Framed: A Historical Novel about the Revolt of the Luddites

by Christy Fearn

As French émigré Roman Catholics, Lizette Molyneux and her brother Robert are used to an existence on the edge of their Regency Nottingham community. But when Robert is arrested for a crime he insists he did not commit, Lizzie must draw on all her strength and courage to help him. Overcoming poverty, prejudice and the unwanted advances of her employer’s son, she unites with the frame-breaking Luddites to free her brother and to rectify social injustice.

With all the excitement of Sharpe (Bernard Cornwell), as well as the social commentary of Elizabeth Gaskell and Victor Hugo, Framed dramatises the issues of a turbulent time and champions the resistance of poverty-stricken workers. If you liked Les Miserables, then you’ll love Framed!

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical

204 pages, Paperback

First published March 24, 2013

About the author

Brought up in Lord Byron’s childhood home town of Southwell, UK, Christy Fearn was fascinated from an early age with the local poet. She studied English Literature and Drama at Clarendon College and then York St. John University. Her dissertation focused on William Godwin, Mary Wollstonecraft, Byron and the Shelleys.

After graduating, she performed in the play “The Weathercock” which toured Greece as part of the Britain & Greece festival. The play was a revival of the production in which Byron himself starred in 1809.

More recently she has given talks about Byron, Shelley and Coleridge as part of Lowdham Book Festival as well as at the International Byron Society Festival. Framed is her debut novel which tells the story of the Nottingham Framebreakers. Byron is a character in the novel, stepping in to aid the local Luddites and making his maiden speech in the House of Lords.

A self-confessed Byron nut, Christy has a tattoo portrait of her hero on her arm, including the line from his poem “Maid of Athens” – Zwή µou σaς aγaπώ which in Greek means “My life I love you.”

Reviews

[Anne Amison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christy Fearn
"Framed" is one of those novels which make the reader both want to turn to the next page in order to find out what happens next, but at the same time read slowly to avoid reaching the end!
It is quite difficult to review the novel whilst avoiding spoilers, so the best thing is to recommend that you read it for yourself!
Christy Fearn's writing shows a profound understanding of early nineteenth century social issues and their impact on ordinary people's lives, yet she combines this with a lightness of touch and a fast-moving plot which keeps the reader absolutely involved. The characters, both historical and fictional, leap from the page.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lizzie and her twin Robert knit silk stockings for a hosier but with the coming of machines to do that work also comes the loss of jobs. Wages have been cut. People are going hungry. The laid-off men cannot find other work to support their families. What can they do? They break into the hosiers’ factories and destroy the frames that the stockings are knitted upon in Christy Fearn’s FRAMED: A HISTORICAL NOVEL ABOUT THE REVOLT OF THE LUDDITES. Will the hosiers get the government to send troops against the framers? Will that stop the revolt? Can those laid off reclaim their jobs?

As first FRAMED is a series of short vignettes with the same group of characters. There is nothing that seems to hold it together and give us a story. I kept hoping that Christy Fearn would pull these vignettes together and make a coherent story. It took one-third of the book to do but once the different story lines are pulled together we get a novel of what happened to the workers and their families who once knitted stockings in early 1800’s England. It made me google Luddites to find out what happened in 1811 and 1812 as the Industrial Revolution is beginning and machines take over jobs once held by people. Christy Fearn has her facts correct about what was happening to the people during that time. She uses some poetic license with Lord Byron but it works here.
The story does smooth out and settles down to tie up the loose ends set forth in the beginning. I liked the starkness of her words as it shows the bleakness and loss of livelihoods at this time. The characters were a blend of rich and poor. I liked Lizzie. She is determined to do the best she can under trying circumstances. It does not help that her brother goes drinking and gambling, depleting their coffers. He is spoiled and needs to learn a lesson from Lizzie on growing up. Robert, the brother, has a friend Sam who has a family. While Robert is not my favorite character, I do like that when it comes down to him, a single man, and Sam, a family man, to be laid off, he volunteers. It shows that he may grow up.

