BOOK REVIEW: Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore

I received this book for free from Netgalley. This did not influence my review.

Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore is an unusual book. A historical novel that is melancholy, gothic, and tense, it is introduced with an old-fashioned historical note, followed by a contemporary prelude in which a middle-aged widower out walking his dog comes across a ruined tombstone in a bedraggled old graveyard. He is intrigued by the inscription and attempts to discover the story behind it. The stone was put up in 1793, dedicated to a Julia Elizabeth Fawkes, whose writings, according to the dedication, were much admired. The widower’s attempt is thwarted by a paucity of information. This is the segue into a story that is actually about Julia’s daughter, Lizzie. The widower never reappears.

Although the introduction seemed a bit clunky at first, it does emphasize the author’s point about historical voices, particularly women’s voices, being lost to us.

Lizzie is the daughter of an early feminist radical. Lizzie loves her mother, barely tolerates her stepfather, and has bonded with her mother’s sole servant, Hannah, who helped raise her. However, Lizzie is no longer a child, though she remains as innocent as one. She falls in love with and marries a builder/property developer, Diner Tredevant.

The book blurb emphasizes the historical and political aspects of the novel. It is set during the time of the French Revolution. However, the characters are located in England and all news from abroad is second hand. The political upheaval is background for the novel and never rises to primary importance. Lizzie’s mother’s radical circle believes in the goals of the Revolution yet they are distressed, to varying degrees, by the violence. Ripples, primarily economic, affect Lizzie and her husband. With war impending, no one will buy Diner’s luxury homes.

The plot centers on the relationship between Lizzie and Diner. It is clear from the book’s opening chapters that Diner is a dangerous man. Their marriage is a claustrophobic one. Lizzie remains devoted to her family even as Diner tries pulling her away. As his development project fails (and it seemed doomed to fail even before the French troubles sapped the economy further), he becomes gloomier and scarier. Trapped and increasingly isolated, Lizzie doesn’t know all that the reader knows, so there is a constant undercurrent of suspense.

Dunmore’s writing is lovely and the plot moves at a steady pace, building to a frightening climax. I couldn’t guess which way the story would go. I requested the book based on the blurb, and while the book does not deliver exactly what the blurb promises, what it does deliver is even better.