The Girl from Old Nichol

Historical-nonfiction author Annand (Growing Up in the White House) makes an awkward switch to historical fiction with this unsatisfying story. Gladys Tunner is born in the rough East End of London in 1829. Her parents are alcoholics, and when she’s a teen they try to sell her to their landlord. Gladys runs, leaving behind her only protectors: Toughie, an orphan, and Sally, a kind midwife. She lands in the countryside town of Dover, where she earns a living as a maid and a barmaid and dreams of being a governess. She also has the unlikely fortune to be romantically pursued by an aristocrat, only to experience the frustrating limitations of her class status. A lot happens in Annand’s plot, but the reader feels the sensation of only skimming the surface of a life. Most of the characters are emotionless, and the omniscient narrator never fades into the background, instead interrupting with historical information: “London was the most populated city in the world and had run out of jobs and room for the mass migration of people who came to the city from rural areas hoping to find employment during the Industrial Revolution.” The dynamism of 19th-century England and Gladys’s ambition are overshadowed by a repetitive plot and clunky dialogue. (Jan.)