The Fourteenth Letter (2024)

This is a Victorian mystery set in London in 1881. The 1880s saw much change, many new ideas and a number of critical inventions. The author utilises them in the novel with her in depth research on this period, she does take liberties with history such as changes in the names of some real life characters of the time. We have Charles Darwin with his theory of the survival of the fittest and his cousin Galton's considerably more suspect support for Eugenics. The novel draws on classical history and Alexander the Great to formulate the idea of an age old global secret society with disturbing ideas and practices in pursuit of their version of immortality.

The engagement party of Benjamin Raycourt and Phoebe Stanbury is disturbed by the entrance of a dirty naked stranger who tells Benjamin the he has saved him when he murders Phoebe. DI Harry Treadway is put in charge of finding the killer. A socially inept and timid law clerk, William Lamb, defies his boss, Mr Bridge, by visiting a client, Ambrose Habberlain, which results in a devastating trail of consequences for William. Mr Bridge gives William a casket to safeguard, tells him to run for his life and proceeds to commit suicide. William's aunt is abducted and the casket is taken. The American, Savannah Shelton, is an expert gunslinger with a history of shooting people dead, and is observing Habberlain's residence for the criminal that is Obediah Pincott who has his fingers in many pies. The brave and courageous Shelton finds herself protecting William as his life becomes overwhelmed with danger. William, Harry and Shelton come together to connect their information that points to deplorable amoral actions by a privileged elite and a sinister secret society with dangerous weapons and plans. William is forced to adapt to his changing circ*mstances and fundamentally change as he searches for his identity and family.

This is a well plotted story with a twisted and compelling storyline. The characters of William, Harry, Savannah and Mildred are what made this novel gripping. William's character development from the timid man to a man more clearly in control of his destiny is done with skill. There is an element of fantasy in the plot which I was fine with. A book I very much enjoyed reading. Thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.

DNF at 14% and was hate reading for 10% of that. I'd say 'why was this published' only the ebook opens on the author's bio revealing her to be an ex-high-up in the BBC so there's your answer.

It's intended to be a Quincunx type Victorian mystery but you have the humble police sergeant calling a wealthy gentleman by his first name, a society marriage taking place less than a year after the bride's father's death without anyone in mourning or noting the fact, etc etc. I mean why even bother. The writing alternates between clunky and grossly overdone ("Shock plummeted to her ankles like lead petticoats." What?), there is honest to God a 'character looks in the mirror and describes himself' scene, and really I am underwhelmed I spent money on this mates-rates bit of hobby writing.

Mi aspettavo tanto da La quattordicesima lettera, e invece ha poco di tutto.

Due sono gli eventi principali del libro: la morte di Phoebe, la promessa sposa di un giovane borghese, e la vita stravolta di William, a cui viene affidata una misteriosa scatolina che lo catapulterà in una storia di intrighi, fughe e associazioni segrete disposte a fare di tutto per mantenere il loro riserbo.

Le premesse perchè mi piacesse c'erano tutte: adoro i libri misteriosi, dalle tinte thriller, soprattutto se ambientati a fine '800.
Peccato solo che questo libro a mio parere abbia poca materia storica, poco thriller e poco mystery.

La morte di Phoebe occupa solo una minima parte nella storia, il colpevole si scopre quasi subito e le domande che sorgono vengono messe a tacere con risposte prive di suspance con fretta eccessiva.
Il problema è che non ho trovato la voglia di andare avanti, la smania di sapere e la curiosità che in un libro del genere deve solleticare gli occhi del lettore.
Non c'è suspance, ho letto il libro in una generale atmosfera di apatia.

Mi dispiace tanto perchè mi aspettavo una storia da fiato sospeso, letta in bilico sulla sedia per saperne di più, quel tipo di storia in cui si anela per arrivare al finale e sapere... e invece ho trovato poco di tutto. Poco di ogni genere che prometteva di essere, pochi sentimenti, poche emozioni.
Peccato!

I'm always drawn to stories set in Victorian England and this was a fabulous read that keeps you on your toes from start to finish! An engaging and complex mystery that combines history, murder, secrets and lies into the gothic world that was evolving at a fast pace.

From the opening brutal chapter, the reader is left in no doubt that there are those who are willing to go to extreme lengths to keep certain secrets, and how does a shy young legal clark called William Lamb get mixed up in it all?!

Each character we meet along the way has their own fascinating story to tell - from Savannah, the brash American watching over others and always looking over her shoulder, to Harry Treadway, the detective who ends up investigating the society murder - and how it all may be linked. Just when you think you may have an inkling of the meaning of it all, you are thrown another curve ball and the mystery is wide open again!

I loved how well paced the story was! It is sometimes the case for msyteries to drag a little and be bogged down with too much detail, or too many characters, but this zipped along so well and I often found myself reading on 'just one more chapter' as I couldn't bear not knowing what was just around the corner!

