Review: The Journal of Dora Damage

The mother of an epileptic daughter and wife of an invalid London bookbinder whose hands are so swollen with rheumatism he can no longer ply his trade, Dora Damage illegally takes over her husband's business. Daughter of a bookbinder and a governess, she is no stranger to the skills or the world of books, but it's 1860 and a woman's place is domestic.

But the very illegality of her position, along with her unusual and resourceful designs, attracts the attention of an aristocratic clientele with special, illicit tastes. With the business in heavy dept and everything pawnable gone, Dora is in no position to refuse the lucrative, but increasingly prurient commissions.

Her principle patron, Sir Jocelyn Knightley, a doctor and world-explorer, takes a personal interest, providing an epilepsy remedy for Dora's daughter, Lucinda, as well as gifts of special food and quality clothing - somewhat out of place in grimy, down-at-heel Lambeth.

Sir Jocelyn's wife, Sylvia, member of an abolitionist group that finds jobs for fugitive American slaves, also takes an interest, foisting a rescued slave on Dora's business. While the extra hands are welcome and Lady Sylvia is paying, it's difficult to keep the nature of the work from him and Dora soon realizes that Din Nelson's reserve and prickly edges hide a complex, possibly violent, man.

As the money accumulates, Dora's position becomes more precarious, and her avenues of escape shrink as the material provided her slips from the lascivious into the violent and perverse.

Starling's posthumous debut (she died at age 34 in 2006) plunges the reader into the everyday stench and filth of coal-driven, drain-deprived London, the vulnerability of the poor and the callous entitlement of the wellborn. There's a wealth of detail about bookbinding and the rules of the trade.

Starling also explores Victorian attitudes toward sex, women and race within the context of her steamy, earthy, conflicted story. While the story is not perfect, the atmosphere is almost tactile and the plot builds to a perfect crescendo of melodrama and a fitting, almost over-the-top denouement.

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Lynn Harnett

Book Review: The Journal of Dora Damage