The Goddess and the Thief - Essie Fox - Author guest post & review

I am delighted to share a guest blog post by author Essie Fox today, writing about her novel The Goddess and the Thief.  

BLOG POST BY ESSIE FOX

The Goddess and the Thief is perhaps the most gothic of my three Victorian novels. It has ghosts, Hindu gods, a cursed diamond, and opiate-driven dreams – not to mention certain vampiric themes, some of which allude to stories in the original Penny Dreadfuls; such as that of Varney the Vampire, a rather a lurid precursor of Bram Stoker’s Dracula.

But, as well as providing what I hope is an entertaining read, many of the novel’s dramatic scenes reference more serious issues by far – relating to loss and identity – to female subjugation – and also obsessive religious beliefs when (for whatever reasons), some people are driven to behave in ways that others would call insane. And yet, are they really deluded? Or, is it true, as Shakespeare wrote that, “There are more things in heaven and earth…than dreamt of in your philosophy.”

In The Goddess and The Thief, my narrator is Alice Willoughby, a young woman who is torn between two very different worlds – and very different philosophies – being born and raised in India for the first eight years of her life, and then coming to live in England.

In India, her beloved ayah fills her head with tales of the Hindu gods – particularly Shiva and Sati. Sati was the god’s first mortal wife, who died when she flung herself into the flames of a fire at a sacred festival to prove her devotion to the god. Sati is eventually reborn in the form of Parvati, the human child who later on becomes divine when Shiva takes her as his bride.

Alice never forgets these stories, and her opening words in the novel are: “Do you believe in other worlds, of lives ever after, of heavens on earth? My ayah did and from her lips there dripped such honeyed promises…”

But Mini’s ‘honeyed promises’ go on to become the foundation for many subsequent events that prove to be very far from sweet, when Alice’ is forced to leave her care – when her father, who is in the service of the British East India Company, fears for his daughter’s morality and travels with her to England, where he leaves her in the care of an aunt. But he could not be more mistaken. Aunt Mercy is not as respectable as Alice’s father believes her to be, but is actually involved in the trade of spiritualist mediums. And, whereas she is a fraud, Alice – though a reluctant recruit – proves to have genuine psychic skills. And then, when the two women are befriended by a man called Lucian Tilsbury (whose own experiences in India have led to certain obsessions that neither women at first perceives), the resulting affairs and deceptions lead Alice – and her jealous aunt – into a nightmare of abuse, and increasingly dangerous desires.

Alice is unwittingly involved in the theft of a diamond which has been brought to England as ransom at the end of the Second Anglo Sikh war. In reality this diamond is based upon the actual Koh-i-noor, still one of the crown jewels today and on view in the Tower of London.

In my novel, the Koh-i-noor appears as a symbol of mystical spiritualism, linked to magical events relating to the Hindu gods, being able to bless – or sometimes curse – all those who come into its light. And, on a more prosaic level, the diamond’s power also lies in the fact that it was once the sovereign symbol of Lahore, and all that has now been taken away from the glamorous Prince Duleep Singh – the boy maharajah who was deposed and whose story is absolutely true, and which, I have taken the liberty of weaving into my novel’s plot.

Duleep really did come to England where he lived a very privileged life as a favourite of Queen Victoria. And in later years he also wished to claim his diamond back again, and hoped to return to India to sit once again on his golden throne; only not in quite the dramatic way described in The Goddess and the Thief.

The novel is suffused in deceits and supernatural mysteries, amongst which the prince, and Alice too, must face the ghosts from their Indian pasts. And sometimes those ghosts are imaginary, and sometimes they are very real. But as one of the other characters says when she sees some broken shards of glass: ‘See the glisten of that…as bright as any precious jewel. You can never tell ...what’s true...what’s false.’

Well, I hope if you read The Goddess and the Thief that by the time the novel ends you will see what’s real and what is false concerning the tales of the diamond, and also regarding Alice’s past – and whether, as Tilsbury believes, her future lies in India, linked to those stories her Ayah once told about the sacred Hindu gods. And finally, with regard to Duleep, I hope you find some sympathy and see that the British Empire’s dream of conquest and trade in India could sometimes lead to sadness – when a boy torn between two different worlds might end up belonging nowhere.

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Huge thanks to Essie for sharing her thoughts here!

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My review

'Those years I lived in India, I think they were my paradise.'