The story flows seamlessly from character to character as they all add to the underlying current of what are some so hellbent on keeping secret, while others try to unravel the secret world they knew nothing of.

Thankyou to the publishers and author for the advanced reading copy in return for a fair and honest review.

It was as if the whole house had been carved from one massive tree, its roots still alive and breathing in the ground below…

The Fourteenth Letter, set in 1881 in London, had been on my to-read list for some time, and I had tried to get into it before. As I needed a book with red lettering on the cover for a reading challenge I was determined to finish it.

It opens with the engagement party of Phoebe Stanbury to Benjamin Raycraft, son of armaments manufacturer, Sir Jasper Raycraft, where the bride-to-be is murdered by a naked man with a tattooed chest, dripping in mud from the Thames. Oddly, none of the guests sees the murderer leave the scene. Detective Harry Treadway of Scotland Yard is tasked with apprehending him but gets immersed in a bizarre plot as he visits the Raycraft factory and home in Hampstead to interview the industrial and his wife.

Switch to timid lawyer William Lamb, born with a deformed thumb and raised by his aunt Esther, now articled to Nathaniel Bridges. Bridges has a key client, Ambrose Habborlain who sends a message that he needs to speak with Bridges urgently. With Bridges away young William takes it upon himself to visit Habborlain in Red Lion Square, unaware that the house is being watched by American Savannah Shelton, in the pay of unscrupulous Whitechapel villain, Obediah Pincott. Haberlain receives William and sends him away with a cryptic message for his boss "the Finder knows..." and on receiving it Bridges tells William to run for his life, entrusts him a casket of old documents and promptly shoots himself.

Enter Mildred Whitfield arriving by train from Scotland as a governess to the Vicomtesse Adeline de Bayout, half-sister to the Vice Chancellor of Germany, and is immediately the victim of white slavers. Mildred becomes the fourth in the group to unmask a conspiracy, along with the resourceful Savannah Sheldon, a bumbling and inept William, and Detective Treadwell,

At 430 pages this overlong saga of a secret society manipulating bloodlines of three families had me annoyed with its constant switching between Whitehall, Whitechapel and Hampstead. There is little here that captures the lifestyle, times and smells of Victorian London. Throw in a cameo at the British Museum where an expert examines the documents in the casket, allegedly letters from Aristotle, linked to the descendants of Alexander the Great, and the farrago ends with the inevitable bloodbath/shoot-out and fire.

Verdict: patchy, at best.

I can’t exactly remember why I bought this. I think I was looking for a book with a “London in Victorian times” setting. I know that I wanted this book to leave me as enthralled as The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.
Given my rating, you can see that that obviously didn’t work.

London, 1881: Phoebe Stanbury is murdered at her engagement party, and an inspector is sent to investigate. The next day, at the other end of the city, William Lamb, a twenty-something-year-old clerk who lives with his aunt, meets up with a client. He asks William to deliver the cryptic message “the finder knows”. Three words set in motion a series of events William couldn’t possibly be prepared for. Luckily, through the course of events, he is joined by Savannah, a thief and cut-throat. She was observing William’s client before he mysteriously disappeared.

Like with so many books that I have lately read, this one had an exciting premise. I also thought it a nice change that the main character was male. I think Savanah was an interesting character as well. I liked that honest and up-standing William and she worked together because it created a nice juxtaposition. However, this is where my list of things I liked about the book ends.

William Lamb is just like you would imagine a fictional character with ‘Lamb’ as their last name to be. He is innocent and has lived a very sheltered life with his aunt. He is neither rich nor poor, he likes his job, and he dreams of being noticed by a nice woman so he can marry her and put an end to his days as a bachelor. Then he meets Savannah, and she is not at all like he imagined young women to be. She dressed scandalously, carries guns, knows how to break into houses and on top of that, she is American. BUT HERE IS THE THING: when a character like that is introduced to you at the beginning of a book, you would expect them to change, right? To undergo some kind of transformation triggered by the events and stuff they experience? Yeah, not so William Lamb. There is barely any sort of character development.

He and Savannah grow closer; they even share a kiss. However, the epilogue tells us that William married the nice, pretty secretary he and Savannah rescued halfway through the book (she was a minor character and didn’t even have many lines). They live together with his aunt, and William now has the wife and life he always dreamt of. It’s like the dangerous and life-threatening situations he found himself in through the course of the book didn’t change him in the slightest. They had no impact on his life whatsoever.

Apart from the shoddy to non-existent character development, the writing wasn’t that great either. I know other users wrote that they found it so unbearable, they DNF’ed the book early on. I didn’t think it was awful, but it wasn’t good either.

