She Rises
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
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'A rollicking story of love and adventure ... This is a fresh take on historical fiction; enjoyably witty and playful' - The Times
'The compelling story centres on a dairymaid starting a new life and brilliantly depicts the dark life of drunken sailors and their brutal hardships' - Sunday Telegraph
'An utterly transporting depiction of life above, and below, deck' - Vogue
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Sarah Waters meets Carol Birch in a breathtaking story of love, adventure and identity
Louise Fletcher, a young dairy maid on an eighteenth-century Essex farm, has long been warned of the lure of the sea – after all, it stole away her father and brother. But when she is offered work as a maid in the naval port of Harwich, she leaps at the chance to see more of the world.
Fifteen-year-old Luke has been press ganged and sent to sea on board the warship Essex. Aching for the girl he left behind, he must learn fast if he is to survive. Louise and Luke's new worlds are dangerous and exciting, and when they collide the consequences are astonishing.
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'Worsley does just what a great historical novelist should do: she inhabits her characters without strain, without fuss, but with obvious assurance, making them and their period feel utterly close and convincing' - Sarah Waters
'If you like romance you'll love this debut novel by Kate Worsley. A gripping and touching tale' - Sunday Express
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Worsley's first novel is a choppy affair. Set in 1740, it features dual first-person narratives from the points of view of Luke and Louise Fletcher. At 15, Luke is press-ganged (i.e. forcibly drafted) into the Britain's Royal Navy and vows to do anything to find his way back to his love. His sister Louise, who is raised from a young age to believe that the sea lures men from their families, moves to a small village on the coast to become a lady's maid to Rebecca Handley, a lovely and headstrong young woman. Of the two stories, Luke's adventure is the more interesting and perilous. His narrative vividly captures the danger, sights, and sounds not to mention the smells of 18th-century shipboard life. Rebecca's near-death bout of smallpox and the women's subsequent intimate relationship is fraught with danger of a different sort that of ruinous public exposure. While the chapter-by-chapter alternation of protagonists makes for a rocky reading experience, it eventually pays off with a satisfyingly unexpected, if not wholly plausible, late development. Worsley deserves kudos for her bold approach to the familiar naval adventure genre.