The villains are out in full force in FRAMED. From the factory owners to the government to the military and some in the town there is an array of villains. I was ready to hiss and boo them and I did not know on which to choose to focus.

There is some romance and sex. There is a scene where I knew rape occurred but it occurred off-screen and there is an attempted rape. The hopelessness of what is befalling the people cause a suicide and a murder does occur amidst the violence of the revolt. While none is graphic, if those bother you, you might want to skip FRAMED: A HISTORICAL NOVEL ABOUT THE REVOLT OF THE LUDDITES. If not, this book gives a look at what the common people are going through. I found it interesting that Christy Fearn compares the time of the Luddites with our times. The comparison is scary but it does make me think and conclude that not much has changed in 200 years.

[Michele Walter · Rating 5 out of 5]

"If the death penalty is brought in, the frame breakers will be sent to the gallows. A man's life worth less than a machine". Christy Fearn's historical novel "Framed" spins an exiting tale of sex, workers rights, class struggle and threats of revolution.

When the beautiful stocking weaver Lizzie Molyneax's brother is arrested for frame breaking and a murder he did not commit her life becomes entangled with the Luddite movement, a militant group protesting against the introduction of larger machines which put weavers out of work resulting in hardship and starvation for their families. Lizzie's life changes forever when she has a chance encounter with the mysterious leader of the frame breakers, 'Captain Ludd', who turns out to be none other than local nobleman Lord Byron. Byron not only gives Lizzie hope for the rescue of her brother but awakens her sexual passions. Lizzie and Byron's lives become entwined in a common purpose to find justice for the weavers and oppose the Government's new Frame Breakers Act.

In "Framed" Christy Fearn cleverly interlaces historical accounts of the Luddite movement with the life and words of Lord Byron. She gives us a portrayal of Byron which encapsulates all his complexity as a shy, handsome and sexually charged young man whose passions are equally divided between the need to slake his deep sensual desires and to stand up and fight for the rights of the common man. It is a fast-paced, exciting, erotically charged novel and I thoroughly recommend it to you.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I won "Framed" by Christy Fearn from the Goodreads Giveaways I not only received a novel based on a turbulent time in England's past but a story that is as intriguing as it is exciting. In this story Lizzie and Robert Molyneaux,Catholic French immigrants are caught up in the poverty, prejudice and social injustice in their community. Although Bonaparte is a hated word to the English Lizzie's kindness and consideration has won her the support and respect of her neighbours, while Robert seeks the love of a prostitute and the companionship of Ben, the abused and hate-filled nephew of the owner of the shop where he works. After Robert joins the Luddites, workers who are fighting against the evolution of their industry by destroying the new frames on shop floors he's caught and falsely accused of the murder of his boss.
Into this hopeless situation Lizzie is thrust, but she is determined to free her brother at any cost with the help of the inimitable and sexually immoral poet and Luddite Captain, Lord Byron. It is a story of courage, of desperation, of despair and small victories. Christy Fearn creates characters that have a passion for life, an overwhelming need to rebel against society's inhumanity and a yearning for hope, for change. I thoroughly enjoyed Framed and highly recommend it.

[Lianne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a copy of this novel through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers programme in exchange for an honest review.

I thought the period that this piece was set in was interesting. Normally books set in the Regency period are either romantic comedies a la Georgette Heyer or war and political historical novels. This novel shows a different side of the period, focusing on characters at the lower rungs of the social structure. However, I thought this should have been fleshed out further as it felt relegated in the background.

The novel was pretty easy to get through, the language accessible though the story felt a little too modern at times. I also found myself wondering midway through the novel where the plot was heading; when Lizzie met Lord Byron (the Lord Byron), it started reading more as a romance novel than anything else.

Framed overall was an okay read with plenty of promise but at the end I found myself wondering what exactly was I supposed to get out of the novel.

My complete review of the title was originally posted at caffeinatedlife.net: http://www.caffeinatedlife.net/blog/2...

