The Book of Fires
By Jane Borodale
When seventeen-year-old Agnes Trussel discovers she’s pregnant, she steals a neighbor’s gold coins and runs away to London. Her impoverished rural Sussex family can’t support another child, and she would be forced to marry the neighbor who raped her. With her possessions tied inside a piece of oilcloth, she sneaks away before dawn and walks four miles to catch a ride on a horse-drawn carrier. “I am a thief, a disgrace, and a deserter,” she thinks as she joins the five other passengers. “I have a pain high up in my lungs that I deserve, it rises till the misery is a choke in my throat.”
So begins the adventure in Jane Borodale’s debut novel, The Book of Fires, set in 1752. During the two-day journey, Agnes is befriended by fellow passenger Lettice Talbot. When they pass the still-swinging remains of hanged criminals, Agnes feels the stolen coins pressing against her chest. Once in London, she sets off to find the boarding house Lettice recommended. She wanders along dangerous London streets as darkness approaches. Feeling sick and hungry, and soaked by the rain, Agnes notices a house with a sign requesting a housekeeper. The owner, John Blacklock, asks what qualities she possesses, and the experienced weaver replies, “Firm fingers and quick fingers, sir.” This answer must have satisfied the pyrotechnist, as he immediately decides to train her as his assistant. Agnes alternates between making fireworks in his shop and assisting the recently hired housekeeper, all the while wearing corsets and shawls to hide her pregnancy.
In 1752, colored fireworks have not yet been invented, and Agnes encourages Mr. Blacklock in his quest to do so. As months go by, he entrusts her with more of his enterprise, and no one seems to notice her growing body. She is intelligent, pleasant, witty, and a willing worker. When their young gunpowder supplier shows an interest in Agnes, she hits upon the solution of enticing him to marry her. He is easy to flirt with, and she encourages his attention. She is surprised by Mr. Blacklock’s unspoken objections to the growing relationship; he changes suppliers without telling her. He confuses Agnes by asking what she thinks of marriage. “I do not know what kind of answer I should make,” she tells the reader. “And then I realize that he is thinking of his dead wife. I do not answer then as I cannot think of anything to say.”
Agnes worries constantly about being thrown out when her pregnancy shows–or being convicted of theft. In the later stages of pregnancy, she buys a bitter-tasting potion that is supposed to be taken for several days with a spoonful of sugar. Because the housekeeper would miss both spoon and sugar, Agnes drinks the potion directly from the bottle. It makes her sick enough to miss work but does not abort the fetus.
The subjects of pyrotechny, eighteenth-century life, prosecution of the underclass for petty crimes, and discovery of colored fireworks are all expertly woven into this historical novel. Agnes’s continuing search for Lettice Talbot, including the discovery that the boarding house is a house of prostitution and Lettice a prostitute, provides a subplot about desperation and survival.
An author’s note states, “I wanted my firework maker John Blacklock to be enigmatic, dark, with something of the Promethean myth about him.” Borodale succeeded. The story reminded me of Jane Eyre, with similarities in plot, time, location, and characters. Mr. Blacklock and Mr. Rochester were so alike I kept waiting for a romance to begin. His stable presence throughout the book kept me optimistic about Agnes’s future.
The Book of Fires is written in first person present tense, with numerous flashbacks to fill in the back story. Its timeframe covers the pregnancy, from discovery to the child’s birth. Confusing flashbacks and a time period that seemed to last several years, with Agnes remaining pregnant all the while, detracted from an otherwise engaging and educational tale.
Borodale grew up in Sussex. Her childhood passion for fireworks and her interest in author Thomas Hardy are evident in her work. She recently served as artist-in-residence at a Sussex museum, developing a showcase of historic buildings rescued from destruction. Readers who enjoy stories about this locale and time period will enjoy The Book of Fires.