Despite the unsatisfactory writing style, I have another 3 major complaints:

1. One of the characters is German. Now, I get that German is a complicated language for anyone who isn’t a native speaker. So I have no idea why the author felt the need to let one of the characters (who, until then, has always only spoken English) say something in German. Let me just say this: it’s an amazing feat to pack as many as 4 grammar mistakes in two sentences as short as “Lass Ihre Waffen Fallen! Sie sind überkommen!” This was either caused by lazy research (you know that online translators exist, right?) or lazy editing, but I suspect it was both.

2. The sinister plot they uncover seems so far-fetched. A secret society made up of descendants from Plato trying to create some master race (hey, of course, it was the Germans), using selective breeding. The male descendants of Plato rape women to “sow their seed” to create the perfect human race while also killing any children born with deformities. It felt like this book tried hard to be some sort of Illuminati/ Dan Brown story, but it was just greedy businessmen and scientists partnering with Nazis (the term wasn’t mentioned, but the similarities are obvious) to take over the world.

3. The title of the book makes no sense. I have read it, and I still don’t know why it’s called “The Fourteenth Letter”.

If you are looking for a thrilling page-turner: this ain't it.

With its eye-catching cover, Victorian setting and promise of "a labyrinth of unfolding secrets", Claire Evans' debut novel The Fourteenth Letter sounded like a book I really needed to read!

The novel opens in June 1881 with the murder of Phoebe Stanbury at a party to celebrate her engagement to Benjamin Raycraft, son of the wealthy Sir Jasper. The killer, a naked man covered in mud with a strange design tattooed on his chest, disappears after committing the crime and it seems that nobody is able to shed any light on his identity or why he may have wanted to kill an innocent young woman. Detective Harry Treadway is given the job of investigating the murder, but the deeper he delves into the mystery, the more bizarre and complex it becomes.

Meanwhile, William Lamb, an inexperienced, timid young lawyer, goes to visit an eccentric client in his partner’s absence – and ends up in possession of a casket of old papers written in Latin and a cryptic message which means nothing to him. His visit is witnessed by Savannah Shelton, an American woman who has been paid to watch the house, but who is employing her and what do they want? At another house in London, Mildred is applying for a position as governess, then changes her mind when the interview doesn’t go as planned. How are all of these events connected? There are no obvious links at first, but slowly the truth is revealed as the story begins to unfold.

When I first started to read The Fourteenth Letter, I was fascinated. There were so many intriguing characters and so many strange things happening all at once. However, the constant switching from one storyline to another made it difficult for me to settle into the story and after a few chapters I began to wish we could spend a little bit longer with one character before moving on to the next. As I’ve said, the various strands of the plot do start to come together eventually but I would have liked it to have happened more quickly.

Being set in the 1880s, the story takes place during an exciting time in history, a time of great advances in science and technology. Sir Jasper Raycraft’s house, Ridgeside, is described as a famous residence with all the latest scientific developments such as electric light. I immediately recognised this as a description of Cragside in Northumberland, a National Trust property I have visited several times, and I was pleased to have this confirmed when I reached the author’s note!

However, for a novel set in Victorian London, I thought there was very little sense of time and place. Although there are references to historical and political events of the period, I never felt fully immersed in the world Claire Evans had created and it didn’t help that I couldn’t quite manage to believe in Savannah Shelton as a convincing character. William Lamb, though, is a great character – not a typical hero at all – and it was interesting to watch him develop and grow as a person over the course of the story.

Although this is certainly a very unusual and imaginative novel, I didn’t like it as much as I’d hoped to. Maybe I was just not the right reader for this particular book; that happens sometimes and it doesn’t necessarily mean that it isn’t a good book.

I was determined to finish this, so I did, but I really, really disliked it. This book was such a mess. The writing style was okay and thus the book was quite easy to read, but the story was just all over the place. It felt like the writer tried to make a complex plot, while forgetting that it’s not necessary to bang in a million different intricacies to make the plot interesting or complex. I would like to say: go read it if you like mysteries and the Victorian era, but I would not want to recommend this. There are a lot of other Victorian(inspired) mysteries out there that are most likely way better.

Ricordate quello che diceva Fantozzi sul La corazzata Potemkin?
https://youtu.be/grJNVDs2_70

Ecco, è la sensazione che mi ha lasciato questo libro.
Ben scritto e soprattutto ben costruito: la prima parte è un'escalation di tensione e misteri, di linee narrative che si intrecciano in modo sempre più stretto e affascinante, ma... dalla metà in poi, quando il mistero comincia a svelarsi ho cominciato a sentire un fastidioso prurito alle mani: Lo mollo o non lo mollo?
No, vabbè, dai, arriva fino alla fine.
Ed ecco...no, non è proprio il mio genere, quindi il mio è un giudizio è puramente soggettivo e sono certa che a molti questo romanzo possa piacere, ma sentire parlare di sette segrete dedite all'eugenetica e di mirabolanti piano di dominio sul mondo portati avanti da un presunta razza superiore e, non contenti, attribuire l'inizio di tutto a ciò a Platone..., be', per me, è troppo.
E lo so che è successo a livello storico, lo so cosa hanno combinato i nazisti e certo l'autrice si è documentata per rendere realistico il contesto storico, ma per me rimane un no, grazie, peggiorato dal fatto che l'autrice strizzi l'occhio al lettore pronta ad un eventuale seguito.🙄

