A Ragged Life: The Unpicking By Donna Moore

From page one of this unusual novel, we are swept into another era, one of coaches and carriages, of balls and ballgowns, ladies and gentlemen. Recently orphaned Lillias Gilfillan is a wealthy young woman, looked after by her aunt, Evelina, who is as wise as Lillias is naïve. Not good for either of them, as it turns out, given the patriarchal society in which they live.

Persuaded out of mourning, Lillias attends a ball held by Lady Summerscales. The dances, the food, the conversation, all revel in the period and the reader is transported, willingly or not, into times gone by, 1877, to be precise. It is at this ball that Lillias meets Arthur Strang who sweeps the vulnerable and highly impressionable young lady off her feet. Their romance is quick and marriage at Gretna follows. Arthur knows that the more wary Aunt Evelina will not approve.

All is hearts and flowers but the idyll cannot last and horror ensues. The alarm bells start ringing for the reader long before Lillias hears them. Arthur’s business is in trouble and while he promises to pay back ‘every penny’ Lillias willingly gives him, the writing is on the wall.

The prologue promised a journal, a common enough vehicle through which to share the innermost thoughts of the heroine, but in this case, distance is required and the narrative quickly turns from first to third-person as Lillias loses control of her life.

The vulnerability of a young Victorian wife, an unscrupulous and devious husband and a lunatic asylum all combine to create a horror of its own kind. When Lillias gives birth to Clementina, part one ends with the reader longing for the villains to get their comeuppance.

You need a strong stomach to follow these three generations of women, as you endure their torment with them...The premise for this novel is unusual. Part two begins some years later, in 1894, and Clementina is now the main protagonist. The reader infers what has happened in the intervening years, and why Clemmie and her mother have been separated. Despite the dire circumstances in which Clementina finds herself, it was all her mother could do to protect her. Comeuppance doesn’t seem to come into it, after all.

Instead of an asylum, the scene is set in a home for wayward girls, under the auspices of Euphemia McCombe, a matron who does the ‘Jingling Devil’s’ bidding and makes liberal use of the leather tawse she carries, to ensure the girls do as they are told. Once again, monstrous treatment of young women (and girls) comes into play and the reader longs for their escape. Surely there is someone to whom they can turn, someone who will help.

Clemmie is resourceful but finding herself pregnant, she has no choice but to flee. Even so, hope seems dashed at every turn until she finds her angel, Miss Adair, one of ‘the lady child-savers’ … or one of the ‘Interfering Bitch Society’ as Mrs McCombe prefers to call her. The bed of roses is still not evident but there is a spark of charity, and hope exists in the form of Mabel, Clemmie’s daughter, who takes the leading role in part three.

Once again, monstrous treatment of young women (and girls) comes into play and the reader longs for their escape...Set in 1919, society is changing…slowly. World War One has devastated society and women are finding their voice. Mabel is a suffragette, adopted years previously, by a purposeful Miss Adair. Once again, the reader must infer what has led to her current situation. Mabel is also a policewoman – a most unusual position for the time – and finds herself mocked and ridiculed by many of her male counterparts who see no role for women in the constabulary.

Mabel uses her position to best advantage. Intent on finding out about her mother and grandmother, and despite the danger which seemingly lurks behind every corner and in every shadow, she is unafraid and determined to uncover the truth. She has friends who support her quest and despite powerful enemies, not least within the Police Force itself, she persists in her fight for justice.

You need a strong stomach to follow these three generations of women, as you endure their torment with them, and the narrative ends not with a bang but a whimper. Feel good? Maybe not. Enthralling? Definitely. I read this in two sittings.


The Unpicking is published by Fly on the Wall Press. More information here