Walworth Beauty

The Walworth Beauty is a novel by Michèle Roberts that explores the lives of women in Victorian London, blending history and the present. It follows the stories of Madeleine and Joseph, who are drawn to Apricot Place, where they encounter the enigmatic Mrs. Dulcimer and face the struggles of desire, exploitation, isolation, and loss. The book is praised for its vivid prose and its haunting tale of human connection.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 400 pages
Publication date: 19 April 2018
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

From the acclaimed author of the Booker-shortlisted novel comes a sensuous and evocative exploration of the lives of women in Victorian London, a must-read for fans of Sarah Waters, Emma Donoghue, and Kate Atkinson.

In 2011, Madeleine, a lecturer, decides to leave her riverside flat in cobbled Stew Lane, where history never feels far away, and move to Apricot Place. However, even in this quiet Walworth cul-de-sac, she senses the past encroaching: a shifting in the atmosphere, a current of unseen life.

Meanwhile, in 1851, Joseph Benson has been employed by Henry Mayhew to help research his articles on the working classes. A family man with mouths to feed, Joseph is tasked with coaxing testimony from prostitutes. Roaming the Southwark streets, he is tempted by the promises of pleasure offered by brothels. As he struggles with his assignment, he seeks answers in Apricot Place, where the enigmatic Mrs Dulcimer runs a boarding house.

As these entwined stories unfold, alive with the sensations of London past and present, the two eras brush against each other—a breath at Madeleine's neck, a voice in her head—the murmurs of ghosts echoing through time. Rendered in immediate, intoxicating prose, The Walworth Beauty is a haunting tale of desire and exploitation, isolation and loss, and the faltering search for human connection. This is Michèle Roberts at her masterful best.

Weight: 280g
Dimension: 193 x 197 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781408883426