As a little girl, Alice Willoughby lived with her father in India, raised by her dear ayah, Mini, who tells her stories about Hindu gods, in particular Shiva and Parvati. Alice is devastated when taken by her father from this home that she knows and loves, and brought to live in Windsor, supposedly for a moral upbringing, with her self-centred aunt Mercy, who unbeknownst to Alice's father is in fact a spiritualist medium. When she lived in India, Alice once saw the precious, priceless Koh-i-Noor diamond, which was taken from India and brought to England after the end of the second Anglo-Sikh war, and it is set to play a significant role in her life to come. One day a mysterious man named Lucian Tilsbury enters Alice and Mercy's lives, and a plot is put into motion regarding the diamond.

Alice finds herself under the control and whims of her aunt, made to play a role and not cared for lovingly as she had been in India: 'I was the puppet whose strings were pulled by the whims and desires of her aunt.'  She finds herself with little option but to help her Aunt with her activities as a medium despite her desire not to be a part of them. A moment I particularly enjoyed was when Mercy, who, despite her assertions, has no genuine abilities as a medium, witnesses the very real psychic abilities of Alice. 

The Goddess and the Thief is a beautifully written, intricate, gothic and dark Victorian novel weaving together so many intriguing layers, many that I knew little of before reading this story. I loved the descriptions of India and hearing the stories of the Hindu gods that Alice had been told, stories that I might have otherwise never come across. 

It feels as though Essie Fox writes with a real passion and fascination for her themes, and this comes across, it drew me in and aroused my interest. In fact, right from the first page, reading the letter from Alice's mother to her sister Mercy that was 'never sent', I was intrigued. I liked how Queen Victoria and her mourning were incorporated into the storyline. Another fascinating character brought into the tale is the Maharajah Duleep Singh, taken from his homeland to England, becoming Queen Victoria's 'beautiful boy'. The plot holds surprises and twists, and I found myself reading a little slower sometimes to make sure I fully digested what was happening, sometimes to pause and think about what had happened, and I had to ask myself sometimes if I things were real or imaginary. 

Alice's world whilst in India feels so rich and full of colour and joyous experiences, and her life in England seems by contrast to be constrained, bleak and grey, stifling her. At times I felt very sad for Alice at the situations she found herself in, very vulnerable, sometimes with little or no way out, being manipulated or controlled by others.

It's a read strong on atmosphere, plot, imagination and mystery, with characters driven by passion and obsession. I felt immersed in a different place, hearing tales of mysterious people, precious objects, of mythology, gods and spirits, and learning a little of colonialism. The story ended on a poignant note.  For me this was an unusual, clever and captivating tale by an author talented in successfully weaving so many facets of history and imagination together into her narratives. I don't know if I've done this story justice in my review but hopefully given a flavour of it and how I enjoyed it. Do read the afterword by the author that sheds more light on what you've just read.

I was lucky enough to read the lovely hardback edition of this novel, which is beautifully designed and textured. 

I received a copy of this novel for an honest review.

Author links - twitter @EssieFox | website | Virtual Victorian |

Published by Orion

Tuesday Intro: The Goddess and the Thief by Essie Fox

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea - every Tuesday, sharing the first paragraph (or a few) of a book you are currently reading or thinking about reading soon. Visit the blog here to join in.

I'm reading The Goddess and the Thief by Essie Fox.

What a stunning cover design this book has.

First paragraph

'The Letter - Never Sent

Benares

Tuesday, July 22nd, 1843

My Dearest Sister, Mercy,

How pleased I was to receive your letter, and to know that you and Mama have settled into the Windsor house, although Charles (and please, you must call him Charles - Doctor Willoughby is too formal by far!) says he will not countenance one more word of you being the 'poor relations'. He insists that Claremont Road is yours to do with exactly as you choose, and that when the time comes for us to return the house is perfectly adequate to accommodate the four of us - and any children too.

I only wish I were with you now, to select the new hangings and furniture - all those pleasures that I dreamed about before Charles was so prematurely called to return to his duties in India. Oh, Mercy, how I miss you! England is too far away, both in distance and in memory. I beg you not to tell Mama, but your letter has found me ailing and really at the lowest ebb. This homesickness consumes me.'

Well, I'm halfway through and really absorbed in this brilliant tale. I liked the opening and was intrigued about the fact that the letter was never sent.

What do you think, and would you keep reading?

Synopsis

Uprooted from her home in India, Alice is raised by her aunt, a spiritualist medium in Windsor. When the mysterious Mr Tilsbury enters their lives, Alice is drawn into a plot to steal the priceless Koh-i-Noor diamond, claimed by the British Empire at the end of the Anglo-Sikh wars.

