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The Pleasures of Men
The Pleasures of Men [Paperback] Williams, Kate
402 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
51 people are currently reading
2525 people want to read
About the author
Kate Williams
59 books583 followersHello! Thank you for visiting my page. It's a great privilege to be on here - and to say hi to readers. Thank you very much for all your support and interest in my books! My twitter account is @katewilliamsme and I have a facebook page for Kate Williams author, come and say hello! I'm always thrilled to hear from you and your thoughts about my work.
I grew up in a very modern house in a dormitory village in the Midlands- and as a consequence became completely obsessed by the past. When I was about six, we got a new washing machine - and I took the huge cardboard box, covered it in silver foil and told my little brother it was a time machine. I used to rumble it about and tell him 'Look! We're in Egypt in the time of the pyramids - but you can't get out!' So he had to listen to all the stories inside, my poor brother...
'One of Britain's best young historians', Independent.
'Historian Extraordinaire', The Today Programme, Radio 4
'Queen of historical fiction' and 'History at its best', Guardian
'Unforgettable', (the book, not me!), The Lady.
'Gripping, seductive', The Times
I'm still looking for that time machine - and still living in it, really as I am obsessed by history.
Thanks so much for coming with me in my time machine.....
My latest novel, Edge of the Fall, is about the DeWitt family in the 1920s as they try to make sense of their lives in the aftermath of the war. It's the Flapper Age - and everything is in flux. As Kirkus puts it, there is ' a beautiful socialite threatened by a stranger, a murder trial and a baby born out of wedlock' - 'strange disappearances, unexplained deaths, dramatic births and a juicy court case' Grazia
'Brilliant', Daily Mail
'Gripping from the first page', 'Thrilling' 'a must read', Grazia
'Imbued with a sharp awarenss of the devastating effects of war in any era, Williams' novel presents sympathetic characters who transcend history', Kirkus
My previous novel, The Storms of War, is the first in a trilogy about the de Witt family. The first explores their lives from 1914-1918, as the youngest girl, Celia, sees her perfect world crumble and change. I've wanted to write about the wars since I visited the trenches in France when I was ten on a school trip. I was fascinated by how small they were - and how men could ever live in such places. I really wanted to go into the lives of Germans - the Victorians couldn't get enough of them. Then - almost overnight - they were the enemy and people saw German spies everywhere and the newspapers demanded that all Germans in the country be imprisoned. At the beginning of the book, Rudolf and Verena have four children - and their lives will never be the same again.
'Quietly impressive...hard to put down....Gripping, thoughtful, heartbreaking and above all human', Kirkus (starred review)
'truly affecting...richly detailed, light of foot..tantalises with loose ends and disturbs with shocking shadows', Independent
'Fans of Dowton Abbey will love it, as do I', Alison Weir
'Vivid....fascinating,' Observer
My most recent history book was in 2013, Josephine: Desire, Ambition, Napoleon (UK) and 'Ambition and Desire: the Dangerous Life of Josephine Bonaparte' (US). It has been optioned by Ecosse Films (Nowhere Boy, Mrs Brown) and they are working on the script now.
'I send you a thousand kisses, but send me none back because they set my soul on fire', wrote Napoleon to Josephine.
In 2012, my book about Elizabeth II, 'Young Elizabeth' was published, exploring the Princess's life before she became Queen - and how the abdication of Edward VIII changed her world. In 2011, I co-wrote The Ring and the Crown with Alison Weir, Tracy Borman and Sarah Gristwood about the history of royal weddings.
My previous novel,The Pleasures of Men, about Catherine Sorgeiul, a young woman in 1840 who terrifies herself with her obsession with a murderer, appeared in 2012. I began writing the book while living in Paris, one
I grew up in a very modern house in a dormitory village in the Midlands- and as a consequence became completely obsessed by the past. When I was about six, we got a new washing machine - and I took the huge cardboard box, covered it in silver foil and told my little brother it was a time machine. I used to rumble it about and tell him 'Look! We're in Egypt in the time of the pyramids - but you can't get out!' So he had to listen to all the stories inside, my poor brother...
'One of Britain's best young historians', Independent.
'Historian Extraordinaire', The Today Programme, Radio 4
'Queen of historical fiction' and 'History at its best', Guardian
'Unforgettable', (the book, not me!), The Lady.
'Gripping, seductive', The Times
I'm still looking for that time machine - and still living in it, really as I am obsessed by history.
Thanks so much for coming with me in my time machine.....
My latest novel, Edge of the Fall, is about the DeWitt family in the 1920s as they try to make sense of their lives in the aftermath of the war. It's the Flapper Age - and everything is in flux. As Kirkus puts it, there is ' a beautiful socialite threatened by a stranger, a murder trial and a baby born out of wedlock' - 'strange disappearances, unexplained deaths, dramatic births and a juicy court case' Grazia
'Brilliant', Daily Mail
'Gripping from the first page', 'Thrilling' 'a must read', Grazia
'Imbued with a sharp awarenss of the devastating effects of war in any era, Williams' novel presents sympathetic characters who transcend history', Kirkus
My previous novel, The Storms of War, is the first in a trilogy about the de Witt family. The first explores their lives from 1914-1918, as the youngest girl, Celia, sees her perfect world crumble and change. I've wanted to write about the wars since I visited the trenches in France when I was ten on a school trip. I was fascinated by how small they were - and how men could ever live in such places. I really wanted to go into the lives of Germans - the Victorians couldn't get enough of them. Then - almost overnight - they were the enemy and people saw German spies everywhere and the newspapers demanded that all Germans in the country be imprisoned. At the beginning of the book, Rudolf and Verena have four children - and their lives will never be the same again.