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Framed by Christy Fearn was disappointing for several reasons. I love to read history but this book seemed to be written on a middle grade level. But it couldn't have been meant for that because of some of the scenes in this book. I thought that the historical details could have been much richer, for a short e-book like this; there were too many storylines so it was a little confusing. I also would have like to have some documentation on the facts and a statement on what is purely fiction.

This book is set in Nottingham, England from March 1811 to March 1812. But the people in this e-book didn't talk like they were in that era to me. I thought it was too modern. I kept fighting that in my mind when I read the book and did not want to start reading each time.

I did get a clear picture of how starving the people in the textile industry were. Those details were vivid. But I would have liked to have more details about their working conditions. Lord Bryon was in this tale as he was in history but maybe it would
have improved if there was more focus on why he joined this group.

I received this e-book as a win from Library Thing but that in no way influenced my review

[Kyrana Jones · Rating 1 out of 5]

Framed: A Historical Novel About The Revolt Of The Luddites written by Christy Fearn was an unexpected disappointment. I received a free copy of the book in exchange for my review and found the title to be quite misleading. Instead of a historical novel, it was a short romance story. The characters never fully developed nor was the promised tale of the Luddites. Instead, the writer wasted my time with free love sexual encounters and descriptions of rape. The telling of the tale is fragmented as the chapters did not flow evenly but were more like snapshots as the author jumped from one point in time to another. This technique is meant for use in a full-length novel where the characters and plot were more developed and a scene shift was relevant to the story.

Furthermore, it is not clear why or what political statement was declared at the end of the book. Both the writer and the reader would be better served if it had it been cut during the editing process. Framed is likely a first attempt by an undisciplined novice who has not taken the time to develop their craft along with a clear viewpoint.

[Richard Abramson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christy Fearn’s novel about the early-19th century frame-breakers – textile workers whose wages and jobs were ravaged due to “efficiencies” created by technological improvements to the “frames” used to weave cloth – is a terrific read. Lizzie Molyneaux, the novel’s heroine, is an engaging and complex character, and Fearn’s portrait of Lord Byron, who sympathizes with the workers and comes to their aid in a variety of ways, is (of course!) charming. The plot, which involves the wrongful imprisonment of Lizzie’s brother, who has been accused of killing a mill owner during an attack on the mill’s machines, moves along at a brisk pace, and the story kept my interest from start to finish. While many accounts of the Regency Era focus entirely on the nobility, Fearn’s account reveals how difficult life was for the working class, and why the champion of the frame-breaking movement – a mysterious figure known as “King Ludd” – does not deserve the pejorative connotation attached today to the term “Luddite.” Highly recommended!

[Dianna Rostad · Rating 5 out of 5]

An eye opening story about the Framebreakers of Nottingham at a time of great change and from the point of view of people who suffered from the mechanization of the weaving industry. Fearn, a Nottingham native, easily weaves the history of this conflict into a world of colorful characters including the mighty Lord Byron, who she ingeniously places into a historic role amongst the Luddites.

Fearn brings out the lonely and compassionate side of Lord Byron, never forgetting for one moment that he was just a man with all the lust and complication of any other. And if you've ever wanted to know what it feels like to make love to one of the sexiest men of his time, then you are in for a real treat. A must-read for Lord Byron fans and all lovers of historical fiction.

[Gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was recommended to read this book by a good friend of the author. Both are avid followers of Lord Byron,so I knew he'd make an appearance. I wasn't sure what to expect from this novel, but I was proved wrong. Whilst I felt that it took a bit of time for it to get going, It really did live up to it's name. The Luddites is an area of history I've only heard of vaguely, and I feel like this book has given me a clearer understanding of the intentions of the movement.

I really liked this book. In fact I love books that give you a clear image of what times were like in the setting, a lot like Les Miserables.

I would definitely read more of the author's work, and I wish her well for any future novels, should any more be written, which I don't doubt for one minute!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although it got off to a slow start and was uneven in places I enjoyed the book overall. Real life history was woven nicely into the plot and I like how she used Lord Byron as a character. It was a quick read and I learned something about England's Industrial Revolution that I hadn't heard of before.

