Book Review: The Queens of London, by Heather Webb

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

Lilian angled her body away from people rushing through the hallways of the police headquarters. They were all men, some of whom still stared at her as if she were a circus animal even after seven years on the force. Others gave her openly hostile glares or insulted her. Much as she liked being a part of Scotland Yard and the Metropolitan Police, she didn’t particularly enjoy the persisting derision. She couldn’t avoid it that day; she’d been told to meet with the chief. He’d said there was an important case to which he wanted to assign her. She couldn’t imagine what it was, but she was breathless with excitement at the thought.

She rapped decisively on his office door.

“Come in!” the chief barked.

“You wanted to see me, sir,” she said, stepping inside.

Diamond Annie and Officer Lilian Wyles were each powerful women in London, but Hira wasn’t sure how much she wanted to do with either one of them.

Official synopsis:

1925. London. When Alice Diamond, AKA "Diamond Annie," is elected the Queen of the Forty Elephants, she's determined to take the all-girl gang to new heights. She's ambitious, tough as nails, and a brilliant mastermind, with a plan to create a dynasty the likes of which no one has ever seen. Alice demands absolute loyalty from her "family"―it's how she's always kept the cops in line. Too bad she's now the target for one of Britain's first female policewomen.

Officer Lilian Wyles isn't merely one of the first female detectives at Scotland Yard, she's one of the best detectives on the force. Even so, she'll have to win a big score to prove herself, to break free from the "women's work" she's been assigned. When she hears about the large-scale heist in the works to fund Alice's new dynasty, she realizes she has the chance she's been looking for―and the added bonus of putting Diamond Annie out of business permanently.

When Hira runs away from her uncle’s house, she isn’t sure where she’ll go, but she knows if she stays she’ll be sent to a boarding house and school for orphans. Nothing in her coddled life so far has readied her for that. While she hasn’t been able to live with her parents in India, her uncle has taken care of keeping a roof over her head, good food on the table, and competent servants, governess and tutors. Now that her parents have died, her uncle has decided his responsibility is over.

Hira is soon a pawn in a much bigger game. Diamond Annie is grooming her to be a great thief in her organization, and at the same time Officer Wiles wants to catch Diamond Annie and help Hira choose a life that isn’t funded by crime. Between these three strong characters and a charming shopgirl who witnesses some of it and wants a happy ending for herself and everyone else, the perspectives of London in 1925 are quite varied.

The author’s research shines through in this historical fiction and what results is a great and engaging story. The book earned 4 out of 5 stars and would be recommended for those who enjoy stories from the early 1900s, London, and compelling characters with very different motivations.

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Becki Bayley is a book reviewer and blogger, Instagram-er, and TikTok-er from Michigan who goes by SweetlyBSquared.

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Book Review: The Next Ship Home, by Heather Webb

Guest review by: Becki Bayley

“Don’t talk to her that way.” Fritz’s voice came low, menacing. “I’m warning you.”

The men glanced at Fritz, surprised, a damper falling over their good humor. Even Robert’s laughter stopped abruptly.

Francesca met Fritz’s eye. He held her gaze an instant, and nodded.

Alma ate hurriedly, suddenly desperate to take her new friend upstairs to hide until they’d all left. When they’d finished, they helped Else and Greta briefly in the kitchen and afterward headed to the bedroom.

Some hours later, the noise in the hall had subsided, and they crept back downstairs to make Francesca’s bed.

Fritz was sitting at a table alone, reading through a stack of papers. An anarchist pamphlet sat on top. Alma bristled. It wasn’t like him to make a poor choice but entirely usual for him to be obstinate about it. She feared a terrible incident would befall him before he’d desert his cause.

Francesca touched Fritz’s forearm lightly. “The men…” she said. “Thank you.”

His bright eyes darkened. “Any friend of my sister’s is a friend of mine, and I look out for my friends.”

Alma has been brought up to see the immigrants as ‘less than’ and notice their differences. What if there are things they have in common too?

Official synopsis:

Ellis Island, 1902: Two women band together to hold America to its promise: "Give me your tired, your poor ... your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..."

A young Italian woman arrives on the shores of America, her sights set on a better life. That same day, a young American woman reports to her first day of work at the immigration center. But Ellis Island isn't a refuge for Francesca or Alma, not when ships depart every day with those who are refused entry to the country and when corruption ripples through every corridor. While Francesca resorts to desperate measures to ensure she will make it off the island, Alma fights for her dreams of becoming a translator, even as women are denied the chance.

As the two women face the misdeeds of a system known to manipulate and abuse immigrants searching for new hope in America, they form an unlikely friendship—and share a terrible secret—altering their fates and the lives of the immigrants who come after them.

This is a novel of the dark secrets of Ellis Island, when entry to "the land of the free" promised a better life but often delivered something drastically different, and when immigrant strength and female friendship found ways to triumph even on the darkest days.

Alma is new at her job on Ellis Island when she is touched by the story of Francesca and her sister Maria. In a job like hers, Alma certainly can’t be helping every single woman who she feels deserves a break, but the stars aligned and Alma truly can’t bear the thought of Francesca and Maria being sent back to Italy. 

Through their growing relationship, Alma learns more about being her own woman, while Francesca puts all her efforts toward fitting in as an American. The systems and treatment of women at the time doesn’t make either of their goals easy.

This was a touching story about how far these women may be willing to go for someone they haven’t known very long. The atmosphere and functioning of the processes on Ellis Island during this time period was interesting and involved history that I mostly knew nothing about. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. It felt like an honest historical fiction about the early 1900s, and the author did a great job of breathing life into the characters.

 

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Becki Bayley is a married Gemini mom of two. Living in the Midwest, her favorite place to read is on her heated mattress pad under a cozy blanket. Check out what she’s reading on her Instagram, where she posts as PoshBecki.

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