Mamma come stoooooooooooo!
Non è aulico non è da letterati ma questo romanzo non ha né capo né coda.
Nel prologo si spoilera tutto il romanzo.Vengo da un'estate di studio e lavoro, mi accingo a questo romanzo come la donzelletta vien dalla campagna, per intrattenermi, e tu autrice mi spoileri il romanzo.
Non contenta la Evans ad ogni azione del protagonista, termina il capitolo con una frase che ti dice già come andrà a finire quella determinata azione.
Dentro di me metto in pratica le mie lezioni di meditazione sul respiro: inspiro, respiro, ed evito mi salga il crimine.
Vogliamo parlare poi di come vengono percepite le donne?
Ma è plausibile che una donna in un momento topico della sua vita, abbia movimenti ormonali?
Non ci siamo proprio...

3.5/5

La Quattordicesima Lettera, ambientato nel 1881 a Londra, in piena era vittoriana, si apre subito con un evento sconcertante, il brutale omicidio di Phoebe Stanbury, promessa sposa di Benjamin Raycraft, figlio si un noto – e un po’ losco – fabbricante di armamenti, durante la loro festa di fidanzamento, da parte di un uomo nudo con un petto tatuato, gocciolante di fango.
Il detective Harry Treadway di Scotland Yard ha il compito di arrestarlo, ma viene presto coinvolto in un complotto ben più ampio e inquietante, in cui si trova suo malgrado implicato anche il timido avvocato William Lamb. Il giovane, infatti, facendo visita a un cliente del suo superiore, inaspettatamente viene a sua volta immischiato in una oscura vicenda che si amplierà e aggroviglierà tra enigmi del passato, storia e macchinazioni nel corso della trama, con risvolti talora inattesi.

La storia è scritta bene e si legge piacevolmente, almeno all’inizio. Tutta la prima parte mi ha coinvolto ed ero veramente curiosa di proseguire la lettura per capire come si sviluppasse la sibillina vicenda che vedeva coinvolti diversi personaggi che man mano si trovano legati dal mistero principale e si trovano a collaborare, o scontrarsi, tra loro.

Tuttavia, per un romanzo ambientato nella Londra vittoriana, ho pensato l’ambientazione non è così coinvolgente e vivida come sperato. Sebbene ci siano riferimenti a eventi storici e politici, non mi sono mai sentita completamente immerso nel mondo che Claire Evans ha creato.
Anche i personaggi, almeno i principali, a un certo punto speravo prendessero più spessore, invece sono rimasti o poco convincenti oppure un po’ tendenti allo stereotipo. Forse uno dei personaggi meglio resi è William Lamb, che infatti ha avuto nel corso della trama un suo sviluppo interiore e di crescita.

Del romanzo colpisce di sicuro la fantasia e alcuni elementi insoliti, tuttavia anche queste peculiarità a mio parere scivolano troppo nell’inverosimile e, complice una trama che da circa metà libro si dilunga troppo e in alcuni punti inizia a diventare scontata, la seconda parte è stata decisamente meno interessante e avvincente, per concludersi in modo piuttosto banale e inevitabile.

Per quanto si tratti di una lettura leggera, sono rimasta un po’ delusa. Mi aspettavo un’ambientazione più intensa, personaggi più tridimensionali e soprattutto un mistero che avesse sì qualcosa di antico e avventuroso, ma non arrivasse a certe vette dell’assemblaggio del già visto e poco efficace nella trama del romanzo stesso.

The Fourteenth Letter combines two of my favourite things : historical fiction with a murder mystery. Although I admit that initially, it was the cover that drew me in. It’s just so pretty! I jumped at the opportunity to read this one and while I had quite high expectations, I’m happy to say that I wasn’t disappointed at all.

Phoebe Stanbury is murdered at her engagement party but the investigation into her death isn’t the be all and end all of this story. The focus lies with a young clerk, William Lamb who’s an incredibly likeable character and I warmed to him immediately. William wants to move up in the world but when he meets a reclusive client, he inadvertently gets himself involved in events that will put his life in danger.

This is one incredible debut by Claire Evans. There’s an intricate and complex plot that I won’t get into any further to avoid spoiling it but suffice to say, it had me absolutely hooked. The author leads us through a delicious and immaculately woven web of secrets and even though the ultimate premise is quite dark and disturbing, she manages to lift the mood with surprisingly witty moments.

