Steven Price (1) (1976–)

William Pinkerton, son of the founder of the famous Pinkerton Detective Agency, is in London in 1885 hunting for a man his father never managed to find. Edward Shade is a famous thief but virtually undetectable, never having been caught. William has a lead through Shade's one-time lover, Charlotte Reckitt, but Charlotte eludes him by jumping into the Thames River. When her body turns up in multiple pieces in various parts of London, Pinkerton thinks all is lost. Then Adam Foole who wants to show more find Charlotte's killer contacts him and the two men pair up though neither trusts the other. Foole is as much a thief and conman as Shade ever was.
The main story follows the murder of Charlotte and the subsequent happenings but meanders back and forth in time with vignettes of both Pinkerton and Foole. Much of Pinkerton's story is based on history though the rest is fiction. The author captures the time period well. The action moves from London, South Africa, Chicago, the Wild West, and the Civil War. Edward Shade, the man Pinkerton is chasing, was once a member of his father, Allan Pinkerton's, force in the American Civil War. Both the son William and Edward Shade are greatly impacted by the elder Pinkerton's views toward them and what each of them subsequently thinks of each other.
The author is an acclaimed poet in Canada, and his writing definitely displays a lyric flow of words. This is a long book, over 600 pages, but the writing is brilliant. I did think some of it could have been cut out, but then later I'd find why that piece was needed to make the story whole. It's a complex story, peopled with a diverse cast of characters. Each is fascinating in their own way and add much to the book.
The author made a stylistic choice to use minimal punctuation. Dialog is not set off by quotes, for example. It took me a while to get used to, and I'm not sure I was ever really comfortable with it. It's a conceit that didn't aid reading in my opinion; I can only imagine it had something to do with his style of poetry.
Still, this is a masterwork. In some ways, it reminded me of Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin without the fantastical elements. I'd take a half star off just because of the punctuation choices, but this is a book I'll think about for a long time. show less

It was a .36-calibre Colt Navy and in Chicago he kept it the way some other men kept secrets: it was the first thing you saw. You saw a gun and there was a man with it like he was on retainer and first the gun said hello and then the man nodded and said hello too.

William Pinkerton is the son of the famous detective agency's founder and a fearsome detective himself. With his father dead, he's trying to find a man his father couldn't; the mysterious thief known as Edward Shade. He's come to show more London because he's heard there's a woman there who was once Shade's associate.

Adam Foole, a small man of mixed heritage, arrives in England with his small crew of grifters. He's received a letter from a woman he once loved, asking him to come as she's being hunted by a Pinkerton detective. When he arrives in London, he discovers that she's been murdered and so he seeks to join forces with Pinkerton to find her killer.

By Gaslight is a Victorian novel in all the best ways. It's full of the stinking atmosphere of Victorian London and the novel is one that is simultaneously page-turning and taking its time. There are long digressions into both men's pasts, but as they are exciting pasts and shed light on their motivations as the novel moves forward, it never feels like lost time. Steven Price immerses the reader in the complexities of both men's lives, so that even when they are in direct conflict, one can't help but hope for the best for both men. The novel is also Victorian in its large cast of colorful characters, from spiritualists to child pick-pockets to Civil War spies. The writing reminds me of Mary Doria Russell's Doc in its ability to create warm, breathing characters. It wears its length lightly and I was sorry to have turned the last page. show less

Considering the dismal, dark, dank, dingy London much of this novel inhabits, it might seem strange to describe the writing as luscious... but luscious it is. Price is poet & what lovely prose he crafts. A sweeping, brooding mix of historical mystery & thriller, it fully fleshes out histories of its two main characters & their strangely-intersecting, criss-crossing lives. There is so much packed into the many pages that I was fully immersed in the story, the world, & the characters the show more entire time. To that extent, it reminded me very much of reading Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch -- a long, layered story, beautifully written. By Gaslight carries the same features, even though the tales are distinctly different. By story's end (not epilogue), Price has given you a lovely and unexpected conclusion. Well worth the read & highly recommended. show less

At 731 pages, this is a doorstopper of a book. I usually hesitate to read such lengthy tomes for fear of wasting my much-treasured reading time. I finally decided to take the plunge because this novel was nominated for the 2016 Giller Prize. I understand why it made the shortlist.

This is a great example of Victorian detective fiction. Set in 1885 London, it tells the intertwined stories of two men. William Pinkerton, son of the founder of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, is in the city show more looking for Edward Shade, an elusive master criminal whom William’s father never managed to arrest. Now that his father is dead, William has picked up the chase. He manages to find Charlotte Reckitt, a supposed acquaintance of Shade’s, but she takes a fatal jump into the Thames; then, to William’s surprise, her dismembered body washes up.

The second protagonist is Adam Foole, a thief and con-artist, who also travels to London to find Charlotte, a woman he loves though he hasn’t seen her for a decade. He contacts William and the two become allies in searching for the truth about Charlotte’s fate. The two men eventually come to realize that their lives have overlapped in the past, especially during the American civil war.

This book is a mystery thriller; there are certainly a number of questions that need to be answered: Who is Edward Shade? Is he dead or alive? Does he even exist? Why was Allan Pinkerton never able to find him? Why does William become obsessed with finding Shade? How/why did Charlotte, after her leap into the river, end up dismembered and with shorn hair?

Suspense is abundant. Besides the questions, there is danger for both men. There’s a cat and mouse game that will have the reader cheering for one side and then another. Foreshadowing is used frequently: “It was, he would reflect later, a most impressive performance” (645) and “it was a thing he had felt before and he knew by this that something that day would go wrong” (672). Dramatic irony is also used: the reader knows what William and Adam are hiding from each other.

The author excels in creating atmosphere. There are detailed descriptions of perpetually foggy and grimy cobblestoned streets. Scenes are set in soot-filled fog and dank alleys and opium dens and séance parlours and filthy sewers. One can see the squalor and smell the stench and feel the cold rain.

There are several lengthy flashbacks to the pasts of both William and Adam. It is clear that the two were shaped by their pasts. William’s troubled relationship with his father certainly influences his behaviour: “William feared him and loved him and loathed him every day of his life yet too not a day passed that he did not want to be him” (151). Adam had a more difficult childhood and his experiences, including his relationship with Charlotte, motivate his actions.

Characterization is a strong element. Both protagonists are fully developed. They are flawed people but they have redeeming qualities. There are several minor characters like Molly and Japheth Fludd who also capture the reader’s attention.

I found this an engrossing read. The flashbacks sometimes slow down the pace, but they are important in explaining characters and events in the present. Themes are not always developed strongly, but the book is a very entertaining read that would make a great movie.

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