'Quietly impressive...hard to put down....Gripping, thoughtful, heartbreaking and above all human', Kirkus (starred review)
'truly affecting...richly detailed, light of foot..tantalises with loose ends and disturbs with shocking shadows', Independent
'Fans of Dowton Abbey will love it, as do I', Alison Weir
'Vivid....fascinating,' Observer
My most recent history book was in 2013, Josephine: Desire, Ambition, Napoleon (UK) and 'Ambition and Desire: the Dangerous Life of Josephine Bonaparte' (US). It has been optioned by Ecosse Films (Nowhere Boy, Mrs Brown) and they are working on the script now.
'I send you a thousand kisses, but send me none back because they set my soul on fire', wrote Napoleon to Josephine.
In 2012, my book about Elizabeth II, 'Young Elizabeth' was published, exploring the Princess's life before she became Queen - and how the abdication of Edward VIII changed her world. In 2011, I co-wrote The Ring and the Crown with Alison Weir, Tracy Borman and Sarah Gristwood about the history of royal weddings.
My previous novel,The Pleasures of Men, about Catherine Sorgeiul, a young woman in 1840 who terrifies herself with her obsession with a murderer, appeared in 2012. I began writing the book while living in Paris, one
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 326 reviews
February 20, 2022
It is 1840 in London, England. Catherine Sorgeiul is an orphan secluded in her uncle's home. Lonely, she becomes obsessed with the Man of Crows, a serial killer haunting the streets, killing women. We are introduced to a host of different women. The upper class daughter who is a sociopath. The victims as they are hunted down. The maid in love with her former employee seeking revenge. The "fairies" the weird dude next paints nude. As Catherine gets closer to revealing the killer, she confronts her dark past and the evil inside her.
This is a gritty, dark look into the lives of women in the 1840s. It also shows how times have changed for us women, but how much remains the same when it comes to the opposite sex. I had to go with a 3 rating because the ending left too many unanswered questions. We know what happens to Catherine, but everyone else's story remains a mystery!
This is a gritty, dark look into the lives of women in the 1840s. It also shows how times have changed for us women, but how much remains the same when it comes to the opposite sex. I had to go with a 3 rating because the ending left too many unanswered questions. We know what happens to Catherine, but everyone else's story remains a mystery!
March 15, 2014
Absolutely dreadful, I gave up after 50 pages. I did actually read the historical notes at the back, and strangely (or maybe not), they made for much better reading. Unfortunately, I think this is a case of an author with a background in historical research and factual writing, who is obviously passionate about Victoriana, turning her hand to novel writing, and overcooking it. Sorry Kate, didn't do it for me.
November 8, 2016
I love historical fiction and this was a fantastic read. A nail biter the who done it that kept me guessing until the end.
September 16, 2012
I'm actually a bit mad at myself for sticking with this book which turned out to be a huge let down and a waste of my time. I kept thinking it would get better or the storyline would make sense but it never happened. Word of advice to those thinking about reading this: if you get about 50 pages in and you don't like it - don't keep reading. It doesn't get better.
July 9, 2015
In 19th-century London, Catherine Sorgeiul is living an isolated life in Spitalfields, where she is confined to her uncle's home. An insular and slightly disturbed young woman, she has a troubled history which always seems to be threatening to rise to the surface. When a serial killer, nicknamed 'the Man of Crows' by the press, starts to strike around Catherine's home, she becomes convinced she can get inside the heads of both murderer and victims, and that she is the only person who can solve the riddle of who the killer really is. The narrative progresses through Catherine's attempts to identify the Man of Crows, and as it does, the secrets of her own past are uncovered.
This book was an odd one. It's hugely derivative, for a start: it's been compared to Sarah Waters by a lot of reviewers and critics, but then how could it not be when it features: lots of dank, dreary settings in Victorian London; a young woman with a troubled past being confined to her home by a cold, sinister uncle; lesbian liaisons between mistresses and servants; potential implications of supernatural goings-on which may actually be in the protagonist's head; a disturbing murder mystery, etc etc. I was quite surprised by how blatantly the story seemed to be inviting comparisons to Waters' work, and when I began reading, I didn't think there could possibly be anything truly original about it. Indeed, I found the first few chapters somewhat dull. Then, slowly but surely, I found myself being reeled in. Although some elements (including the ending) were rather pedestrian, the book had some sort of mysterious allure which kept me hooked. The narrative voice is fragmented and sometimes disjointed but somehow it works, perhaps because it's so effective in communicating the disturbed state of mind experienced by Catherine. If you're willing to stick with it, this is a delightfully dark piece of historical fiction filled with complex characters and an unsettling, twisted plot which slowly reveals a number of dreadful secrets. Weird, but unexpectedly good.
This book was an odd one. It's hugely derivative, for a start: it's been compared to Sarah Waters by a lot of reviewers and critics, but then how could it not be when it features: lots of dank, dreary settings in Victorian London; a young woman with a troubled past being confined to her home by a cold, sinister uncle; lesbian liaisons between mistresses and servants; potential implications of supernatural goings-on which may actually be in the protagonist's head; a disturbing murder mystery, etc etc. I was quite surprised by how blatantly the story seemed to be inviting comparisons to Waters' work, and when I began reading, I didn't think there could possibly be anything truly original about it. Indeed, I found the first few chapters somewhat dull. Then, slowly but surely, I found myself being reeled in. Although some elements (including the ending) were rather pedestrian, the book had some sort of mysterious allure which kept me hooked. The narrative voice is fragmented and sometimes disjointed but somehow it works, perhaps because it's so effective in communicating the disturbed state of mind experienced by Catherine. If you're willing to stick with it, this is a delightfully dark piece of historical fiction filled with complex characters and an unsettling, twisted plot which slowly reveals a number of dreadful secrets. Weird, but unexpectedly good.
May 31, 2019
Original review:
Better review tomorrow -- too brain-dead tonight -- but overall this was great.
Update:
Days after finishing this, I'm still somewhat stumped in the review department. The advance page has a blurb comparing this to Sarah Waters & Michael Faber, which isn't a bad analogy; certainly the sexual identity issues & unreliable narration are very Waters-esque, while the gritty London atmosphere & quirky characters are similar to Faber. But IMO it's best compared to Sarah Waters + Poe + a dash of Alfred Hitchcock.
