Ebook The Conviction of Cora Burns Carolyn Kirby 9781945814846 Books
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"Kirby writes with skill and gusto." --The Timesbr>
London, 1885
Cora Burns has always struggled to control the violence inside of her. Does this temperament come from the mother she never knew, a convict who gave birth to her in jail? Or is Cora a product of her harsh upbringing in the workhouse, where her only light was a girl named Alice Salt, so like Cora that they were almost sisters.
Just released from Birmingham Gaol, Cora sets out to find Alice. But her memories of Alice are hazy, entangled with the memories of a terrible crime the murder of a little boy in the workhouse. Her sole clue is a bronze medal cut in half, engraved with the word SALT.
Cora finds work as a servant in the home of Thomas Jerwood, a gentleman-scientist obsessed with the study of hereditary criminality. Here Cora befriends a young girl, Violet, who seems to be the subject of a living experiment into upbringing and character. But are there two identical girls called Violet? And is Jerwood also secretly studying Cora? As the secrets of her past unravel, Cora must decide if her own scarred nature is an unalterable product of biology or if she has the strength to change.
With the power and intrigue of Emma Donoghue’s The Wonder and Sarah Schmidt’s See What I Have Done, Carolyn Kirby’s debut novel delves into Victorian London’s dark underbelly and the question of where we first learn violence from our scars or from our hearts.
Ebook The Conviction of Cora Burns Carolyn Kirby 9781945814846 Books
"‘Set in the 1880s in Birmingham, this is an atmospheric and gripping novel about a determined young woman who strives to overcome the hardship and violence that plagues her and the dark, fractured memories which haunt her. With a gritty setting, and a fantastic historical and social context, ‘The Conviction of Cora Burns’ explores themes of motherhood, mental illness, memories and the concept of nature versus nurture.’
October 1885. Cora, born in a gaol and raised in a workhouse, has always struggled to control the violence inside her. Haunted by memories of a terrible crime, she has been offered a new life working as a servant in the house of scientist Thomas Jerwood, in the suburb of Spark Hill, some 3 miles distant. But will she take up the position, joining a staff of four indoor servants and on terms of just £8 per annum, ‘half what she’d got as a laundress’?
I followed in the footsteps of author and character on a cold January morning in Birmingham, seeking out Cora’s path as she was finally released from the institutions that defined her childhood and adolescence. Read my On Literary Location blog post for TripFiction here.
After some demeaning false starts in the city, Cora reluctantly takes up the post offered in Mr Jerwood’s household. At The Larches, we meet a host of interesting characters: scullery maid Ellen, who is shaking her petticoats at gardener Samuel; housekeeper Mrs Dix; the kindly Cook, who has her own buried secrets; upstairs ‘the missus’ hides in her chamber, mad and shouting only for Anna; Mr. Jerwood, forever buried in his research papers; and, most intriguingly, young Violet, seemingly the object of a scientist’s experiments…
In parallel with Cora’s new situation, the author deftly weaves in the unfolding story of her time in the Union workhouse some 11 years earlier, where she and her sister Alice may have committed a terrible crime. And research papers and letters from Mr. Jerwood and a madhouse Medical Officer begin to hint at what may have happened to Cora and her family in those dark early years.
I savoured every page of The Conviction of Cora Burns. Carolyn Kirby has created a lead character who is both inherently bad, and yet not without some kindness and hope. The story is multi-layered, discussing wide-ranging themes, including nature versus nurture, mental illness, memories – whether real or false – class structure and motherhood.
And all this is told with an authenticity of language, place and time that can only reflect a huge investment in research by the author:
‘Boot soles gaped and flapped like hungry fish but didn’t seem to slow Letty down. Sh e weaved over cobbles and kerbs, steering Cora against a wall at the tight corner of Meriden Street as a horse tram clipped by. Cora sensed that the girl was more at home amongst the carts and costermongers and dingy corner shops than she would ever be. ‘
‘They turned into Coventry Street and even though it was Sunday, a sour breeze blew up from the vinegar brewery.’
The Conviction of Cora Burns is Carolyn Kirby’s debut novel, It was begun in 2013 on a writing course at the renowned Faber Academy in London. I hope we don’t have to wait so long for the next one...."
Product details - Paperback 296 pages
- Publisher Dzanc Books (March 19, 2019)
- Language English
- ISBN-10 1945814845
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The Conviction of Cora Burns Carolyn Kirby 9781945814846 Books Reviews :
The Conviction of Cora Burns Carolyn Kirby 9781945814846 Books Reviews
- ‘Set in the 1880s in Birmingham, this is an atmospheric and gripping novel about a determined young woman who strives to overcome the hardship and violence that plagues her and the dark, fractured memories which haunt her. With a gritty setting, and a fantastic historical and social context, ‘The Conviction of Cora Burns’ explores themes of motherhood, mental illness, memories and the concept of nature versus nurture.’