With vivid descriptions and a wonderful atmosphere, Claire Evans truly brings the various layers of London in the 1800’s to life, from Westminster to Whitechapel, from the rich to the poor, from the privileged to the dark underbelly of the criminal world. While there may have been a slight level of predictability, I found the conspiracies and twists plenty enough to keep me thoroughly entertained.

I really enjoyed this author’s writing, the brilliant characters and the intriguing plot and I look forward to reading more by Claire Evans in future.

“LA QUATTORDICESIMA LETTERA” è proprio il tipo di romanzo mistery che io adoro: l’incipit è caratterizzato da circostanze tranquille ed ordinarie, quasi banali, vengono introdotti i diversi personaggi calati altrettanti contesti che apparentemente risultano indipendenti ed estranei tra loro e, solo attraverso il dipanarsi della trama, si iniziano a cogliere collegamenti e a formulare congetture, in un crescendo proporzionale di aspettativa e di suspense.
Il titolo fa riferimento a ciò che sta a monte di tutta questa incredibile vicenda: una ipotetica quanto fantomatica ultima lettera che Platone avrebbe scritto al suo allievo Aristotele, per esortarlo a progredire e perfezionare un’idea scaturita dal suo formidabile intelletto, che diventerà eredità delle successive novanta generazioni.
Mi è davvero piaciuto questo libro dove Claire Evans, tratteggiando con vari riferimenti storici e sociali una Londra dei primi anni Venti dell’Ottocento, ha mantenuto comunque uno stile accattivante ed un ritmo narrativo coinvolgente e, nonostante la presentazione di alcune situazioni inverosimili, è impossibile non trovare spunti di riflessione su questioni morali di notevole rilevanza.

No one was more surprised by my enjoyment of Claire Evans’ The Fourteenth Letter than me. It looked like the kind of book I would enjoy as a fun distraction, but nothing more. And I was sorely in need of a fun distraction.

The Fourteenth Letter opens with a grisly murder. What follows is an historical mystery with a classical twist, blending old world British Gothic with new world American ingenuity. It was a book about madness, privilege and eugenics, and while it didn’t keep me guessing through the whole reading experience, it definitely swept me along for the ride.

I was impressed with Evans’ characterisation. Her characters were deeply flawed, mysterious, but personable. Their experiences created a sense of real personal growth. The William Lamb of the end of the novel was virtually unrecognisable from the character we’d met at the beginning, but his growth and development were so natural that it really gave his character depth. Savannah Shelton, the American gunslinger as well, was introduced as a rough and hardened criminal. Even she proved to have real depth, while Evans’ masterfully omitted the details of her erstwhile crimes, leaving the reader to judge the character on her personality and deeds through the novel rather than her sordid past. The remaining heroes were appropriately heroic, with the generic good-guy police constable who served to move the plot at an even pace, and the villains were appropriately dark and menacing.

The pace, plotting and characterisation, however, were belied by The Fourteenth Letter’s title and branding. The cover is more evocative of a feminine gothic family saga/romance. There was nothing that screamed historical murder mystery. The titular ‘Fourteenth Letter’ as well, was introduced far too late in the plot for it to have any real impact or meaning. This was the book’s biggest letdown. The big reveal was hardly a reveal at all, as I hadn’t even known in was an option up until that point.

All in all The Fourteenth Letter was a strong entry into the historical crime genre. It was a fun read that was equal parts cliché and original that was just really, really enjoyable.

Read this review and more at I Blame Wizards.

Un romanzo avvincente e coinvolgente, davvero ben scritto e che tiene incollati dall'inizio alla fine, nella Londra vittoriana, che è in assoluto una delle mie ambientazioni preferite...cosa volere di più?

This is a really fun adventure mystery set in the 1880s, as naive young William Lamb's life is turned upside down by his discovery of a malevolent secret society. After witnessing death, murder and mystery, he teams up with the unforgettable Savannah Shelton, a streetwise American fugitive on the run from trouble back home, and they try and discover what is going on in the dark underbelly of London.

At the heart of the novel is William's quest to discover his own origins and his place in the world, in a story which reminded me a little of Harry Potter, albeit without the magic. What is the significance of his missing thumb? Who were his parents? And there's the hint of The Da Vinci Code in a mystery which goes back to ancient times - though I must stress that this is a much better book that Dan Brown's, and very, very much better written.

Claire Evans has a knack for developing believable, rounded characters and the story is a compelling one. I particularly liked the policeman, Harry, who had his own methods for tracking down the truth. However, I did find it a bit too long and the endless fights and switchbacks between the 'goodies' and the 'baddies' a tad unlikely and the story progressed. But this is a minor quibble in a book which draws you in from the first, and I'm king of hoping there will be some kind of sequel.