I'm a huge fan of Victorian macabre, so most anything involving corsets & serial killers & 'female hysteria' is welcome on my TBR. But this is also Literary Fiction, which means there's more going on than murders & corseted thrills. One thing that stands out is the collected feel of the narration. At times it's highly surreal & tricky to follow, what with mundane activities triggering Catherine's flashes of instability (example: when distressed, she imagines flowers & vines sprouting from inanimate objects). Her persepective is further warped when other narrators take the reins for a chapter or two...or do they? The reader fights to remember that each voice is Catherine's fictional interpretation of their background & motivations. Is Miss Edwarda really a predatory lesbian? Does Grace have a nobler streak buried somewhere inside? Catherine is undoubtedly an unreliable narrator, but the Man of Crows claims her imagining of his early criminal career is eerily accurate -- so maybe these other women really are as Catherine portrays them.
...Then again, maybe they're not. ;)
Catherine's growing obsession with the Man of Crows has a definite creep factor, but the surreal edginess was what really kept each chapter wavering on the brink of chaos. I have to give credit where it's due; at two separate points in the story, I was sure I'd figured out the twist...but neither was correct. (If the author owes a debt to Sarah Waters for her heroine, she owes an equal debt to Norman Bates for the villain.)
I quite enjoyed this book. It's not perfect -- some metaphors were a bit overwritten, & there were a few times when Catherine's bridges between past & present were muddled. But the whole was satisfying to my taste & I would definitely read more by this author. (Special props to the art department for the US edition cover. While the UK edition has a surreal technicolor look, this one fits the story better. I love the focus on that fringe of hair on the nape -- it's an important motif in the novel. :))
Better review tomorrow -- too brain-dead tonight -- but overall this was great.
Update:
Days after finishing this, I'm still somewhat stumped in the review department. The advance page has a blurb comparing this to Sarah Waters & Michael Faber, which isn't a bad analogy; certainly the sexual identity issues & unreliable narration are very Waters-esque, while the gritty London atmosphere & quirky characters are similar to Faber. But IMO it's best compared to Sarah Waters + Poe + a dash of Alfred Hitchcock.
I'm a huge fan of Victorian macabre, so most anything involving corsets & serial killers & 'female hysteria' is welcome on my TBR. But this is also Literary Fiction, which means there's more going on than murders & corseted thrills. One thing that stands out is the collected feel of the narration. At times it's highly surreal & tricky to follow, what with mundane activities triggering Catherine's flashes of instability (example: when distressed, she imagines flowers & vines sprouting from inanimate objects). Her persepective is further warped when other narrators take the reins for a chapter or two...or do they? The reader fights to remember that each voice is Catherine's fictional interpretation of their background & motivations. Is Miss Edwarda really a predatory lesbian? Does Grace have a nobler streak buried somewhere inside? Catherine is undoubtedly an unreliable narrator, but the Man of Crows claims her imagining of his early criminal career is eerily accurate -- so maybe these other women really are as Catherine portrays them.
...Then again, maybe they're not. ;)
Catherine's growing obsession with the Man of Crows has a definite creep factor, but the surreal edginess was what really kept each chapter wavering on the brink of chaos. I have to give credit where it's due; at two separate points in the story, I was sure I'd figured out the twist...but neither was correct. (If the author owes a debt to Sarah Waters for her heroine, she owes an equal debt to Norman Bates for the villain.)
I quite enjoyed this book. It's not perfect -- some metaphors were a bit overwritten, & there were a few times when Catherine's bridges between past & present were muddled. But the whole was satisfying to my taste & I would definitely read more by this author. (Special props to the art department for the US edition cover. While the UK edition has a surreal technicolor look, this one fits the story better. I love the focus on that fringe of hair on the nape -- it's an important motif in the novel. :))
January 23, 2012
Goodness!
This is wonderful, and not at all what I was expecting from a historian turned novelist.
This is deliciously dark Victoriana.
I was pulled straight away into 1840, into the dark, crowded, dirty streets of East London.
The Man of Crows, a serial killer who has done terrible, terrible things to earn that soubriquet walks the streets and the city lives in fear.
Catherine Sougeil lives with her uncle in Spitalfields and she is troubled. She remembers a happier time when she lived with her parents in the country and she fears that she attracted the evil that brought that time to an end. She wonderful why Grace, her maid, has left her and why the Belle-Smiths were so willing to part with her. And she broods on The Man of Crows, sure that she understands what drives him to kill. Sure that she could, should do something …
Catherine is such a complex, intriguing character.
The narrative twists together her present her past, and the world around her. A complex puzzle becomes not clear, but maybe a little less opaque.
This is not a straightforward narrative. It move through time. Perspectives shift. Threads appear and disappear. Reflecting maybe the confusion in Catherine’s head.
The atmosphere is wonderful: unsettling, dreamlike, sinister …
The prose is rich with period detail, with vivid descriptions.
I walked the streets of Victorian London. I looked into hearts and minds. I saw, I heard, I smelled, I touched, I tasted so many extraordinary things.Evocative is, I think, the word I’m looking for,
I turned pages backwards and forwards, reading and re-reading, trying take everything in, trying to solve the puzzle. There was always something to infuriate and something to intrigue.
Finally there was a resolution. Of sorts. There were things that I didn’t understand. Questions left unanswered. Missing details. I had to let them go.
The Pleasures of Men is a strange novel, and it is flawed, but there is much to hold the interest and attention, much to delight the senses.
And it is an intriguing debut novel.
This is wonderful, and not at all what I was expecting from a historian turned novelist.
This is deliciously dark Victoriana.
I was pulled straight away into 1840, into the dark, crowded, dirty streets of East London.