October 1885. Cora, born in a gaol and raised in a workhouse, has always struggled to control the violence inside her. Haunted by memories of a terrible crime, she has been offered a new life working as a servant in the house of scientist Thomas Jerwood, in the suburb of Spark Hill, some 3 miles distant. But will she take up the position, joining a staff of four indoor servants and on terms of just £8 per annum, ‘half what she’d got as a laundress’?
I followed in the footsteps of author and character on a cold January morning in Birmingham, seeking out Cora’s path as she was finally released from the institutions that defined her childhood and adolescence. Read my On Literary Location blog post for TripFiction here.
After some demeaning false starts in the city, Cora reluctantly takes up the post offered in Mr Jerwood’s household. At The Larches, we meet a host of interesting characters scullery maid Ellen, who is shaking her petticoats at gardener Samuel; housekeeper Mrs Dix; the kindly Cook, who has her own buried secrets; upstairs ‘the missus’ hides in her chamber, mad and shouting only for Anna; Mr. Jerwood, forever buried in his research papers; and, most intriguingly, young Violet, seemingly the object of a scientist’s experiments…
In parallel with Cora’s new situation, the author deftly weaves in the unfolding story of her time in the Union workhouse some 11 years earlier, where she and her sister Alice may have committed a terrible crime. And research papers and letters from Mr. Jerwood and a madhouse Medical Officer begin to hint at what may have happened to Cora and her family in those dark early years.
I savoured every page of The Conviction of Cora Burns. Carolyn Kirby has created a lead character who is both inherently bad, and yet not without some kindness and hope. The story is multi-layered, discussing wide-ranging themes, including nature versus nurture, mental illness, memories – whether real or false – class structure and motherhood.
And all this is told with an authenticity of language, place and time that can only reflect a huge investment in research by the author
‘Boot soles gaped and flapped like hungry fish but didn’t seem to slow Letty down. Sh e weaved over cobbles and kerbs, steering Cora against a wall at the tight corner of Meriden Street as a horse tram clipped by. Cora sensed that the girl was more at home amongst the carts and costermongers and dingy corner shops than she would ever be. ‘
‘They turned into Coventry Street and even though it was Sunday, a sour breeze blew up from the vinegar brewery.’
The Conviction of Cora Burns is Carolyn Kirby’s debut novel, It was begun in 2013 on a writing course at the renowned Faber Academy in London. I hope we don’t have to wait so long for the next one.... - Cora Burns – now there’s a character you won’t forget in a hurry. A strange and complex girl this one. Born in prison and now working as a laundry girl, it seems luck is not on her side. But what she lacks in wealth and circumstance, she makes up for in sheer determination and grit. This girl is more than capable of kicking someone who might try to hurt her.
There’s a lot going on in this novel but it’s so well written that it never feels overdone. The writing is fluid, gothic and really easy to read. It’s compelling. It’s like walking into a lab and being amazed at all the jars – in each one there’s a story, a concoction of sorts, but Cora is at the centre of it all and holds all the threads together. A very strong and impressive character and her world is one I wanted to linger in for as long as I could. 300 pages in the proof copy left me wanting more!
Cora goes from the asylum to a house owned by the strange Mr Jerwood. He takes pictures of people, studies them to see which characteristics criminals share for example. How nature and nuture can tell us about society. There’s a lot of fascinating issues in this book. Dead things in jars too. I was like a kid in a sweet shop – so vivid were the gothic images.
You know something weird is going on in that lab. But as Cora finds out, is she the one being studied? She has a past she wants to find out more about, a locket she keeps safe. But is life ever about one path?
This one has more twists and turns than the twistiest of paths!
I think I may have applauded the end.
Book two now please! - I’m not usually a lover of historical books apart from ones to do with the war, reading the blurb for this one though it really intrigued me and I knew I wanted to find out more about Cora’s story. It didn’t disappoint.
Needless to say that Cora didn’t have the best start in life being born in gaol. Then to spend her childhood in a workhouse, I don’t think things could be any worse. The story itself flicks between past and present so we can better understand and get to know Cora. I have to admit I wasn’t to sure about Cora to start with. There is definitely a dark side to her that made me very wary. Whilst I can’t say I fully agreed with some of her actions, I quite admired the person she became.
I think this is a story very much about how we react to our start in life and how events can mould us into the person we become. It’s one that really makes you think. I found the whole era fascinating and whilst glad I didn’t live in those times, it does give a great insight into what life was like back then.
The Conviction Of Cora Burns is a fascinating insight into the 1800’s and into one woman’s life. Cora’s life really draws the reader in and I struggled to put the book down. The story takes some dark twists and turns and I was totally engrossed in what I was reading. A very clever debut novel and an author I will certainly be keeping my eye out for.
My thanks to No Exit Press for an advanced readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.
