Please note: these readers’ group questions may contain spoilers.
1. Under the legal doctrine known as “coverture,” most Englishwomen in the 1870s were profoundly disenfranchised. They could not own property, initiate divorce, or vote, so they had no (legal) voice in their own finances or marriage, much less in government. In this book, Madeline, Rachel, and Elaine are victims of violence and sexual abuse, but they also speak and act in ways that shape events. What do you think of Rachel’s decision to speak her truth to Corravan but to refuse to testify in a court of law? What does it mean that Madeline can only find her voice in French? What are some examples of female characters demonstrating their strength, through their speech and otherwise?
2. Price and Corravan have some aspects in common – they’re physically similar, and both have worked on the docks and have struggled with loss. How do you account for the differences in their characters? To what extent do you think their similarities cause Corravan to feel some empathy for Price during their scene on Blackfriars Bridge in chapter 47?
3. Today we think of Scotland Yard as the elite unit of the Metropolitan Police, but in 1878, after the trial of the detectives, there was profound distrust of the Yard and plainclothesmen which took years to rebuild. In this book, how do the acts of the Commission, the newspapers reports, and the behavior of the various inspectors have repercussions for the Yard’s reputation? How does the political and social climate dictate the possibilities for the Yard regaining public trust? Do you see any similarities with situations today?
4. As a professional author who earns a living, Belinda Gale may seem a bit of an outlier, but in Victorian England, quite a few women were writing novels, including George Eliot (born Mary Ann Evans), the three Brontë sisters, Elizabeth Gaskell, Margaret Oliphant, Geraldine Jewsbury, and Mrs. Henry Wood (whose sensation novel East Lynne sold more books than any of Dickens’s). What does her writing career do for Belinda? How would she be different if she were merely an heiress? At several points Corravan ascribes certain aspects of her character to her being “a novelist.” Do you think her profession shapes the way Belinda thinks and acts? If so, how?
5. In Victorian England, the roles of the police and the press were intertwined. Then as now, newspapers reported the news, and they could also create it and shape it. Corravan, Tom Flynn, and John Fishel all have different methods and different purposes for assembling their stories. What are the different models of arriving at “truth”? Does Corravan recognize his own biases and purposes and how they may shape the story he’s trying to build? What are the ethics involved in building a story? Do you see any parallels with situations today?
6. River Police Superintendent Blair and Corravan have a difficult history. Do you think Corravan was right not to have been honest with Blair before he left the River Police? Is Blair justified in his bitterness toward his former protégé? Given that Corravan is five years older and presumably somewhat wiser and more experienced, might he handle the situation around Kevin Walsh’s murder differently now?
7. After nearly 250 years of British rule, the Irish Republican Brotherhood (later nicknamed “the Fenians”) was formed in 1858 with the goal of achieving independence and Home Rule for Ireland. Amidst rumors of armed uprisings, in 1867 (a decade before the events in this novel take place), the Fenians bombed Clerkenwell prison in order to break one of their members out of jail. The bombing killed a dozen Londoners, injured 120, and was described as “a crime of unexampled atrocity” by the Times. Some historians have called it the first act of modern terrorism, and it provoked fear and outrage in Londoners and exacerbated anti-Irish sentiment. How do you see this prejudice playing out with respect to the social hierarchies in the novel, in Whitechapel, the Yard, and elsewhere? Are there similarities with particular situations today?
8. With its meandering curves and tidal ebb and flow, the Thames River has been used variously in literature as a metaphor for human life, rejuvenation, and modernity. Early in the novel, Corravan comments that while some people see it as “the lifeblood of the city,” he usually sees it as a “cesspool, a receptacle for the entire city’s detritus” and “a live serpent, filthy and slithering at my back.” How do you see the river functioning in this book as a unifying element or a symbol, perhaps for aspects of Victorian life, values such as mercy and justice, ways of thinking, or feelings such as hope and fear?
9. In chapter 35, Belinda rebukes Corravan for being “almost cowardly,” not in the physical sense but in the emotional one. Do you think she’s justified in saying so? Why or why not? Corravan admits later that she has a point, but have other events in the novel contributed to his ability to internalize her advice?
10. Belinda and James both mention that Corravan and Harry are alike in some ways: they’re clever, they’re orphans, they’re coming out of Whitechapel with very little, and both resent being a burden. Do you think Harry helps Corravan evolve over the course of the book? And does Corravan help Harry mature?
11. In this novel, there are three different facilities for the ill: Holmdel Asylum, James Everett’s ward in St. Anne’s Hospital, and Seddon Sanatorium (based on Holloway Sanatorium in Surrey, built circa 1873). Medical science was still in its infancy. From our present-day perspective, what do you make of the different kinds of treatments meted out to the different patients at these institutions?
12. Gentlemen’s clubs in London were powerful ancillaries to professional organizations such as the law, medicine, and parliament. They were part of what we’d now call the “old boys’ network.” Women didn’t have clubs, but do they find other ways to gather? How important are physical spaces such as pubs and shops and even streets in establishing micro-communities and facilitating events such as social change?
13. In many ways, Director Howard Vincent (based upon the real C. Howard Vincent) is a foil for Corravan. They are both intelligent and the same age, but Vincent is the second son of a baronet, was educated at public schools (equivalent to our private schools), and previously served as a newspaperman with no experience in uniform. By the end of the novel, their relationship has evolved from a fairly adversarial one to one based on mutual respect. What enables this to happen? Do the two men change each other?
14. In the climactic scene on Blackfriars Bridge, Corravan thinks of what Ma Doyle once said to him: “finding folks innocent or guilty is sometimes a poor way of righting the world.” Torn, he opts to act in a way that he thinks will at least cause no more harm. Was Corravan right to let Price escape by dying? What else could Corravan have done that would have been in keeping with his values or the values of the Yard or society? What roles do empathy, restitution, punishment, and forgiveness play in achieving justice? Where do justice and mercy intersect? What factors shape justice in a given culture or time period?
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