The Man of Crows, a serial killer who has done terrible, terrible things to earn that soubriquet walks the streets and the city lives in fear.
Catherine Sougeil lives with her uncle in Spitalfields and she is troubled. She remembers a happier time when she lived with her parents in the country and she fears that she attracted the evil that brought that time to an end. She wonderful why Grace, her maid, has left her and why the Belle-Smiths were so willing to part with her. And she broods on The Man of Crows, sure that she understands what drives him to kill. Sure that she could, should do something …
Catherine is such a complex, intriguing character.
The narrative twists together her present her past, and the world around her. A complex puzzle becomes not clear, but maybe a little less opaque.
This is not a straightforward narrative. It move through time. Perspectives shift. Threads appear and disappear. Reflecting maybe the confusion in Catherine’s head.
The atmosphere is wonderful: unsettling, dreamlike, sinister …
The prose is rich with period detail, with vivid descriptions.
I walked the streets of Victorian London. I looked into hearts and minds. I saw, I heard, I smelled, I touched, I tasted so many extraordinary things.Evocative is, I think, the word I’m looking for,
I turned pages backwards and forwards, reading and re-reading, trying take everything in, trying to solve the puzzle. There was always something to infuriate and something to intrigue.
Finally there was a resolution. Of sorts. There were things that I didn’t understand. Questions left unanswered. Missing details. I had to let them go.
The Pleasures of Men is a strange novel, and it is flawed, but there is much to hold the interest and attention, much to delight the senses.
And it is an intriguing debut novel.
January 2, 2012
The review blurb says Kate Williams is "hugely promotable,' and "has a fantastic media profile," all of which is undoubtedly true. BBC TV presenter, author, and reviewer, she's described as "a stunning new voice in historical fiction." The blurb also tells us that Williams took an MA in Creative Writing, and this shows its hand on almost every page of this novel; so over-written it's overwrought.
The Pleasures of Men follows the overheated imagination of a frustrated Victorian girl, damaged in some way as a child, as she attempts to understand the heart of what today we would call a serial murderer, only to discover that his crimes have a basis much closer to home than she thinks. The first-person narrative has all the advantages of clever misdirection, but at the expense of clarity to the point of irritation. My second star is given for the poetic density of the prose, and no doubt the repressed sexual undertones may keep many readers turning the pages, but I found this book intractable and the denouement insufficient for the time it took to wade through it. I'm sure Kate Williams is capable of a story more accessible and thrilling than this historical tract.
The Pleasures of Men follows the overheated imagination of a frustrated Victorian girl, damaged in some way as a child, as she attempts to understand the heart of what today we would call a serial murderer, only to discover that his crimes have a basis much closer to home than she thinks. The first-person narrative has all the advantages of clever misdirection, but at the expense of clarity to the point of irritation. My second star is given for the poetic density of the prose, and no doubt the repressed sexual undertones may keep many readers turning the pages, but I found this book intractable and the denouement insufficient for the time it took to wade through it. I'm sure Kate Williams is capable of a story more accessible and thrilling than this historical tract.
November 20, 2017
This book was not a popular book over-all on GR, but I really enjoyed it. This book has a dark gothic flare to it. It is an interesting combo of literary and non-literary. Also I have weakness for books with queer characters. :D
June 19, 2012
I don't know what to think of this book. It has a certain allure, something that kept me reading, but at the end I put it down and had difficulty pinning down anything I liked about it. There's an intense sexuality about it, and an interesting portrayal of a mentally fragile young girl and how people play upon her mind and manipulate her, and enjoy observing her. The atmosphere of the story is excellent, and the historical setting seems well researched and quite vivid, but... I didn't feel much about the book. I usually get attached to characters, and there were none here I felt drawn to. I found the resolution of the mystery quite flat -- I'd got there very early in the book and dismissed it as too obvious. I didn't understand the characters' motivations or way of thinking.
There is something mesmeric about it -- I finished it, and read quite fast, too -- but I can't say I liked it or that I would recommend it.
There is something mesmeric about it -- I finished it, and read quite fast, too -- but I can't say I liked it or that I would recommend it.
May 30, 2012
The Pleasures of Men read like a badly televised version of Henry James The Turn of the Screw with a dash of Sarah Waters and Michael Cox added in.
There isn't any new ground covered in this novel. I didn't learn anything about the human condition of why people are attracted to serial killers. Blaming yourself for a dead relative might make a good case for a ghost story but this girl was just a drama queen.
I wasn't satisfied by any of the relationships established here.
The story of a prickly girl who becomes obsessed with a serial killer isn't new. The Canadian film The Good Neighbor comes to my mind. Boy was Scott Speedman disgusting in that.
The book is all atmosphere but has no heart.
With the exception of A Little Stranger Waters books had heart. Affinity worked because Meg did desire love.
This book was too cold and judgmental for me to fall into it's spell.
The Edwarda part was brutal and interesting at least. That could have led to a different and better story. However, Michael Cox already did the servant revenge scheme.
The main problem I had with this novel was the characters kept switching pov but often they didn't feel like real characters but possibly her stories with no lead in and then back to Catherine. It was nauseating at times. This led to me distrusting Catherine as a narrator throughout the book since the writing of people in her stories were very teenage girlish. This might have worked in a different book. I suppose Williams wanted to separate the stories from the novel but there should have been a clearer cut way to do this.
She did change the voice. I'll give her that Catherine wrote like a girl with very limited world experience. I just didn't want to read that kind of book.
I usually skip the readers notes at the back of books but this one suggested Catherine was the killer. Williams is wearing her influences on her sleeve if that were the case. But when the narrator is the killer what would be the point of the novel then? I hate films or books where the main character is telling you the story but withholds that information. I'll be boring and stick with the established killer or my head will start to hurt.
There isn't any new ground covered in this novel. I didn't learn anything about the human condition of why people are attracted to serial killers. Blaming yourself for a dead relative might make a good case for a ghost story but this girl was just a drama queen.