Vorrei capire perché questo libro è pubblicizzato come un mystery, quando è piuttosto un thriller annacquato. La descrizione qui su Goodreads mi è parsa molto promettente: una donna viene uccisa alla propria festa di fidanzamento e l'assassino dice al fidanzato che lo ha "fatto per lui", per salvarlo. Fichissimo. Proprio quello che ci voleva per me in questo momento, stavo cercando un libro che fosse nella mia comfort zone per rilassarmi un po'.

Ebbene no, non è andata proprio così, anzi questo libro mi ha messo un'angoscia allucinante. Al primo stupro avrei voluto buttarlo dalla finestra urlando, cosa che è avvenuta più volte anche successivamente. Eppure l'ho finito, nonostante la lunghezza e l'orrore che provavo leggendo, sia per la tematica (soprattutto) che per il modo in cui è costruito, con un colpo di scena dietro l'altro e alcune cose che mi hanno lasciato perplessa. Faccio solo un esempio: verso la fine del libro c'è questo incendio di materiali chimici, con provette che contengono sostanze non meglio specificate ma sicuramente dannosissime. Beh, mi spiegate come fanno i nostri eroi ad attraversare le fiamme quasi indenni, senza tra l'altro morire non dico ustionati, ma soffocati dalle esalazioni chimiche? L'ho finito perché sinceramente volevo vedere come andasse a finire, ma ne sono stata davvero orripilata. Era tutt'altro che nella mia comfort zone, anzi direi proprio il contrario. E l'ho trovato scritto male.

Per me, una schifezza totale. Consigliato a nessuno.

La Quattordicesima lettera è una sorta di thriller storico che aveva tutte le premesse per essere un libro meraviglioso, ma che purtroppo non è stato sviluppato al meglio.
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Phoebe Stanbury è pronta a sposare Benjamin Raycraft, appartenente a una delle famiglie più in vista della Londra vittoriana, ma proprio alla loro festa di fidanzamento un uomo misterioso e pieno di tatuaggi spunta dalla folla e taglia la gola della ragazza. Nello stesso momento, a pochi chilometri di distanza, William Lamb, giovane e impacciato avvocato in erba, viene coinvolto in una serie di misteriosi omicidi. Tra segreti, fughe e macchinazioni, William vivrà dei giorni turbolenti alle prese con una misteriosa setta, disposta a tutto pur di mettere a tacere le voci del passato.
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Ho trovato la trama del libro un po’ fuorviante, visto e considerato che ciò che viene preannunciato nelle prime righe della sinossi accade nelle primissime pagine del libro, ma alla fine mi è piaciuto lo sviluppo che la storia ha preso.
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Il problema più grande di questo libro è stato il ritmo, eccessivamente lento e un po’ noioso in alcuni punti. Poi, come vi ho detto, la 14esima lettera è secondo me una buona idea che sarebbe dovuta essere sviluppata meglio: la trama è bellissima e interessante, la storia di base è intrigante e l’ambientazione è davvero stupenda, ma purtroppo la parte thriller non ha un grande sviluppo. Ci sono alcuni colpi di scena verso il finale, ma mi aspettavo qualcosina in più.
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La storia si sviluppa su più archi narrativi, motivo per cui si fa un po’ fatica inizialmente a seguire i diversi personaggi e le loro disavventure. Ho apprezzato l’evoluzione del personaggio di William, ragazzo giovane e impacciato che, proprio a causa del suo carattere così timoroso si fa odiare per buona parte del libro, ma che dopo tutto ciò che è costretto a subire, tira fuori il carattere e affronta ogni avversità gli si para davanti.
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Ho infine trovato molto interessanti e attuali i temi che l’autrice ha deciso di trattare, dall’evoluzione della specie alla genetica che, proprio nel periodo storico in cui questo libro è ambientato, aveva cominciato a muovere i suoi primi passi.
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Nel complesso, La Quattordicesima è un bel libro, con un po’ di difetti, ma mi è piaciuto!

«Ogni cosa a suo tempo, giovanotto. Non essere impaziente.
Il grande e vasto mondo ti importunerà molto presto».

Con un po' di ritardo arrivo anch'io nella Londra vittoriana e cupa creata da Claire Evans, un mondo in bilico sulla modernità in arrivo (dall'elettricità ai primi motori al telefono alle grandi industrie) e ancora legato a convenzioni sociali, pregiudizi e antiche tradizioni, tra cui, forse, un progetto iniziato forse secoli prima, e che perdura nel segreto, nel sangue, nella paura e nella superiorità del più forte.

Non dico altro, perché questo romanzo è una specie di cipolla a strati e merita di essere sbucciato lentamente, assaporando ogni rivelazione e ogni scoperta.
Certo è che William Lamb è, "nomen omen", davvero un agnello mandato al sacrificio, innocente e ingenuo, fino a che non riesce a reagire grazie all'aiuto di una serie di personaggi particolari che gli daranno la forza di svegliarsi dal torpore di una vita banale e grigia, per riprendere in mano il proprio destino.

