Customer Reviews

The Journal of Dora Damage: A Novel

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

London in the 1860s is a dangerous, scandalous place to exist, especially if you're Dora Damage, the matriarch of the ailing Damage Bookbinders. When her husband, Peter, begins to fall into rheumatic disability, Dora surpasses her station as a submissive wife and mother and takes over the family business.

Dora shows an exceptional talent for binding books, from her creative embroidery and color choices, to her quick mind and willingness to work her hands to cracked, aching stubs. However, no matter how hard she tries in the beginning, the money just doesn't come. Finally, based on her covert work, she lands a job binding ladies' journals and other miscellaneous books. This first innocent employment leads to greater, more dangerous things--namely the task of binding pornography for a treacherous group of London's powerful and ruthless upper crust.

Despite my initial attraction to this book based solely on the fact that it appealed to my bibliophile nature, it had much more to offer than I anticipated. Starling's writing flows seamlessly, a clever mix of English slang and contemporary English. One quickly gets the feeling of being smack dab in the middle of Dora's life, facing down a traditional, sick and slightly mad husband, not to mention the benefactors that could potentially ruin her life. Dora's relationships with her employees and her daughter, Lucinda, are expertly fleshed and achingly believable, making Dora all the more sympathetic and intriguing.

Dora's journey is not only economic, but certainly personal and emotional. Hers is the story of a budding intellectual curiosity, as she reads almost every book to come through the bindery, and eventually her sexuality begins to blossom as well. But nothing comes easily or without a price. And I won't say more for fear of ruining the book for you, dear reader.

Sadly, Belinda Starling passed away in August of 2006 after complications following surgery. She was 34 years old, and The Journal of Dora Damage was her first novel. It is tragic, for Starling was a talented writer with many stories to give. However, those of us daring enough to enter Dora Damage's world are lucky to have such a striking book to hold onto and enjoy.

The mother of an epileptic daughter and wife of an invalid London bookbinder whose hands are so swollen with rheumatism he can no longer ply his trade, Dora Damage illegally takes over her husband's business. Daughter of a bookbinder and a governess, she is no stranger to the skills or the world of books, but it's 1860 and a woman's place is domestic.

But the very illegality of her position, along with her unusual and resourceful designs, attracts the attention of an aristocratic clientele with special, illicit tastes. With the business in heavy dept and everything pawnable gone, Dora is in no position to refuse the lucrative, but increasingly prurient commissions.

Her principle patron, Sir Jocelyn Knightley, a doctor and world-explorer, takes a personal interest, providing an epilepsy remedy for Dora's daughter, Lucinda, as well as gifts of special food and quality clothing - somewhat out of place in grimy, down-at-heel Lambeth.

Sir Jocelyn's wife, Sylvia, member of an abolitionist group that finds jobs for fugitive American slaves, also takes an interest, foisting a rescued slave on Dora's business. While the extra hands are welcome and Lady Sylvia is paying, it's difficult to keep the nature of the work from him and Dora soon realizes that Din Nelson's reserve and prickly edges hide a complex, possibly violent, man.

As the money accumulates, Dora's position becomes more precarious, and her avenues of escape shrink as the material provided her slips from the lascivious into the violent and perverse.

Starling's posthumous debut (she died at age 34 in 2006) plunges the reader into the everyday stench and filth of coal-driven, drain-deprived London, the vulnerability of the poor and the callous entitlement of the wellborn. There's a wealth of detail about bookbinding and the rules of the trade.

Starling also explores Victorian attitudes toward sex, women and race within the context of her steamy, earthy, conflicted story. While the story is not perfect, the atmosphere is almost tactile and the plot builds to a perfect crescendo of melodrama and a fitting, almost over-the-top denouement.

I have rarely seen or read such a complete package as is in this absolutely wonderful book, "The Journal of Dora Damage." As fits a book about a bookbinder the outside cover design is beautiful and the novel itself is completely written with no missing elements, no boring pages, no plot line un-followed up and no character incomplete. There is no doubt in my mind that this was the best book I've read in the last calendar year.

Dora Damage's married life was never easy, with her epileptic daughter, housekeeping on a budget and helping out in her husbands Peter's book bindery, but in 1859 it's about to get a lot harder-and a lot more interesting. With Peter unable to work because of rheumatoid arthritis, a massive loan in the hands of one of London's most ruthless moneylenders and no money at home Dora takes the reigns of the business in her own hands and binds a commissioned bible herself. When the man who ordered it is delighted with Dora's unique style Damage's bookbinders gains a group of important new clients-who are having a most unusual kind of literature bound.