I wasn't satisfied by any of the relationships established here.
The story of a prickly girl who becomes obsessed with a serial killer isn't new. The Canadian film The Good Neighbor comes to my mind. Boy was Scott Speedman disgusting in that.
The book is all atmosphere but has no heart.
With the exception of A Little Stranger Waters books had heart. Affinity worked because Meg did desire love.
This book was too cold and judgmental for me to fall into it's spell.
The Edwarda part was brutal and interesting at least. That could have led to a different and better story. However, Michael Cox already did the servant revenge scheme.
The main problem I had with this novel was the characters kept switching pov but often they didn't feel like real characters but possibly her stories with no lead in and then back to Catherine. It was nauseating at times. This led to me distrusting Catherine as a narrator throughout the book since the writing of people in her stories were very teenage girlish. This might have worked in a different book. I suppose Williams wanted to separate the stories from the novel but there should have been a clearer cut way to do this.
She did change the voice. I'll give her that Catherine wrote like a girl with very limited world experience. I just didn't want to read that kind of book.
I usually skip the readers notes at the back of books but this one suggested Catherine was the killer. Williams is wearing her influences on her sleeve if that were the case. But when the narrator is the killer what would be the point of the novel then? I hate films or books where the main character is telling you the story but withholds that information. I'll be boring and stick with the established killer or my head will start to hurt.
May 30, 2016
Perhaps part of my confusion with the plot of The pleasure of men is due to the fact that I read it during finals week....but I don't think so. Based on the general consensus of other reviewers on Goodreads, I think Kate Williams intended to write a gothic Victorian mystery, but instead wrote a convoluted, overwrought tale which tried to do too much and succeeded at very little.
Meet Catherine, a young woman with a tragic past (which slowly gets revealed during the first 1/2 of the book). She has come to live with her (possibly wealthy?) uncle who lives for unexplained reasons in an unsafe area of town in a house filled with skulls and other odd bric-a-brac. Catherine's days seemed filled with a lot of....nothing really, other than occasional visits from families and/or girls. She is supposed to be finding a respectable husband, and occupies herself somewhat by writing in a journal and occasional charitable outings (such as to a children's home).
But then the murders start happening, by a serial killer dubbed the "Man of Crows", and women are leaving London in droves for the relative safety of the English countryside. So what does our heroine with a troubled past and probable mental illness do? She decides it would be a good idea to wander the streets of London at night to uncover clues to the murders. It was at this point that I was unable to continue to view the storyline as believable.
Storyline aside, the characters (even the heroine) had a complete lack of character development, the dialogue was stilted/hard to follow/made no logical sense, and the ending was quite abrupt. Other reviewers have mentioned that Williams at least has a decent writing style, but I found it wasn't enough to grant another star. Given 1 star or "BAD" rating.
Meet Catherine, a young woman with a tragic past (which slowly gets revealed during the first 1/2 of the book). She has come to live with her (possibly wealthy?) uncle who lives for unexplained reasons in an unsafe area of town in a house filled with skulls and other odd bric-a-brac. Catherine's days seemed filled with a lot of....nothing really, other than occasional visits from families and/or girls. She is supposed to be finding a respectable husband, and occupies herself somewhat by writing in a journal and occasional charitable outings (such as to a children's home).
But then the murders start happening, by a serial killer dubbed the "Man of Crows", and women are leaving London in droves for the relative safety of the English countryside. So what does our heroine with a troubled past and probable mental illness do? She decides it would be a good idea to wander the streets of London at night to uncover clues to the murders. It was at this point that I was unable to continue to view the storyline as believable.
Storyline aside, the characters (even the heroine) had a complete lack of character development, the dialogue was stilted/hard to follow/made no logical sense, and the ending was quite abrupt. Other reviewers have mentioned that Williams at least has a decent writing style, but I found it wasn't enough to grant another star. Given 1 star or "BAD" rating.
September 8, 2017
Usually when I give a book one star, there's a certain amount of hate involved. But this book didn't even inspire hate. 350 pages and the only time I came even remotely close to caring about a character is for about twelve pages when Constantine was speaking the most obvious truths and pointing out several flaws in the book. This happened around page 100 and I was shocked that there was almost something resembling a personality. But that quickly passed.
This was just a convoluted mess that fell like it was trying to be literary and failing spectacularly. 250 pages in and I didn't know who the characters were or what was going on or why anyone was acting the way they were. I love theorizing in books and can't help myself from guessing plot twists and endings, but I didn't in this. I didn't care. The amount that I did not care about literally anything in this book was astounding.
This was just a convoluted mess that fell like it was trying to be literary and failing spectacularly. 250 pages in and I didn't know who the characters were or what was going on or why anyone was acting the way they were. I love theorizing in books and can't help myself from guessing plot twists and endings, but I didn't in this. I didn't care. The amount that I did not care about literally anything in this book was astounding.
October 27, 2012
About five stories in one - the author clearly could not decide which one to tell and so told all of them. The thriller I was expecting failed to materialise and the ending was predictable and dull.
August 6, 2012
The Pleasures of Men by Kate Williams is, contrary to the title, a mystery set in 1840s England. Catherine Sorgeiul, an orphan, lives with her eccentric uncle on Princes Street, and is on the verge of being a spinster. Forced by her uncle to try to find a suitable match, yet limited to her dismal and eerie home in a lower-class part of London, she yearns to escape from the drudgery. When the Man of Crows begins to wage war on poor girls throughout the city, and leaves them dead in the position of a wounded bird, Catherine becomes intrigued. She decides to chronicle the events in writing in order to better understand the victims and to understand the motives of the Man of Crows. As she dives further into the horrors that captivate the city, she begins to fear that she may be causing this evil. When her former maid is found dead and her current maid goes missing, Catherine feels overwhelmed. She realizes how she has been a pawn in a larger game and solves the mystery as well.
