Sadly I was unable to finish this book. The harrowing and graphic torture and killing of the dog by the surgeon about 10% of the way into the book was way too much for me. It turned my stomach and made me very upset. I don't know what else is in the book but that requires a Content Warning. It is a thing I can't stand and something I avoid in books and movies. It makes me hugely distressed. I can't imagine what that level of distressing detail could possibly add to the story. You could easily show he was an evil man without the detail. Questa tematica va a scontrarsi con l’operato di Thomas, il più meritevoli di tutti. È proprio lui a insegnare a Newt e agli altri ragazzini l’importanza dell’alfabetizzazione e delle storie. Motivo per cui ho davvero apprezzato il suo personaggio. Un uomo erudito dall’inizio alla fine. Aggiungo anche l’ottima l’evoluzione del personaggio di Newt, ma per motivi di spoiler non approfondisco. La storia è narrata sotto forma di diario da Newt, un ragazzino che ha passato buona parte della sua breve vita nei meandri di Boccadorso e sta imparando a leggere e a scrivere. Ergo, il testo è impregnato di tutti gli errori ortografici del caso.

So, this was interesting to say the least. I didn’t know what to expect when going into this novel and I suppose it turned out to be ok. As this book is told from the perspective of someone who is in the process of learning how to write, it is written in a way where many words, I’d say about a third, are all spelt incorrectly to reflect this. The spelling also improves slightly as the book progressed to show that his command of letters is improving. This is a beautifully written novel that blends several different genres- historical fiction, mystery, literary fiction, with a little fantasy thown in. Because of the way that it was written and the fact that there is a unreliable narrator, I felt that it wasn’t very deep of a novel. I couldn’t really see the each of the characters for who there were properly or follow the events of the plot as well as I would have liked. The language used in this book is all pretty simply as well and if not for the occasional event that can be considered somewhat dark, like death, it almost felt like a middle-grade novel, solely from the way that it was written.Bearmouth was not a mining camp, but rather a town that depended on the survival of other towns that were mining camps, such as neighboring Garnet. During the late 19th century, enormously rich ores from Garnet were brought into Bearmouth to be shipped to smelters. When Garnet ceased to exist, Bearmouth followed suit. The town, however, was also a main stop for stagecoaches on the old Mullan Road. As such, it had a two-storied, balconied inn for travelers to spend the night as well as a large livery stable, both of which still stand. This year the judges are Sue Bastone, vice-chair SLA; Victoria Dilly, creator of the Book Activist blog; Layla Hudson of Round Table Books, Brixton; and Muhammad Khan, author of I Am Thunder, winner of the 2019 Branford Boase Award. The panel is chaired by Julia Eccleshare, children’s director of the Hay Festival and Branford Boase Award founder. I was very kindly sent an ARC of this book from the publishers Pushkinpress to read and review, but as always all views are my own!

Mary, a woman with high aspirations, becomes suspicious of Edward when she is asked to investigate a rumour about the Angel of the Thames. Wanting to further her career as a writer (in a time when she has to write under a male pseudonym), Mary enlists the help of her long time friend, Richard, to get to the bottom of what’s going on.

The Branford Boase judges said :‘Astounding!’; ‘I loved every single second’; ‘plot, story and voice are superb’; ‘I was totally invested in the characters’; ‘interesting, challenging and original’. The Mayker's Prayer, which features prominently in Bearmouth, has been hand-set in metal type and traditionally letterpress printed by Dulcie Fulton of Mostly Flat. These limited editions are printed as they would have been in Victorian times, on a cast iron early 1900s foot-powered treadle press. The print is designed to nestle happily within the book, either as a bookmark or as a little gift.