«Dici sono sopravvissuta. Io non ammiro la sopravvivenza.
È solo un nome che dai alla tua storia prima che la morte passa da te».

Tra queste pagine troverete un po' di tutto: da un'accurata ricostruzione storica a vari rimandi alla realtà dell'epoca (che l'autrice ha liberamente manipolato e adattato) a atmosfere misteriose, cariche di tensione, persino un po' sanguinose, da cenni di filosofia a qualche intelligente riflessione sulle ricerche eugenetiche.
E la Evans ha ragione quando dice che il mito della razza superiore non è stato un caso isolato del novecento, ma è un mostro che si è nutrito nei secoli, sostenuto in segreto o in pubblico, sempre godendo di un successo costante.
Spero di leggere ancora altro di lei, perchè è stata una lettura avvincente e che mi ha coinvolta.

One of those plot driven twisty turning novels that are comfortable in their predictability. Don't get me wrong it was an easy book to sink into, but that was because I felt like I had read it before. But I was in 1880s London, which is a time and place I am constantly attracted to and will keep going back there. This type of book to totally my comfort food. I cannot critise it too much even though I wanted something different, that was not the book, and I still had fun with it.

What began with promise was quickly discarded as a incohesive bore. A waste of precious time.

(3 e mezza).
Pubblicizzato come il "Le sette morti di Evelyn Hardcastle" 2.0, avverto subito che questo romanzo non regge il paragone, anche perché si tratta di due trame e sviluppi molto diversi, anche se comunque è stata una lettura piacevole, scorrevole e, tutto sommato, apprezzata.
Come punto di partenza c'è un omicidio sospetto da investigare, ma presto all'indagine del poliziotto si alternano le disavventure di altri personaggi, fino a che le due strade parallele vengono a incrociarsi e a calarsi dentro un intrigo di misteri esoterici, segreti millenari, conditi da tematiche delicate come abusi espliciti, eugenetica e razzismo (i trigger warning credo di averveli accennati tutti).
Ora, il mistero in sé mi è piaciuto molto - tra l'altro ho trovato interessante e intelligente la spiegazione del titolo che ci sarà nel corso della lettura, e anche il modo in cui le sottotrame si sono incrociate. Un punto molto debole è stata però la presenza di troppi colpi di fortuna, alcuni avvenimenti sono davvero troppo "fortunati" visti i pericoli in questione descritti. Allo stesso modo, ho trovato il finale un po' troppo sbrigativo, anche se chiude sufficientemente tutte le questioni aperte.

First off, I am not ashamed to say I was completely seduced by the cover of ‘The Fourteenth Letter’! It is so pretty and it’s perfect for the story. The second thing that drew me to it was that is a mystery set in Victorian London. Any book with this magical ingredient is a must for me. You read the blurb and think you know what to expect, but by goly, you get a completely different story to the one you imagine. The plotting for this book is brilliant, it is completely unpredictable and not what I expected which is why I enjoyed it so much.

I initially did struggle to keep up with all the characters, each chapter features a different player and I found it confusing as to who was who. But once I was about a third of the way through I had everyone firmly set in my mind and I managed to grasp the story. If you are the kind of reader to walk away from a book within the first few chapters, then please do not let it put you off. I highly recommend sticking with it, you will be rewarded with a fantastic tale.

The partnership between legal clerk, William and the gun-toting American Savannah, was a highlight of the book for me. William starts off being a naïve, wet lettuce-type who thoroughly annoyed me to begin with. But once he joins forces with Savannah, he becomes a lot more interesting. He falls into this mysterious and murderous world by accident and watching his character develop was a lot of fun.

This was a Victorian adventure full of mystery and deceit. It was entertaining, enjoyable and utterly unpredictable. The characters are interesting and colourful and the writing is vivid and clever. A great read.

The novel starts out quite well, with several intriguing plot threads against a credible Victorian London setting in 1881.
Disappointingly, it soon descends into a predictable damnation of the rich and the powerful, with an utterly inappropriate pop at 'attitudes to immigration' in the epilogue. The implication presumably being that such concerns could only be attributed to 'eugenistic concerns'.

Equally disconcerting for this reader was glaring anachronisms, occasional grammatical error, inaccuracies and - again - misplaced political statements.
A mixed race Arizonanian woman loathing the class system of Victorian Britain? Oh really.
A detective 'flashing his badge' in a country where officers use warrant cards? Hm.
A reference to crossword puzzle of 'The Times'? Nearly thirty years too early, and the wrong side of the Atlantic too.
Mad scientists bent on eugenistic perfection ignoring the most basic genetic rule of avoiding consanguinity? Yep, you've guessed it.
Shame.