Said to be both blessed and cursed, the sacred Indian stone exerts its power over all who encounter it: a handsome deposed maharajah determined to claim his rightful throne, a man hell-bent on discovering the secrets of eternity, and a widowed queen who hopes the jewel can draw her husband's spirit back. In the midst of all this madness, Alice must discover a way to regain control of her life and fate...

Dancing to the Flute - Manisha Jolie Amin - guest review

Kalu is a street urchin, who was abandoned by his family as a small child. He endures unimaginable hardship, but by using his wits to survive and by running errands for local shop keepers, he finds just enough food to keep himself from starving. Music becomes Kalu’s salvation, and when a travelling healer discovers Kalu playing a beautiful melody through a rolled up banyan leaf, Kalu’s life takes on a very different meaning, and leads him, with his friends Malti and Bal, on a remarkable journey of self discovery.

Initially slow to start, the story attempts to mimic the theme of the ‘raag’, the mood of the music Kalu is so adept at playing, but alongside the hypnotic quality of the music,  the story of India, its people and places, and the overwhelming charm of its indigenous magic, runs like a colourful thread. Through the heat and the dust, the traditional values of small villages emerge, but even as diverse cultural changes begin to be noticeable, the spirituality of Hindu wisdom floats like a beautiful melody throughout the narrative.  

This is a very impressive debut book; the author has a real skill with words and has the unique ability to convey, in just a few phrases, an entire world. There is a gentle lyricism to the narrative which belies its strength, and even as the overwhelming theme of love and friendship is expertly explored, it is the poignant simplicity of the narrative which leaves a lasting impression. 

I really enjoyed Dancing to the Flute and have no hesitation in awarding it a 5 out of 5 star rating.

Thank you to Lindsay at the Little Reader Library for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Reviewed by Josie Barton - guest reviewer

Published by Alma Books

Many thanks to Josie for reading and reviewing this novel for The Little Reader Library. Josie writes a wonderful book review blog at JaffaReadsToo.

Thanks to the publisher for kindly sending a copy of this novel for review. 

The Sandalwood Tree - Elle Newmark

I have read and reviewed this novel as part of the Transworld Book Group Reading Challenge.

This is a beautifully written, enjoyable to read, dual timeframe novel. In 1947, Evie  travelled from Chicago to India with her historian husband Martin and young five year old son Billy. Martin is on a Fulbright scholarship to study the last days of the British rule in the region. Their marriage is on rocky ground since Martin returned from serving in WWII a changed, quieter man, and Evie hopes things may improve for them once they are in India, and that he may open up and share the dreadful wartime experiences that he evidently keeps locked within. Hidden in their cottage, Evie discovers the remains of some letters between two English women, dating from just under a hundred years previously, who themselves were occupants of this cottage in Masoorla.

So begins the other half of the story, featuring Felicity Chadwick and Adela Winfield, set in the 1840s and 1850s. We learn, through remnants of letters, and journal entries made by Adela and found by Evie, what happened when these two Victorian women met as young girls in England, formed an incredibly close bond, and found themselves both together again in India, looking to live their lives unconventionally, with joy and adventure. Evie becomes entranced by the mystery of these two women from the past, who, like her, traveled to India and experienced the unfamiliar culture. She looks into their story, as she finds further clues and the tale unfolds, as a distraction from her troubled relationship with her husband. The stories that Evie uncovers from the past enlighten her as to what really counts in the present.

I really enjoyed this lovely read, with a well-developed and cleverly intertwined storyline. It has such a strong sense of place and is rich with period detail evoking the vibrant, varied colours, spicy foods, diverse smells, intense heat, terrible poverty and suffering, inequality, and the many ways of life in India as these incomers experienced it then. Whilst reading I myself felt as if I was immersed in the place and I was engrossed in the tale throughout. I was very interested to learn aspects of India’s, and the regions’ past through the eyes of these characters, in particular Evie, whose first-person accounts bring us close to her everyday experiences. The author captures the country at a time of unrest and change, with Partition on the horizon, and many millions of people with an unsettled, uncertain future. I couldn’t wait to find out what happened next in both parts of the story. It is a vibrant novel, which contains mystery, tells of love and passion that is against the accepted norm of the times, of despair and hope in a relationship that has faltered and needs repair, and introduces the reader to a wonderful and vivid landscape. I could imagine fans of Kate Morton’s novels, amongst many other readers, very much enjoying this book.

At the end of the novel, there is an insightful interview with the author, who details her research and trips to India, and it is evident that she put a lot of effort into authenticating her story. I was sad to learn that the author has recently passed away, a talent lost, but this marvelous novel will endure. The words she wrote and attributed to Adela in the novel are so true for her too, that ‘death steals everything but our stories.’