While this book seems like it would have a great storyline, it is awkwardly developed and shifts between narrators with insignificant and unknown characters detailing events. Also, there are a number of details about Catherine and her family that are left out until much later in the novel, leaving the reader to make sense of all of the pieces. Additionally, the story doesn’t really seem to be resolved – there is no closure at the end and Catherine seems rather indifferent about the murders at the end. I really wanted to like this book, but the story doesn’t come together. If you are a patient reader, and willing to work with underdeveloped characters, this could be a good fit. From shelfishness.blog.com
While this book seems like it would have a great storyline, it is awkwardly developed and shifts between narrators with insignificant and unknown characters detailing events. Also, there are a number of details about Catherine and her family that are left out until much later in the novel, leaving the reader to make sense of all of the pieces. Additionally, the story doesn’t really seem to be resolved – there is no closure at the end and Catherine seems rather indifferent about the murders at the end. I really wanted to like this book, but the story doesn’t come together. If you are a patient reader, and willing to work with underdeveloped characters, this could be a good fit. From shelfishness.blog.com
June 6, 2019
The plot is good, but the characters are dull. I didn’t care about any of them. I always love a book that follows the format of jumping back and forth between past and present, but this book was so disjointed. I found this book hard to follow.
June 28, 2020
Read this a while ago but didn't make any comments so I'm back to do so.
Looks like many people just didn't enjoy this book at all..... Not me..... I LOVED IT!
Yes, it's dark, mysterious and very different.... Fabulous! 😁
Looks like many people just didn't enjoy this book at all..... Not me..... I LOVED IT!
Yes, it's dark, mysterious and very different.... Fabulous! 😁
May 2, 2018
Not my cup of tea. Everytime I thought something interesting was going to happen, I was let down. Overall, one of the weirdest books I've read.
August 19, 2012
Someone is murdering women. The murderer however does take the time to nicely arrange the women by braiding their hair and stuffing the end of the braid in their mouth.
Catherine Sorgeiul lives with her Uncle. She is supposed to be a proper lady and that means she does not have much of a life. With lots of time on her hands, Catherine soon finds herself drawn to the murders. Catherine starting writing about the murders. However, Catherine’s writing brings her into the killer’s sight.
This book sounded really good as it might still turn out to be good but for me, I found myself struggling to get into this book. In fact I sadly had to give up after only making it to page 66. The writing just seemed too monotone for me. There was nothing interesting about the story. I did not feel anything for the murdered women. This I felt was an important aspect of the story as this is the mina focus of what the story is about. If I do not feel anything for the women then there is no point in going any further with the book and trying to discover why the women were murdered.
Missing: A more interesting cast and a quicker story line pace.
Catherine Sorgeiul lives with her Uncle. She is supposed to be a proper lady and that means she does not have much of a life. With lots of time on her hands, Catherine soon finds herself drawn to the murders. Catherine starting writing about the murders. However, Catherine’s writing brings her into the killer’s sight.
This book sounded really good as it might still turn out to be good but for me, I found myself struggling to get into this book. In fact I sadly had to give up after only making it to page 66. The writing just seemed too monotone for me. There was nothing interesting about the story. I did not feel anything for the murdered women. This I felt was an important aspect of the story as this is the mina focus of what the story is about. If I do not feel anything for the women then there is no point in going any further with the book and trying to discover why the women were murdered.
Missing: A more interesting cast and a quicker story line pace.
August 9, 2018
One thing I can say for this book is it kept me reading to the end. Was it a bit confusing? Yes. Did it mean to be confusing? Yes.
Though it's not a horror, it draws the reader in like one, in that it puts the reader right in the setting with Catherine, the main character. The thing is, Catherine's not quite all there, which leaves the reader at a bit of a loss.
I'd absolutely recommend this book to anyone who wants to go on a journey to historical London. But be aware that you're in for a cockeyed journey.
Though it's not a horror, it draws the reader in like one, in that it puts the reader right in the setting with Catherine, the main character. The thing is, Catherine's not quite all there, which leaves the reader at a bit of a loss.
I'd absolutely recommend this book to anyone who wants to go on a journey to historical London. But be aware that you're in for a cockeyed journey.
February 10, 2013
Just a tad too confusing at the beginning, trying to piece together where Catherine had come from and what get family history was. Sometimes the slow drip feed of information adds to the story, but there was no tension here, just the frustration of not knowing.
Some parts were fantastically atmospheric,all the fringe, noise, sights and smells, unfortunately most of it didn't grip me.
Grace seemed like a complete waste of pages, and you have to wonder at a character not only unfortunate enough to loose their whole family, but then to land up in the hands of an uncle willing to use her as a pawn with a murderer, but also be the object of said murderers love/obsession. Trying to cram too much in I think!!!
Not sure I'd be tempted by author again.
Some parts were fantastically atmospheric,all the fringe, noise, sights and smells, unfortunately most of it didn't grip me.
Grace seemed like a complete waste of pages, and you have to wonder at a character not only unfortunate enough to loose their whole family, but then to land up in the hands of an uncle willing to use her as a pawn with a murderer, but also be the object of said murderers love/obsession. Trying to cram too much in I think!!!
Not sure I'd be tempted by author again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 18, 2015
A cleverly crafted, darkly twisted novel that examines the psyche of Catherine, our troubled, unstable narrator. The story follows Catherine's increasing obsession with a string of brutal murders committed by the nicknamed "The Man of Crows". Throughout, she creates stories in order to better understand The Man of Crows and to unravel the mystery as to why the murders are occurring.
But, Catherine is, of course, an unreliable narrator ...
But, Catherine is, of course, an unreliable narrator ...
November 7, 2012
Word soup. If anyone knows what this is all about, let me know. Actually, on second thoughts, don't bother.
July 4, 2024
Set in the 1840s a killer is terrifying the East End by slaughtering lower class women by night. 19 year old orphan Catherine, isolated for her own good, turns to writing fiction about these murders and the murderer until she becomes involved herself.
