Brunswick Gardens [Hardcover]

Anne Perry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 17, 1998

Like the great Victorian novelists whose mantle she wears with such distinction, Anne Perry creates a rich and intimate world and fills it with remarkably vivid characters who experience the majesty--and shame--of the British Empire at its brilliant zenith. Now, in Brunswick Gardens, she explores the controversial birth of a philosophy that enflamed fiery debate--and possibly murder.

A century ago, Charles Darwin's revolutionary theory of evolution rocked the civilized world, and the outraged Anglican church went on the warpath against it. In a mansion in London's affluent Brunswick Gardens, the battle is intense, as that most respected clergyman, the Reverend Ramsay Parmenter, is boldly challenged by his beautiful assistant, Unity Bellwood--a "new woman" whose feminism and aggressive Darwinism he finds appalling.

When Unity, three months pregnant, tumbles down the Parmenter staircase to her death, Thomas Pitt, commander of the Bow Street police station, is virtually certain that one of the three deeply devout men in the house committed murder. Could it have been the Reverend Parmenter, his handsome curate, or his Roman Catholic son? Powerful forces demand that the scandalous matter be cleared up immediately. But Pitt and his clever wife, Charlotte, refuse to settle for less than the truth . . . and justice.

Like all Anne Perry's novels, Brunswick Gardens translates great moral issues into deeply moving human dramas. Perhaps the most psychologically penetrating book she has written, it is a distinguished addition to her acclaimed body of work.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The 18th case for turn-of-the-century London policeman Thomas Pitt offers Perry's guaranteed entertainment, although without the full depth of last year's Ashworth Hall. Now in command of the Bow Street station, Pitt is sent to the home of prominent vicar and scholar Ramsay Parmenter, where a young woman has died in a suspicious fall down the stairs. Unity Bellwood was as adept at irritating others as she was at her work of translating ancient texts with the reverend. Pitt faces the awkward possibility that the dead woman was pushed by Parmenter himself; by Parmenter's intense son, Mallory, who is annoying his Anglican father by studying to become a Catholic priest; or by Dominic Corde, a curate who lives in the house. Complicating issues is the fact that Dominic, the widowed husband of Pitt's wife Charlotte's dead sister, is an elegant former wastrel with whom Charlotte was once infatuated. As Pitt probes "all the little sins" of the household, he discovers secrets that several of his suspects have failed to confess about themselves and about Unity. Meanwhile Charlotte, drawn to visit Dominic, witnesses social interactions among the family group that her husband, in his official capacity, could not observe. Within this clearly drawn cast, the face of the villain begins to emerge even before Pitt is called in on a second death in the household and closes in on the crimes' solution. Author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-Perry continues to reveal the intricacies of women's rights in Victorian society in this murder mystery. When Inspector Thomas Pitt investigates the murder of Unity Bellwood, he is forced to admit that his former brother-in-law, Dominic, is one of the key suspects. Or did her employer, Reverend Parmenter, push her down the stairs? Unity was antagonistic and flaunted women's rights and Darwin's ideas in Parmenter's very traditional home. Pitt's wife is appalled that Dominic could be a suspect and helps with the detective work. Even though there is a limited number of possible perpetrators, readers will still be surprised as clues are found to reveal the answers. This is more of a character study than a novel of action, but it will appeal to Perry's fans.
Claudia Moore, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 389 pages
• Publisher: Fawcett; 1st edition (March 17, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449908453
• ISBN-13: 978-0449908457
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,205,784 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just Superb, July 22, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Brunswick Gardens (Hardcover)

Perry's latest Thomas and Charlotte Pitt Victorian novel is yet another splendid "affair." As an historian, I would still say that novelist Perry is one of the finest Victorian era, zenith-of-the-British-Empire historians. More than anyone else, she has brought to the forefront the texture, darkness, light of the Victorian era, with its nasty social problems, its deep sense of caste, its range of crippling discrimination, its arrogance and cruelty - and the courage and stamina and wisdom of its common folks. This novel is no exception. Perry always takes a contemporary social problem of today, traces back to its origin or presence in the Victorian period, fashions a mystery around it, captures a reader's sense of outrage at that "ancient" abuse - and hopefully, reminds one of the continuity of that abuse to today. The focus this time is on a philosophy and a disdain and the ends some would go to insist on one's own truth.

Whenever she comes! to town, my question to her is usually, "What is your next book about?" She always, remarkably responds, "I am working on two now, and I think you will find the plots interesting." Her mind is as creative and active as anyone I have met. Amazing.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thomas and Charlotte Pitt at their best!, July 20, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brunswick Gardens (Hardcover)

In the late 1890s, what did it mean to be a woman in England? What did it mean to have a religious faith against Charles Darwin's new theory of evolution? Anne Perry at her finest draws the reader to experience what only one could have imagined. 10 years after Sarah's death in Cater Street, dashing Dominic Corde has taken the cloth of the curate, sharing the home with Reverend Paramenter and his family and Unity Bellwood, 'a new woman', who has a passionate belief in educating women, having the vote, and Charles Darwin. Religion and those who follow it are fodder for her mockery of such arachaic notions. So, who causes her violent death at the bottom of the Paramenter's staircase? Thomas and Charlotte must traverse through some of marriage's most difficult tests and examine their beliefs, when it appears as if Dominic might be the murderer. Jealousy, freedom to choose who one might wish to marry, passions that cause people to act and react, play an intricate ! part in this latest Perry, making the reader question are some choices worth dying or are desires and wants as useless as crying over split milk?

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars well, I liked it, June 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Brunswick Gardens (Hardcover)

This latest Pitt novel focuses more on the characters' relationships, especially Thomas and Charlotte's than on detecting but rather than annoying me, I liked the exploration of the relationships. If you've been following a series with the same characters it's nice to see them fleshed out. The book's non-regular characters are also well-developed and interesting. It's not quite the usual Anne Perry fare, but it's a better book for it.