A historical tale of bravery and righteousness during the cholera epidemic in London is captured in this novel by Barbara Ewing. Harriet Cooper and her elder sister Mary Cooper have always had a guarded relationship with their father, the MP, Sir Charles Cooper; who after the death of his wife became a hard-hearted, authoritarian figure in the house. Unable to think of the cholera affecting his beloved Harriet, he sends her away to Rusholme where she stays with her cousins. Separated from the one person (her sister) who understood her, Harriet spends her time teaching little Asobel Cooper what she learnt from her sister; thereby passing on knowledge, not considered important for a proper Lady to know.It is in Rusholme that she finds reprieve, away from the scrutiny of her father. There she learns of Edward Cooper’s plans to emigrate to New Zealand to build a life for himself. Mary and Harriet, unlike the rest of the family, are in awe of his determination and wish they too could get away from London to fly as free birds. But soon after Alice Cooper’s wedding, her father decides to bring her back to London. Certain unthinkable events and incidents aspire a fight for freedom deep within Harriet’s heart. Gathering all courage, she attempts to run away and begin anew. She plans every step, with particular care for the details, in such a manner as to not leave any traces. And so starts a game of hide & seek wherein there’s more than one person aiming to unearth the secrets of Harriet’s disappearance and forcefully bring her back to London if it must be.In The Trespass, we are familiarized to the mannerisms and difference of opinions shared within a society that grew increasingly conflicted about morals and social status. Even though Harriet, Mary, Edward, Alice and Richard were cousins belonging to the same Cooper family line – each of them had an opposing view about the fast spreading cholera. From the very beginning of the book, the author’s immense creativity and knowledge was reflected through phrases and references about great works of literature and artists. I usually don’t like paras and paras of description because I feel that its sensory overload but this book splurged on pages and pages of detail for a particular scene and I didn’t mind it one bit. Its unfortunate to read of the deaths and disease that ensued in London and how people regardless of class were dropping like flies. Victimized as they were not only by the cholera but also by the overbearing egotisms of the upper class, it was only the sacrifices of people like Mary Cooper who put aside their inhibitions to help out those in need that stood out like a beacon of hope. The book was a constant reminder of how little importance one’s position and power has in life and if God so wishes, there is no evading death. Isolated and deeply disturbed as Harriet was, her courage and self respect set a firm example of how a woman should care for herself and not let others take control.This book has a vast multitude of characters – all of whom essentially fitted into the bigger picture. They are so well crafted; the storyline so beautiful and wondrous, I’m surprised I haven’t heard anything about the author or the book before. I think it is extremely underrated and should be a lot more popular than is. London and New Zealand are two places used as setting for the book and it has made me want to visit both places so eagerly. There is definitely many romance angles added to the plot which adds a sweet touch to the book. And unlike what I thought, the ending was perfect. Kudos to Barbara Ewing for this treat. I loved it so much!
This is a really interesting book about the conditions in London in the nineteenth century - the Cholera - boat passage and early lives of the settlers in New Zealand. I learnt so much by reading it but the learning was all enjoyable. The story of the heroine and her unnatural sexual relations with her Father is shocking but I can see that the author needed to employ this device in order to explain why an upper class lady would be travelling all the way to New Zealand on her own in the nineteenth century. This would have been quite a shocking thing and only desperation could have driven someone to this drastic action. There are two heroes really in this book. The first, the rather snobby and dissolute Lord Ralph Kingdom, is rather unlikeable in the first part of the book but the ship passage to New Zealand in pursuit of the heroine, Harriet, changes him. I felt real sympathy for him in the depth of his passion and his desperation to make Harriet love him but not even murdering her Father can do this. I guess knowing how the passionate Father of Harriet has misusued her it is unlikely that she can then fall for a similarly passionate man in Lord Ralph. Only the gentle, kind befriending nature of the younger brother is able to begin to penetrate the depths of Harriet's distrust. At the end of the book the reader is able to glimpse a final thawing of Harriet's mistrust. Well worth a read.
What do You think about The Trespass (2003)?
I loved this book for the fascinating insight into the absolute misery of being an upper class woman in england in the mid 1850s - it was almost better off to be poor and dealing with the threat of cholera. This is the tale of two sisters who live with their brothers and father in london during the 1850s cholera outbreak. The mother is dead and the father is a rat. There is also a connection to NZ - possibly land bought in Eastbourne - which again was fascinating. I had no idea about the societal customs and values that the gentry (or those aspiring to be) brought to NZ with them form England. I absolutely gobbled this book up for the compelling plot and great characters.
—Camille
I very much enjoyed this book. It brought to life the horror of living in London during the mid-19th century...a filthy foul-smelling quagmire where cholera was rife and the people in charge of servicing the water supply thought only of their own profit and nothing of individual lives!The descriptions of the immigrants journeys to New Zealand were also fascinating, again bringing to life the division between those who "had" and those who "had not" and also highlighting the farcical nature of such divisions in the face of awe inspiring acts of nature.I would recommend this book.
—Deborah Key
It was a rare treat to find a historical novel with the typical stunningly beautiful heroine, magnetically attractive to all men who gaze upon her beauty, which somehow (for reasons which become clear as the novel progresses) managed to avoid being a romance. Not that I have anything against romance, but this certainly made a refreshing change and I found Harriet to be a much more interesting central character for it.Victorian England isn't my time period of expertise, but Barbara Ewing certainly seems to know her stuff and, more importanly, how to use it well. There was just enough historical name dropping in the opening sections to root the book firmly in the given era without becoming obtrusive and annoying, after which it was dropped rather than relied upon as a lazy way of indicating "look: this is a historical novel!" Instead, the era was so well evoked and engaging that such clumsy reminders would have been entirely unnecessary.This was a beautifully written, thoroughly researched book which I really enjoyed reading. The only reason I haven't given it five stars is because of the way the plot tended towards strings of very suspicious conveniences, some of which required a lot of suspension of disbelief. I know that it's fiction and such devices are sometimes necessary to get to the desired conclusion, but I would have liked perhaps a tiny bit more subtlety in that respect. Otherwise, an excellent read.
—Katie
