Sunday, 3 June 2012
The Linnet Bird
The Linnet Bird by Linda Holeman is a book I've just finished reading and it's definitely one of the best books I've read in a long while, if not one of the best I've ever read.
The tale begins in 1823, when Linny Gow tells of the man who has raised her as his daughter selling her body to men the year she turns eleven. The man in question, Ram, forces Linny to service all manner of men in nineteenth century Liverpool, taking all the profits for himself, before eventually, Linny nearly loses her life at the hands of a crazed opium addict and vows to make her own way in the world, running from Ram but not from her way of life. As prostitution is the only thing she knows, and is a way of making money fast, Linny works at a whore house, frugally saving money in the hope that eventually she will be able to start a new life in America.
However, after suffering both a miscarriage and losing all the money she has saved in the space of a few short hours, Linny is taken under the wing of Shaker, a kindly man who encourages her to stop living the way she is doing in exchange for a roof over her head, clean clothes and food, expecting nothing in return. Linny takes up life and friendship with Shaker, but it is not enough, and eventually she heads to India with her friend Faith in the hope of a better life and the independence she has always dreamt of.
It soon becomes clear though, that life in India is not the exciting and cultured experience that Linny had dreamt of. Having had to adopt a new surname and invent a past in which she wasn't a working class whore but a lady of class looking for a husband, Linny's life revolves around tea parties, gossiping and posing, having no choice but to attract a husband at the implicit threat of being shipped back to England if she is unsuccessful in the task. Shocked at the harsh treatment of the natives and the way in which women are expected to behave, Linny wishes to remain in India independently but eventually she is blackmailed into a marriage of convenience that results in her being beaten and her freedom being taken away from her by a man who has the power to destroy her if she doesn't dance to the beat of his drum.
Without spoiling much more of the plot, I'd definitely recommend this book. It makes for an excellent feminist, Marxist or post-colonial reading due to the underlying themes of sexism, racial and class oppression on almost every page, but for those less interested in sociology the vivid descriptions of the foods, smells and sights in India make for a beautifully written prose that shouldn't fail to disappoint. The plot is tight and fast-paced, the narrative of the adorable Linny is about the most engaging that I've come across, and there are so many twists and turns that it is almost impossible to put down. Even for people who are not usually book lovers, I'd recommend this book as it is of not the dry, dragging style that many classics or pretentious best sellers are, but it runs as smoothly as a film, and I really do challenge anybody to read it and not be a fan of literature afterwards.
It's like like Moll Flanders by Defoe meets Evelina by Burney, meets Memoirs of a Geisha, but better than all three. Please go out and buy this book, I can't stress the point enough!
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