1926, and in a country still recovering from the Great War, London has become the focus for a delirious new nightlife. In the clubs of Soho, peers of the realm rub shoulders with starlets, foreign dignitaries with gangsters, and girls sell dances for a shilling a time.
The notorious queen of this glittering world is Nellie Coker, ruthless but also ambitious to advance her six children, including the enigmatic eldest, Niven whose character has been forged in the crucible of the Somme. But success breeds enemies, and Nellie's empire faces threats from without and within. For beneath the dazzle of Soho's gaiety, there is a dark underbelly, a world in which it is all too easy to become lost.
With her unique Dickensian flair, Kate Atkinson brings together a glittering cast of characters in a truly mesmeric novel that captures the uncertainty and mutability of life; of a world in which nothing is quite as it seems.
It's my pleasure to be hosting the blog tour for Shrines of Gaiety today. Many thanks to Kate Atkinson, Doubleday and Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me and for my rather beautiful advance copy of the novel.
Shrines of Gaiety is loosely based on the life and times of Kate Meyrick, the 1920s businesswoman known as the Nightclub Queen of Soho. Her fictional counterpart is Nellie Cocker, who, at the start of the novel, is released from Holloway prison and reunited with her six children, under the watchful eye of Chief Inspector Frobisher.
Nellie owns a string of nightclubs, with the Amethyst being her gaudy jewel – although not her favourite – and although her sixth month stretch in prison means there are watchful onlookers keen to spot signs of weakness in this matriarchal figure, she is, more often than not, ahead of them all. However, even though she is the heart of Soho's glittering underworld, this is an ensemble piece and the cast of characters adorning the pages are beautifully drawn, whether they have significant parts to play or just a passing appearance.
The 1920s are, of course, widely associated with the Bright Young Things but although a novel set during this period could hardly ignore these outlandish socialites, Shrines of Gaiety is more concerned with the dirtier, less refined denizens of London's hedonistic nightlife. The feverish post-war mood is garnering more victims than successes, perhaps most notably among the young women tempted by the bright lights and promise of fame and fortune. This includes young Freda, who at least has some talent and her less capable friend, Florence, who have run away from home in York and who are being searched for by the eminently capable and apparently unflusterable Gwendolyn Kelling, who has also been engaged by Frobisher to spy on the Cokers.
It's difficult to pick out favourites in a novel which takes such delight in presenting us with a stellar cornucopia of vivid characters but I particularly enjoyed the interplay between the socially awkward, literary Frobisher and former librarian turned heiress and spy, Gwendolyn. Between them, Nellie's children sharply embody the dichotomies of a city undergoing vast changes. Niven, the combat-weary veteran and Edith, the plainer, cleverest of the sisters best personify a country still reeling from the aftermath of the Great War and of the secrets kept in the alleyways and backstreets of the city. Meanwhile, Betty and Shirley are the giggling, ruthless beauties destined to marry into the aristocracy, youngest daughter, Kitty is a feral afterthought and Ramsay is a tragi-comic character, who dreams of literary stardom and whose brilliantly terrible crime novel is inspired by the old adage to, "write what you know."
Not an easy book to categorise, Shrines of Gaiety is a historical novel where Kate Atkinson freely admits she has played around with dates to suit her storyline, a dark crime thriller which is really less about the whodunnit and more a reflection of the wolves lurking in the shadows, ready to pounce on young girls and a bustling, character-driven piece that concludes in a way which I suspect will divide opinion but which I loved. There's even a ghost dripping her way through various scenes.
Shrines of Gaiety is sardonically witty yet still imbued with warmth, often melancholic but full of life and is a fitting, pitch-perfect study of this most chaotic, contradictory period. Highly recommended.
Shrines of Gaiety is published by Doubleday, purchasing links can be found here but please support independent bookshops whenever possible.
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Thanks for the blog tour support x
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