06-22-2026, 02:20 PM
The Devil and the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson
While I wait for the sequel to The Raven Scholar I thought I would check out more Ms. Hodgson's work.
Set in Georgian London, Thomas Hawkins is a man desperate to not be sent to the debtors prison, Marshalsea. Yeah, spoiler, he fails. What follows is a torturous period where Hawkins navigates just a hellish existence in the prison. The prison is a for profit enterprise where everything the prisoner needs has to be paid for or else he goes without. To make matters more complex, Hawkins has to solve the murder of the man who previously slept in his cot and the main suspect, the devil of the title, is his cell mate. Good times.
The descriptions of the conditions of the Marshalsea are harrowing. And at least Hawkins, a gentleman, doesn't have it as rough as the people as the regular people. Despite that, it is an awful existence. I almost needed a bath after reading.
But it's quite entertaining and I will be reading the next books in the series.
While I wait for the sequel to The Raven Scholar I thought I would check out more Ms. Hodgson's work.
Set in Georgian London, Thomas Hawkins is a man desperate to not be sent to the debtors prison, Marshalsea. Yeah, spoiler, he fails. What follows is a torturous period where Hawkins navigates just a hellish existence in the prison. The prison is a for profit enterprise where everything the prisoner needs has to be paid for or else he goes without. To make matters more complex, Hawkins has to solve the murder of the man who previously slept in his cot and the main suspect, the devil of the title, is his cell mate. Good times.
The descriptions of the conditions of the Marshalsea are harrowing. And at least Hawkins, a gentleman, doesn't have it as rough as the people as the regular people. Despite that, it is an awful existence. I almost needed a bath after reading.
But it's quite entertaining and I will be reading the next books in the series.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm