Barefoot on Baker Street [Paperback]

Charlotte Anne Walters (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 20, 2011

Barefoot on Baker Street is set in late Victorian London where a life of crime is the only way to escape poverty and servitude for one bright young workhouse orphan. The narrative follows Red on her incredible life-journey as it twists and turns through poverty, riches, infatuation, loss and love. A dramatic escape from the workhouse at thirteen propels Red into a world of slum housing, street gangs, prostitution and petty crime as the rapidly expanding city groans under the weight of the industrial revolution. A chance meeting with the mysterious and eccentric Sherlock Holmes prompts an infatuation which cuts through her street-wise bravado. Red's blossoming criminal career also brings her to the attention of Professor James Moriarty. An autistic savant riddled with obsessive compulsions, Moriarty is a dangerous criminal who draws Red into his life and onto a collision course with Holmes.

Product Details

• Paperback: 380 pages
• Publisher: MX Publishing (September 20, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1780920121
• ISBN-13: 978-1780920122
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,794,638 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars A romance October 11, 2011

By Gerald A. Aiello

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Don't bother if you're looking for a Holmes novel. This was start to finish a romance novel - a bad romance novel - imho.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Mary-Sue times five! August 3, 2012

By kete

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Perfectly pointless drivel. There is far better FanFiction out there for free. And this is what we call a Mary-Sue: a completely selfindulgent selfinsertion of the writer. The POV-character "Red" is born and grows up in the worst London workhouse. Everyone else is weak and scrawny and ugly because of malnutrition and continuous hard work. Only she grows up to be a perfect beauty with immaculate skin, fiery red hair and icy blue eyes.... (see, where this is going?) Everyone else's spirit is broken, only she is intelligent, free-spirited and fiery. (yawn...)

She then escapes the workhouse and joins the Bakerstreet Irregulars - which are far from the charming bunch ACD portrayed them as - and gets to know Sherlock Holmes who fascinates her. Sadly, the author is totally incapable of conveying the why and how of this fascination and nothing in her narrative lets me see what is so special about that guy.

The writer does not even master the basest technique of storytelling: right in the middle of a first-person POV account of her heroine "Red" we are suddenly treated to a part of the story she could not have witnessed which is told in third-person omniscient or something (sometimes POVs are so convoluted it's hard to tell who sees/tells what).

She is a member of the BI when these are commissioned to watch out for the barge "Aurora" (The Sign of Four), which they don't do btw, she is the one who originally steals The Blue Carbuncle, but Holmes let's her get away with it, because the plumber guy who's convicted in her stead raped her etc. Oh, yes! Absolutely every man wants to have sex with her and several rape her and, of course, everyone is a terrible pervert (especially the gay Greek interpreter, because of the gay, omg, or his son (lost track))....

Because the narrative swivels between several time levels (without providing convincing transitions, I might add), I'm not quite sure how Red ended up becoming Professor Moriarty's wife, but when he ended her pregnancy forcibly and against her will, I've had enough and before I smashed my precious Kindle against the next available wall I decided to delete this god-awful drivel and vent my anger here.

Buy this if you must - but don't come complaining to me! Read more ›

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable September 28, 2011

By Miss NB

Format:Paperback

Really enjoyed this - am not a massive Holmes fan but am interested in Victorian England. Now may go and re-read some of Conan Doyle's originals. Fast-paced action. I think she is a character that you can warm to although you have to realise where's she's come from. Once you've started it's very difficult to put down. Would definitely recommend.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of money August 29, 2011

By silentminority

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

And it could have been much better. The parts depicting Moriarty and his circle are original if a little over-the-top. But the "heroine" is a simple brute and the end result is just another trashing of Conan Doyle's work. One star is about all it deserves.

2.0 out of 5 stars Eliminate the... April 14, 2013

By Philly Reads

Format:Paperback

WOW. Heroine goes from workhouse, where she kills a guy, to gang leader of Baker St Irregulars, to Moriarity's wife, where she kills a guy because he wants to retire,to Sherlock's lover. She kills Moriarity, marries Watson, and spends her spare time working in a bordello which seems to cater to S&M. Mycroft loves her like a daughter, but everybody else have more carnal feelings.
The author is a good story teller,and book moves right along. If you want a fantasy Harlequin romance, maybe try it. If you are a Sherlock Holmes fan, please eliminate this impossible book ASAP.

4.0 out of 5 stars Loved this Alternative Sherlock Holmes "Romance" June 18, 2012

By Tallgirl77

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

**SPOILER ALERT***

Charlotte Walter's book "Barefoot on Bakerstreet" tells the story of Red, a never before documented love interest of Sherlock Holmes (and ultimately Watson's) life. There are no new mysteries that are introduced or deduced. Ms Walter's re-tells existing Sherlock Holmes published stories with the Red storyline woven throughout. I am a HUGE Sherlock Holmes fan, and I can be a little snobby and "purist" about how I like my Sherlock Holmes. I am open to other authors adding their voice, and even modern takes on the characters (such as the Mystery PBS Sherlock series-- LOVE! and the Laurie King books) but if I think that someone has taken liberties (such as those AWFUL Sherlock Holmes movies with Robert Downey Jr.) it rubs me the wrong way. Technically, I think the romance between Red and Sherlock is extremely UNLIKELY given the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stories (he was pretty much asexual) this book captured my imagination and I thouroughly enjoyed the fantasy of the romance.

"Barefoot" starts a little shaky and I can only assume that Ms. Walters is a fairly new author. Some of the writing feels clunky and full of background information that is frankly not necessary. And every once in a while, there is an unbelievable sentence or something happens that you think "Did I just read that?" However, I encourage you to look past these newcomers mistakes, and read on. There is much to enjoy.

My favorite part was how the author tied in the original Conan-Doyle stories and managed to add the love interest. I found myself cheering Red on, and being happy for a brief time that FINALLY Sherlock found a woman to love (even if it was UNLIKELY). I liked the descriptions of London that Ms Walters wrote-- it really made it come alive for me.... And of course, even though probability of such a strong women in Victorian England was probably quite small, I still was pleased to see a strong woman character in Red.

I was glad I bought this Kindle book, and will look for more from this author in the future as she grows in her art. Read more ›

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The biography of a Workhouse orphan in London November 17, 2011

By Philip K. Jones

Format:Paperback

This is the story of an orphan girl born in the Whitechapel and Spitalfields Union Workhouse. Her father was killed in an accident as he worked on the railways. Her mother died in childbirth and she was raised in the Workhouse. As she grew, she received 4 hours of education a day and worked at hard labor for the rest of the day. As was common practice, at puberty she was forcibly raped by the School Master. When he fell asleep afterward, she killed him, stole his money and set the room on fire. She then escaped with a young boy, Luke, and ran free into Whitechapel. Some years later, she became part of the Dean Street Gang, run by one Wiggens. At age 16, she entered Sherlock Holmes' study as one of his `irregulars,' to be directed to search for the steam launch Aurora. As they were leaving, Holmes detained her and told her to never again enter his house in disguise or with a weapon and sent her away.

After an argument with Wiggens over the future of the `gang,' she was left with her childhood companion, Luke, to fend for herself. Within a short time, she was recruited by a minion of Professor Moriarty. She spent time working her way up in his organization and eventually was taken under his wing and given special training of several sorts. He had her trained and groomed to become his `doorkeeper' and chief assistant, as well as his wife. This situation continued for some time until she became pregnant. She was determined to have the child, so Moriarty had her drugged and the fetus aborted. From that time on, she was on the watch for a chance to leave his service.

A plot of Moriarty's, involving a newly developed strain of the Black Death afforded an opportunity for her to escape him and his service.... She and Luke went to Sherlock and joined in his effort to bring down Moriarty. With her help, the Plague plot was foiled and Holmes ran to the Continent with Watson, her and Luke to escape the Professor's vengeance. Eventually, the events at The Falls of the Reichenbach lost Holmes to her, so she shot the Professor who was crowing about his victory. She then fainted and Watson took her back to the Englisher Hof to deal with her spontaneous abortion of Sherlock's child.

The rest of the book covers events that followed the death of Sherlock. Our heroine, called "Red," helped save the widowed Dr. Watson from the bill collectors and worked with him to put his practice on a paying basis. She and Watson went to Mycroft to tell him of Sherlock's death and they all became friends and associates. Watson's practice grew and diversified and Red became busy and began to live again. When Sherlock returned after the Great Hiatus, he arrived in the midst of a complex situation and had to deal with friends and kin who were angry and disappointed in him.

The story is, of course, much more complex than this short description. The author has carefully depicted Moriarty, Sherlock and Mycroft as autistic savants. Each have their own symptoms and `coping mechanisms,' but all share similar attitudes to other people and toward `Red.' She is the only other person who is truly `real' to each of them. They express their disabilities in different fashions and cope with them in differing ways. The true wonder of the book is these three tormented men and their efforts to control their own lives that are seemingly beyond control. The heroine is another wonder. She grew up in Hell, survived and thrived. She learned to care about others, to love and to function usefully in a world that has constantly tried to kill her since she was born.

This is a powerful novel that makes great efforts to comply with the Canon. Places where it differs are clearly places where Dr. Watson would have `glossed over' or omitted events, so that the book seems to fit the Canon well. The narrative here is much more realistic than are the Canonical tales and the seamier side of London is brought home to the reader in many ugly details.

Reviewed by: Philip K. Jones, November 2011 Read more ›