of contemporary writing.

It was a pleasure to read from start to finish and is the first book in a long to make me shed a few happy tears.

Rachel Coakley

Orphaned young, H is sent to live with her doting aunt in London. H’s life is a happy one until her lecherous cousin robs her of her innocence, and the plague takes away the city and the people she loves. H is cast out – friendless, pregnant and destitute – into the rapidly emptying streets of London under quarantine.

The Strange Adventures of H

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