The Black Thread
This is an enchanting historical novel, well written with excellent local knowledge. It is a story based around the life of the mills and canal life around the turn of the century in hard working class Victorian Leeds and Liverpool. The main character, Amy Dodd, draws you into her life with the author’s excellent description and colourful narrative. Amos Dodd, Amy’s cruel father portrays a believable dark character and yet you cannot help but feel his pain and troubles.
An idealistic father he is not, and the story is full of shocking findings and clever twists. It is, I am sure, a true depiction of canal life in the Victorian age and has good historical content. The ending certainly leads itself to another book – which does, however, leave the reader a little disappointed.
Personally the cover of the edition I was reviewing did not encourage me to pick this book up initially, which is a shame as on a shelf in a bookstore it is possible it could get over-looked, whereas the content inside is highly recommended.