I loved this at times and was annoyed with it at other times. There was fairly explicit sex here with no purpose towards the plot whatsoever and this annoyed me to no end. It was also all over the place going from one point of view to another with no mention of who is speaking. The reader just has to clue in at some point. However, the murder mystery was excellent and how it wrapped up was exciting. The whole book was dark, dreary, and gloomy. No happy endings here. Just what I like! Catherine was a mysterious character whose background slowly came to light and was as big a mystery as the serial killer. A delight.
I loved this at times and was annoyed with it at other times. There was fairly explicit sex here with no purpose towards the plot whatsoever and this annoyed me to no end. It was also all over the place going from one point of view to another with no mention of who is speaking. The reader just has to clue in at some point. However, the murder mystery was excellent and how it wrapped up was exciting. The whole book was dark, dreary, and gloomy. No happy endings here. Just what I like! Catherine was a mysterious character whose background slowly came to light and was as big a mystery as the serial killer. A delight.
July 7, 2022
Okay so what just happened? Honestly… this story had a lot of potential but just didnt deliver 100% yk?? I just dont know how to explain my feelings!!! I really think this book could have taken a more dark gruesome and cool turn like the plot summary PROMISED ME but it was just meh. Its supposed to be a thriller!! I wasnt thrilled once. I just wish the book was focused more on the murders rather than there being so many sidestories being explained for no reason and her backstory wasnt needed for this to be honest. I feel confused because i really enjoyed reading it and the experience altogether but then the ending draggggged on and the resolvement wasnt satisying. towards the end i found myself skimming the pages and wanting it to be over. Maybe im impatient. IDK!!!
April 6, 2025
I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to DNF a book so badly. Honestly for much of this book I was so confused, I found it really hard to follow and the constant POV switches really threw me as it was hard to distinguish which character’s voice was which. I do normally like a period Victorian novel but I was just bored and it dragged for me, I had to force myself to sit and read it. The only parts I liked were the few passages written from the “POV” of the Man of Crows - these I found easy to follow and quite gripping. I also found there to be several sub plots and characters that felt really irrelevant and weren’t tied up nicely.
October 3, 2017
This book started off mysterious and dark! Just to know ther is a serial killer during the Victorian era!
December 24, 2019
I made the mistake of reading this book sober, I'm writing this review drunk now. This book has turned me into an alcoholic. I put in all the effort to finish it because it's in the backlog of books I got for my birthday, and now that it's over I'm not sure I'll ever want to look at it again.
The saddest part is how much I wanted to like it.
I was originally going to give it three stars, since as a literary firstborn it did have a fair share of hiccups and stumbles along the way. Even so, once you met it halfway and got used to the style, it actually did become an enjoyable read with interesting characters and a ton of potential, along with a VERY well established backdrop of London at the time (I personally found the gap between the rich and the poor, the servant life, and the historical tidbits VERY fun and well written) all in all, it was just a fun story with good bones and lots of potential, by a fairly inexperienced novel author with lots of strength in other places.
But then the last fifth of the book happened and I experienced the literary equivalent of doing a trust fall and getting dropped straight into the Victorian London shit-covered street. How stupid of me. I should trust the narrator set up to be unreliable blindly in everything outside of her own self-hatred and doubt, because she just CAN'T be wrong otherwise! And the chapter where she finds out who the killer is and just... hangs out with him, instead of dramatic and intense, felt more like the jumbled disjointed rambling that I'm doing now than an explosive climax of what's been MARKETED as a thriller.
The epilogue dragged on, and on, and on, and on, and any hint of character development for the side characters (who WEREN'T our strong heroine) went out of the window, and I spent the last few pages crying and begging for this to finally be over because I already got this far.
In conclusion: interesting bones of a story, good worldbuilding, clumsy writing that steadily improves and grows a charm before turning into an absolute trainwreck for the last few chapters, the only surprises it had in store for me were because I genuinely (and stupidly) thought it WOULD try to surprise me. And then it didn't.
I'm suspecting it only did well enough to be translated to other languages is because of the occasional (and not even that well-written) erotica and the softcore lesbianism. Kate Williams as a novelist has some solid potential, but damn it, way to take one of the most interesting characters out back and shoot him like a lame horse .
1/5 will never trust a living soul again.
March 1, 2012
Catherine Surgeiul non è la tipica eroina vittoriana: impacciata e distratta, spesso si perde nei meandri della propria immaginazione. E' poco curata nell'aspetto e, in compagnia di altre persone, si sente costantemente a disagio.
Catherine ha un segreto che verrà svelato poco a poco: la ragione per cui ha visto la propria famiglia e la propria vita dissolversi per far posto ad un grandissimo ed opprimente senso di colpa. Per anni le è stato ripetuto che è stata lei la causa del male che ha distrutto le vite delle persone che amava.
Siamo intorno al 1840 e Londra è colpita da una serie di omicidi. Catherine è pericolosamente affascinata dall'ignoto assassino che lascia le proprie vittime, delle giovani donne, brutalmente sfigurate. Ed è convinta che solo una persona corrotta dal male come lei potrà scoprire la sua identità.
'The pleasures of men'. No, non è il titolo di un porno. Questo romanzo non è certo l'ultimo capolavoro della letteratura: ci sono alcune cose che avrebbero potuto funzionare meglio. Ma devo dire che, nonostante tutto, non esiterei a consigliarlo...
L'autrice, Kate Williams, è una vera esperta di epoca vittoriana e riesce benissimo a ricostruire le strade in cui vaga la protagonista: i pericoli e gli strani personaggi che si trovano per le vie di Londra, l'atmosfera notturna nei quartieri più poveri, la sensazione che si prova nel ritornare a casa nel buio e sentire dei passi dietro di noi. Insomma, la ragazza sa di cosa sta parlando.
