A pretty good book, though the topic (Victorian pornography) may not be to everyone's taste. I found some areas to be a little too squeamish for me.

Set in Victorian London, Dora is the poor wife of a bookbinder living hand to mouth in Lambeth. Her husband can no longer work, so when she is paid handsomely to bind some unusual works, she does so but gets in deeper and deeper with some odd fellows...

The focus in the latter part of the book is less on Dora's job, but the importance of love, friends and family. Thankfully the ending wasn't cliched. The writing was descriptive and easy to read after a long day at work, but the subject was thought provoking. A good book. ( )

Having just read this book,I am finding it difficult to know whether to give it a good review or to slate it !
Starling's descriptions of a Victorian Bookbindery is good. The characters and story-line generally are at times mawkish in the extreme. Most of the characters that inhabit her world are also I fear merely cardboard cutouts. However I do give full marks for an original idea and lets face it,there are not many of them about in this day and age.
So in view of the above comments a 3½ star rating will be in order.
Love the cover design. ( )

Dora Damage is the wife of a lesser-known bookbinder in Ivy-street in London. Her husband suffers from rheumatism, and her daughter has epilepsy, also known as the Falling Sickness. When Peter Damage becomes to sick to continue with his work, Dora finds herself taking over the business, and she takes on a client who wants her to bind copies of salacious literature. Dora becomes acquainted with the client’s wife, who enlists Dora’s help in finding a job at the bindery for an American slave named Din.

I was on the fence about this book. On one hand, I love the atmospheric setting; London in the 1850s and ‘60s is a great place to escape to when reading historical fiction. And although the characters are well-defined, that’s not necessarily a good thing; some of the characters descend into being stereotypes (the silly, empty-headed noblewoman, the cardboard cutout villain, or the fallen woman-turned maid-of-all-work). The dialogue of the African-Americans didn’t ring true, either.

The plot of the book requires the reader to suspend their sense of disbelief, too (one example is the character of Sylvia, who seemed to drop her old life in Berkeley Square at an astonishing speed, later taking on lovers with blatant disregard for what might happen). I thought the author cheapened the book a bit by including the romance part. And I could see the ending coming from a mile away. But the book’s strength is recreating a time period that’s long-gone; Victorian London is described in painstaking detail. I also enjoyed Starling’s descriptions of the art of bookbinding. ( )

I have been wanting to read this since I saw a review for it when it was first published. It just seemed to grab me.

I really enjoyed this book - what a fabulous first novel (and unfortunately last) from the late Belinda Starling, who passed away not long after she finished this. Her vivid imagery envokes the sights, sounds and smells of 19th Century London, and entices the reader to persue the (almost) lost art of book bindery. ( )

Not half bad for a first novel and, as it happens, alos the (late) author's definitive last, although it does start to get a bit like a fruit cake with too much going on and I could ave done without the romance. The ending is a wee bit disappointing too. Worth reading until three quarters of the way through. ( )