The Dress Lodger

Not for me!

I gave this book several chances, but I just could not get into it.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Awesome and Magical in a dark way but in the end.....

A narrative voice guides you through the streets of this historical
novel giving you a glimpse of the upper class and letting you live
ever so briefly beside the down trodden and poverty sticken.

Cadavers for medical students seems the aim of Henry Chiver, surgeon/body snatcher.
Besides Henry a of characters pass before you.
Flo the match still girl, Whilky the "landlord", the "Eye" and
Gustine the girl in the blue dress. You will not forget them.

Very descriptive passages. If this is not your thing... best
move on to something else.

I was enthralled from the first pages until the very end.
And in the end.... in the end?

I had to look up 'quim' lol

I honestly kinda hated this book. Maybe it was because i paid for it when i normally do free books on here so i expected it to wow me and it soooo didnt. I love historical fiction, check. Rooting for the underdog, Disgraced surgeon and a poor single mom prostitute, check. I love books with some type of plague (like 'fever' and 'at the sign of the sugared plum'), check. Then her fighting for her poor babies life should seem to seal the deal but i ended up hating all the characters. They all seemed deplorable. I very much disliked the ending but can not totally bunker on it for it at least provided some closure and could have been worse. I guess i just like my books to have happy neat clean endings. Had this been written for a YA demographic instead i think i would have much more enjoyed it, instead of the theme that the world is a cold hard place that does not always offer redemption/ doom and gloom mentality. I just ehh.... it was most unsettling.

Highly recommened

When I first started reading this book I wasn't sure it was my kind of read. Glad I kept on reading. It has remained one of my favorite books. Her descriptive of the time period is beautiflly written. Quite a twist at the end as well. I have bought it for many friends over the years and all feel the same. Funny because I usually read Sci-Fi and Horror. I LOVED THIS BOOK!

The Dress Lodger

This is a uniquely written book. It did not catch my interest at first, but I always strive to give a book a chance. Glad I do because it grabbed and gripped my attention! Unusual in a myriad of ways; writing style, plot, character introduction and development. Not an easy read but it becomes a compelling, interesting, imaginative one. The historical period the novel encompasses was harsh and unforgiving if you were poor. The author gives us a clear window into the epoch. I recommend it but not for light reading.

Incredibly different historical fiction with a sinister edge

If you want to read a very unusual and creative story based on historical fact, this is it. The Dress Lodger is a novel that intertwines the hardship of poverty and the ongoing underground "education" of early surgeons in England in the 17c. in an incredible and very descriptive way.
Characters are unforgettable, I read this 5 years ago and I remember all of it. One of the few book I may actually reread. Awesome.

Loved it!

A bookshop owner recommended this to me- she loved it and so did I.
Between the time period, characters, and crudeness, I couldn't put it down.

Bizarre

Good historical novel...but with a unexpected, body-snatching twist.

The Dress Lodger

Try as I may, I could not get into this book. After the 1st 30 or 40 pages, it still had done nothing for me. I did not read it. I have read books before that started slow, but something held my attention. This did nothing for me.

Good Read

I enjoyed reading this book and although I don't like commenting on endings because I don't want to ruin it for anyone I will only say that I liked it - sometimes it is nice when it ends well for the characters you learn to love.

Fascinating/Different

I experienced this book as different than most other historical fiction I've read and enjoyed. The narrative voice was unusual. The details about early 19th century living conditions in England, the ravages of cholera, and the plight of the poor (and their dead) were illuminating and even gut-wrenching. The second half of the novel moved a bit faster and 'grabbed' me more than the first part. For me, the 'Eye' was the most interesting and sympathetic character.

Struggling to get to the end

As I am reading this book I feel a bit held hostage. I want to finish it in order to find out how the main character's life turns out. However, it moves so very slowly. I find I put this down in the middle of sentences sometimes. The paradox of wanting to know and yet having such a struggle to find out seems to mimic the dress lodger's life. Maybe this is why I so much want to get to the end and yet feel so incapable of pushing through it.

Hmmm

I'd recommend this book. It's easy to get into the story, the main character is great: you can really feel what she was feeling. BUT it leaves you wondering if you really enjoyed it or not. The doctor is likeable but in the end you kind of hate him. It left me confused and wanting a ::umph:: at the end. HOWEVER- I couldn't put it down.

What Historical Fiction Should Be

Holman evokes all the senses in this novel. I could see, hear, smell, taste, and touch Industrial Age Sunderland, and as gritty as it was, I didn't want to leave. She captured the era beautifully, wove in the themes seamlessly, and every time I thought I knew where the novel was going, I was wrong.

Brain stimulating.

Being the nieve child I am, I picked up this book without know what a dress lodger was. Laugh all you want. I got to reading it though and I was sucked in. The whole story really made me think and consider what was and is going on in the world.

Excellent Portrayal of England in1831

This remarkable story has shown me how dear every life is, even under the most grueling living conditions, where squalor and filth is life to the poor. Disease and death are more than nightmares. Yet, families reside and daily find hope in their misery; they seek love and goodness, and try desperately to live in the mire. So well written, the reader can feel their pain, smell the stench, and taste the rot, and somewhere in between, be taken in by the love for family.

Okay.

I usually get through books very quick, but this took me over a month to read. The only thing that kept me going was the main character, and at times I almost gave up on her. Not a book I'd recommend to friends.

Reader in Oklahoma

Interesting and different. Not at all modern. Told through narration that is slowly revealed. Science and disease, learning versus work, rich against poor but ultimately about love. I didn't think I was enjoying it, yet I couldn't stop reading it. Try it...

Need a good story?

I got this book as a gift, otherwise I may have never read it. I am really glad I did. Holman's writing is really outstanding and her research was so fascinating, she uses otherwise dull and unrelated historical events so skillfully to create this elaborate, moving, and almost epic story. It is so obviously influenced by Dickens and his contemporaries, but there's really something new there too. The opening device is really dramatic. I loved the way she opens the book. In her interview she said she'd like to write like Flannery O'Conner, but Ms. Holman, I want to write like you!

**This book is amazing !!!!

This book is amazing. I learned a lot about the cholera Epidermic of 1800's. The author has done an excellent job.The language was a bit confusing but,it was very depressing to read the hardships that a young girl went through in life. I feel very soory for Gustine because if I were her I would not be able to survive. Anyways, this book is breathtaking.