La Williams ci mostra il cosiddetto 'lato oscuro' della società vittoriana, cioè quello che si cela dietro la facciata di perbenismo che veniva ostentato. E' questa la vera forza della storia: non sarebbe stato lo stesso se Catherine fosse stata la fanciulla virtuosa che tanto veniva apprezzata all'epoca. No, Catherine è umana, e in quanto tale non riesce a smettere di pensare, di fare congetture e di fantasticare su cose a cui una dama non avrebbe mai dovuto rivolgere i pensieri.
Un altro punto di forza è il cambio di narratore, che ci permette di sbirciare nelle vite dei personaggi secondari e delle vittime del serial killer. E così, ancora una volta, possiamo vedere che nulla è come sembra.
'The two women in front of me were still praying, but even if I bowed my head, I would not be able to find God. If I were that virtuous girl, I would be certain that God was always watching over me, prompting me to guilt about little lies and offering me the promise of Heaven.
I could not even say now - such a wicked thing - that i was sure He exists. I knew the answer was that man creates evil, not God, but I could not think Him so helpless.'
Catherine ha un segreto che verrà svelato poco a poco: la ragione per cui ha visto la propria famiglia e la propria vita dissolversi per far posto ad un grandissimo ed opprimente senso di colpa. Per anni le è stato ripetuto che è stata lei la causa del male che ha distrutto le vite delle persone che amava.
Siamo intorno al 1840 e Londra è colpita da una serie di omicidi. Catherine è pericolosamente affascinata dall'ignoto assassino che lascia le proprie vittime, delle giovani donne, brutalmente sfigurate. Ed è convinta che solo una persona corrotta dal male come lei potrà scoprire la sua identità.
'The pleasures of men'. No, non è il titolo di un porno. Questo romanzo non è certo l'ultimo capolavoro della letteratura: ci sono alcune cose che avrebbero potuto funzionare meglio. Ma devo dire che, nonostante tutto, non esiterei a consigliarlo...
L'autrice, Kate Williams, è una vera esperta di epoca vittoriana e riesce benissimo a ricostruire le strade in cui vaga la protagonista: i pericoli e gli strani personaggi che si trovano per le vie di Londra, l'atmosfera notturna nei quartieri più poveri, la sensazione che si prova nel ritornare a casa nel buio e sentire dei passi dietro di noi. Insomma, la ragazza sa di cosa sta parlando.
La Williams ci mostra il cosiddetto 'lato oscuro' della società vittoriana, cioè quello che si cela dietro la facciata di perbenismo che veniva ostentato. E' questa la vera forza della storia: non sarebbe stato lo stesso se Catherine fosse stata la fanciulla virtuosa che tanto veniva apprezzata all'epoca. No, Catherine è umana, e in quanto tale non riesce a smettere di pensare, di fare congetture e di fantasticare su cose a cui una dama non avrebbe mai dovuto rivolgere i pensieri.
Un altro punto di forza è il cambio di narratore, che ci permette di sbirciare nelle vite dei personaggi secondari e delle vittime del serial killer. E così, ancora una volta, possiamo vedere che nulla è come sembra.
'The two women in front of me were still praying, but even if I bowed my head, I would not be able to find God. If I were that virtuous girl, I would be certain that God was always watching over me, prompting me to guilt about little lies and offering me the promise of Heaven.
I could not even say now - such a wicked thing - that i was sure He exists. I knew the answer was that man creates evil, not God, but I could not think Him so helpless.'
August 21, 2017
Huge disappointment and I must say this book has sworn me off any future offerings by author Williams as I found the entire book utterly atrocious. Takes place in Victorian England and the central character is Catherine, an orphan who is now in her early twenties and lives under the good graces of her uncle in London. There are hints of some sort of sordid past, coupled with mental health issues, which have forced Catherine into the living arrangement she now finds herself. Her uncle is some sort of scientific eccentric, with various artifacts from around the world in his home which appear to serve to scare off potential suitors for Catherine, much to his dismay. Catherine's mundane life is altered when she becomes drawn to the reports of what would now be called a serial killer who is taking the lives of various working women in London's east end. Somehow Catherine becomes captivated by these events and finds solace by writing possible stories about the victims and their killer in her journal.
The novel is mainly told from Catherine's point of view which, while serving its purpose of conveying her skewed perspective, also alienates the reader as it becomes quite confusing to tease out what is fact, what is projections from Catherine's writing, and what are apparitions of her mind. And then there is the customary undertones of sexual repression and sexuality which are typical of all stories of this time period. Catherine as a narrator was annoying, untrustworthy, and simply skittish. I cared nothing for her or her past, most of which seemed fabricated. Why I stuck with this novel I still do not know - the ending was certainly not satisfying. I finished thinking I can only be sure that of the events which were depicted were that Catherine kept wandering around the streets of London looking disheveled and no doubt talking to herself as she constructed stories in her head about the murdered women. It is baffling how anyone can rate this novel 4 or 5 stars, a rating I equate with stunningly original works or steadfast classics, of which this novel fits neither category. Save yourself the trouble and search out an alternative if this title crosses your path.
The novel is mainly told from Catherine's point of view which, while serving its purpose of conveying her skewed perspective, also alienates the reader as it becomes quite confusing to tease out what is fact, what is projections from Catherine's writing, and what are apparitions of her mind. And then there is the customary undertones of sexual repression and sexuality which are typical of all stories of this time period. Catherine as a narrator was annoying, untrustworthy, and simply skittish. I cared nothing for her or her past, most of which seemed fabricated. Why I stuck with this novel I still do not know - the ending was certainly not satisfying. I finished thinking I can only be sure that of the events which were depicted were that Catherine kept wandering around the streets of London looking disheveled and no doubt talking to herself as she constructed stories in her head about the murdered women. It is baffling how anyone can rate this novel 4 or 5 stars, a rating I equate with stunningly original works or steadfast classics, of which this novel fits neither category. Save yourself the trouble and search out an alternative if this title crosses your path.
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