The Journal of Dora Damage
Belinda Starling, . . Bloomsbury, $24.95 (452pp) ISBN 978-1-59691-336-3
Victorian fascination with forbidden sex and science inspires this first novel from Starling, who died last year in Essex, England, at 34. In 1859, arthritic hands and an impatient moneylender force Peter Damage to allow his wife, Dora, to enter the family trade, bookbinding. With assistance from apprentice Jack Tapster and German finisher Sven, Dora masters the art while looking after her invalid husband and their five-year-old epileptic daughter, Lucinda. Business thrives, and then Damage's major clients—dashing Sir Jocelyn Knightley; his crusading abolitionist wife, Lady Sylvia; and their distinguished circle of friends—hire Dora to bind pornographic texts (including
Reviewed on: 06/25/2007
Genre: Fiction
Hardcover - 452 pages - 978-0-7475-8522-0
Open Ebook - 464 pages - 978-1-60819-604-3
Paperback - 452 pages - 978-0-7475-9325-6