DNF*

I have rated this as it was okay because the quality of the writing is absolutely fine, the piece evokes Victorian era London well but unfortunately, the subject matter is simply not for me.
I've got seven chapters in and nothing really cohesive has happened within the book, it's like a series of vignettes about different people and, while I'm sure it'll eventually come together, the subject matter isn't interesting enough to me to want to continue reading it.

*An ARC of this was provided by the publishers through NetGalley in return for an honest and unbiased review.

Well, that escalated quickly

Visit the locations in the novel

What a fascinating read! Started off as one book and then ended up quite another I thought although I appreciated the journey, I like it better now that I’ve read the whole book and had time to digest.

The book starts out quite slow and in short vignettes almost introducing different characters and their backgrounds, before they all come together in later chapters. It’s the final section of the book where the whole eugenics argument comes to the fore and then the information came thick and fast. Never overly complicated although I did have to slow down my reading here to fully grasp the detail involved in the subject matter and work out how it was related to the plot.

There was a hint of Dan Brown (for plot) and even The Handmaid’s Tale for the treatment and rape of women (some scenes overly graphic so be warned) and the idea that an ancient idea and the world of politics and philosophy could come together in such a way was fascinating to read about. Scene setting excellent with the hansom cabs and dawn of electricity nicely drawn. I also liked the blend of fact and fiction, of real figures from the political and philosophic worlds coming together in such a way. There were some moments of fantasy where you have to suspend disbelief somewhat but all in all, it lends a steam-punk feel to the story.

There’s so much to this novel that it would be great for bookclub chat. I enjoyed it although it felt incredibly dense in places and the writing sometimes slowed down the plot. The ending was shorter than I would have liked and the novel got very busy towards the end, like the crescendo in an italian opera but I did like finding out about the whole Fourteenth Letter, its significance and what the characters would do once events came out into the open.

I’m definitely going to be reading more from Claire Evans though.

La quattordicesima lettera è un bel libro secondo me, soprattutto considerando che si tratta di un romanzo d'esordio. Si tratta di un mystery ambientato nella Londra vittoriana, che comincia con delle premesse abbastanza intriganti: durante la propria festa di fidanzamento, una giovane ragazza viene brutalmente assassinata da un uomo nudo coperto di fango e di tatuaggi, che, rivolgendosi al fidanzato di lei, annuncia di averlo fatto per salvarlo.
È un po' un peccato che nel risvolto di copertina siano date molte più informazioni di quelle che ho citato io qui perché secondo me fanno un po' spoiler, però è anche vero che si scoprono abbastanza presto nel romanzo.
Comunque, per tornare a noi, è un bel mystery e ho trovato la scrittura di Claire Evans (o meglio, la traduzione italiana) di mio gusto. L'idea di fondo è interessante e lo sviluppo della trama è ben strutturato.

L'unico aspetto negativo (che però non è legato al romanzo in sé) è che questo libro viene venduto con una fascetta che dice "Se avete amato le sette morti di Evelyn Hardcastle, allora adorerete questo libro": ecco, non proprio. Ripeto, non perché non sia un bel libro, ma perché a parte il fatto che entrambi i libri entrano nella categoria mystery, secondo me non hanno proprio niente in comune!
All'inizio ho avuto un po' di problemi a farmi prendere dalla storia, proprio perché mi aspettavo lo stesso mondo delirante di Stuart Turton. Se non ci fosse stata la fascetta, lo avrei comprato comunque, e penso che lo avrei apprezzato ancora di più. Elisabetta

Non condivido gli accostamenti a Le sette morti di Evelyn Hardcastle, visto che ci sono enormi differenze sia nella struttura del romanzo che nella trama vera e propria (se avete letto il libro di Stuart Turton sapete bene qual è il finale e quanto modifica la nostra percezione di tutta la narrazione). Sebbene Le sette morti... sia più ambizioso, La quattordicesima lettera è più onesto: si tratta di un giallo ambientato in epoca vittoriana (anche se l'ambientazione è piuttosto superficiale - vengono spesso nominati luoghi o istituzioni tipiche senza nessun tipo di approfondimento, a solo scopo 'evocativo' - sto parlando di Whitechapel, Scotland Yard o Bedlam), una storia dal ritmo veloce, in cui la soluzione viene rilasciata lungo tutta la seconda parte del romanzo, con un ultimo capitoletto un po' posticcio che forse lascia spazio a un seguito. Mi è piaciuta la giocosità dell'autrice che ha invertito i ruoli tipici dei protagonisti (la donzella in pericolo è un contabile asmatico e il cavaliere senza macchia né paura è una donna di colore americana dai trascorsi decisamente coloriti, mentre il detective valoroso è un uomo disperatamente solo e con la nomea di essere così puntiglioso da non riuscire a risolvere un singolo caso...). Sicuramente si è divertita a scrivere questo libro e vi divertirete voi a leggerlo.

2.5/2.7 😩