At first Dora is fascinated, and then repulsed, by the variety of pornography coming through her business. But by the time she realizes the true danger of her new clients she is too late. They own her, not only because they're paying the bills, but because her daughter's epilepsy is considered a mental illness and the threat of a mental hospital and unspeakable treatments hangs over her head.

With a bevy of strange new friends from all walks of life, some very detailed and complete sexual knowledge and wonderfully imaginative book binding skills Dora sets out to escape the trap she has fallen into. But can she get out with her family, her money and her own skin intact?

As I said above this was a wonderful book. It's one of a rare genera of book that seems to have elements from every genera available-romance, mystery, adventure, war, comedy- but doesn't overwhelm the reader with constant changes in direction. The writing style is warm and engaging and with the incredible plot and very human characters the book is overall, impossible to put down.

I was very sad to read the note in the back of the book by Belinda Starling's brother Boris telling of her tragic death a mere seven weeks after finishing the book. I would like to express my condolences to her family-it's true that you can't get a complete sense of a person by reading what they've written, but anyone with the imagination and heart that this book took to write must have been a joy to be around. I hope that this book manages to bring the acclaim to Belinda Starling that she so rightfully deserved.

Five stars.

Though I can't think of anything that makes these two books similar except for the setting of Victorian England and being narrated by strong women, I have a feeling that anyone who liked this book would enjoy "The Tailor's Daughter" by Janice Graham.

I really enjoyed this book. The subject matter was very unusual, so it was different to the usual fiction set in the era. What really made this book was the relationships and the attitudes of the day- to women, to the poor, to wives, to immigrants. I found it compelling reading once I got into it, and didn't want to put it down. The unusual little twists kept the book from losing interest. I would recommend The Journal of Dora Damage to any fiction reader who enjoys a wide range of books and subjects.

What an excellent book. A great historical fiction from old London with excellent descriptive prose, intrigue, and life like characters. I finished the book in three days. Would recommend to everyone..

I had a stack of books on my to-read shelf, but when I picked this up and read the first few pages, it immediately went to the top of the list. Now, a week later, I have to write a brief review to say this was an excellent read. It was much more gripping and thrilling than I'd expected from a story set in a bookbinder's workshop. There are certainly some shocking and twisted aspects to the story, but more because of the shocking and twisted things that humans do to each other. Really though, it is about rising above evil while learning to embrace passion. I'd recommend it-- not for the faint of heart, but for a fan of historical fiction who can stand to get their hands dirty.

Dora Damage is the wife of a lesser-known bookbinder in Ivy-street in London. Her husband suffers from rheumatism, and her daughter has epilepsy, also known as the Falling Sickness. When Peter Damage becomes to sick to continue with his work, Dora finds herself taking over the business, and she takes on a client who wants her to bind copies of salacious literature. Dora becomes acquainted with the client's wife, who enlists Dora's help in finding a job at the bindery for an American slave named Din.

I was on the fence about this book. On one hand, I love the atmospheric setting; London in the 1850s and `60s is a great place to escape to when reading historical fiction. And although the characters are well-defined, that's not necessarily a good thing; some of the characters descend into being stereotypes (the silly, empty-headed noblewoman, the cardboard cutout villain, or the fallen woman-turned maid-of-all-work). The dialogue of the African-Americans didn't ring true, either.

The plot of the book requires the reader to suspend their sense of disbelief, too (one example is the character of Sylvia, who seemed to drop her old life in Berkeley Square at an astonishing speed, later taking on lovers with blatant disregard for what might happen). I thought the author cheapened the book a bit by including the romance part. And I could see the ending coming from a mile away. But the book's strength is recreating a time period that's long-gone; Victorian London is described in painstaking detail. I also enjoyed Starling's descriptions of the art of bookbinding.

An intriguing and unusual premise holds so much promise. Blasé writing, bland storytelling, and a lack of editorial cutting killed this book for me. The Journal of Dora Damage seemed like a recipe for success - historical fiction (nearly always a hit for me), a love of books (the story is about a bookbinder and his family), a woman forced to make her way in a man's world for which she was utterly unprepared (after her husband takes ill, she is are forced to take on pornographic book production to stay in business)... In theory it should have been very interesting. In practice, it was monotonous, the "conflict" was boring, the characters were surprisingly unsympathetic. Quite the dud, all in all.

The only bad thing about this book is the title. It sounds like its something like dora, the explorer. If you're at all interested in book binding here is the book for you and there won't be another one because the author is dead. Just when you think the author is going to decend into usual maudlin fluff the book rises to a new height. Equality for women, race relations, child abuse, its all in here. Uh oh, I just finished it and the ending is unbelievable. I would change this book to 3 stars if I could. The title is probably a good one because the ending is completely unrealistic.