Belgravia by Julian Fellowes

Belgravia by Julia Fellowes; editorial consultant Imogen Edward-Jones; historical consultant Lindy Woodhead --- 402 pages

As a fan of Downton Abbey I was quite looking forward to Fellowes' new novel, Belgravia, and intrigued by the advance publiclity of how he planned to serialize online with an app prior to the actual book publication.

Belgravia is set primarily in London in the first half of the nineteenth century. The plot centers on the potentially scandalous secret connecting the aristocratic Bellasis family of Belgravia and the nouveau riche  Trenchards of Eaton Square. It opens with the historic ball given by the Duchess of Richmond in Brussels on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo. The literary connection to Dickens, Thackeray and other nineteenth century Bristish novelists whose works were first serialized in popular magazines before they were published, is clear.

The book is divided into eleven episodes, with a "cliff-hanger" at the end of each, designed to leave the reader eagerly awaiting the next episode. Unfortunately, reading Belgravia is rather more like reading a script or a screenplay than a novel.  The bare bones of the story are there, but curiously lack that sensation of total immersion in a heightened reality.  We are missing the actors --- and the sets, the lighting, the costumes, the musical score, and all those collaborators who help bring a script or a screenplay to life.  Maybe it's been a long time since Fellowes pulled one off on his own, and it shows.

Click HERE for an article in The Atlantic on the novel as app.

Click HERE for an interview with Fellowes from National Public Radio.

Click HERE for an article from the UK Telegraph.

Click HERE for a review of Belgravia from the New York Times.

Click HERE for a review of Belgravia from the Seattle Times.

Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell

Murder as a Fine Art by David Morrell --- 358 pages

David Morrell got his start with the series of novels he wrote about a traumatized Vietnam war veteran which became the basis of the Rambo films starring Sylvester Stallone.

But he's gone on to write a number of tauntly plotted suspense thrillers incorporating historical people and events, of which this is the latest and one of the best.  Although his prose may be clunky, his characterizations of both real and imagined characters are compelling, and he deftly weaves any number of real events, persons and places into his tale.

It is 1854 and London, the capital of the British Empire, is the home of  the richest and most powerful men in the world. Much of the Empire's power however comes from the British East India Company's opium trade, which has destroyed the lives of millions of people at home and abroad. Thomas de Quincey, the infamous author of Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, has been lured to London so he can be framed for a series of brutal murders identical to the infamous Ratcliffe Highway murders that terrorized London in 1811.

De Quincey is suspected because one of his most controversial essays, "On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts," discusses the Ratcliffe Highway murders in great detail --- the very same horrific details that have been meticulously recreated in the new attacks. In order to prove his own innocence, de Quincey must insinuate himself into the police investigation, all the while fighting the debilitating effects of his own opium addiction. He learns that he and the murderer are linked by secrets long buried but never forgotten.

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