* I received a copy from LibraryThing's early reviewers program in exchange for an honest review.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started out really interesting, grabbed my attention right away, but as it progressed the story started to drag on a bit. It's quite short, especially for historical fiction, which often tends to be long-winded. I felt that some of the parts could have been fleshed out a bit, particularly dialogue parts to give the reader a better grasp of all that was happening and how the characters felt about it. But all in all a very interesting read about a very interesting time period.

[Andrew Knowles · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy a historical novel that succeeds in blending established facts with a believable fiction. This is what Christy Fearn’s novel ‘Framed’ seeks to achieve, as it weaves the tale of two French immigrants and their encounter with Lord Byron, against the backdrop of the Luddite machine-breaking in 1811.

As she sketches the hardships faced by the weavers of Nottingham, Fearn illustrates the tension between the desire for progress and the need to earn a living wage. I was disappointed, however, to come away from the book without a better understanding of what drove workers to confront the authorities and the military.

The challenge for any author of historical fiction is to avoid doing a ‘history dump’ in the reader and Fearn did an excellent job of avoiding this mistake, but I would have found the book more satisfying with deeper historical detail.

Another issue facing the author of historical fiction is how to present dialogue - do you attempt to recreate the speech patterns of the day or make it more accessible to the reader by adopting a more contemporary style? Fearn has chosen the latter approach and for me this jarred, particularly by including turns of phrase which are usual today, but I doubt were used in Regency times.

An example of this was the continued reference to the rifles being carried by the militia. While it may be a minor point to many readers, I would have expected the weapons to be referred to as muskets, because that is what they would have been.

Anyone who invests time and energy in writing and publishing a novel deserves credit for their achievement. However, I think this book would have benefitted from the attention of a copy-editor, who would have helped tighten the plotting while expanding those sections where the reader has to work a bit too hard to visualise the scene, because the description is a little thin.

I was disappointed by the absence of the storyline promised on the cover. For me, ‘Framed’ is not so much about a brother and sister facing injustice, but more about a woman’s encounter with Lord Byron.

In her epilogue, Fearn draws parallels between Regency and contemporary Britain, with a hint that the revolt of the Luddites could be replicated today, as austerity bites ordinary people. Perhaps this book could have tapped into this more deeply, particularly at a time when digital technology is threatening to do away with many of today’s jobs. Exploring the motivations and actions of the Luddites, along with contemporary reactions to them, as personified by characters in the story, could make the book so much more relevant to a twenty-first century reader.

[Isabel (kittiwake) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book in return for a review, via the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.

They pulled their kerchiefs up over their noses and fled. Two men disappeared down Short Hill, through Trivett Square and were gone, off towards the river. Another dashed up Weekday Cross, turned sharply left down to Broad Marsh. Robert, aware of the sound his boots were making, rushed headlong up Stoney Street, the soldiers gaining on him. He concealed himself in a passageway near the church.

One of the things that I liked about that this book is that Lizzie and Robert Molyneux live and work in the same area of Nottingham where I now live; two hundred years ago I could have stepped outside the door and seen Robert and his fellow frame breakers running from the militia. The Angel Tavern where the Luddites conspired and Lizzie met Lord Byron is still on Stoney Street, but it's now called the Old Angel Inn. I also liked Lizzie's tarot card readings, and Lord Byron made me laugh a couple of times.

On the other hand, apart from the rapes, whoring and deflowering of virgins, this book reads quite like a young adult novel to me, with the eighteen-year-old twins at its centre getting involved with the Luddites who are fighting against the wide frame looms that are destroying their livelihood. I would have liked the book better if there had been more Luddite action and less romance, as I had expected it to be more exciting, and I was never particularly worried for Robert's safety. But if you like romance in your historical fiction you will probably enjoy it more than I did.

[Shirley Schwartz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was asked to read and review this book by the publisher, and I thought I would enjoy it as I usually like historical mysteries. This book is set in Nottingham in 1811, and it was during the time of the Luddite Revolt. Mass production was coming into being in the stocking industry and all stockingers found themselves without work. It caused a general revolt and resulted in the smashing of stocking frames and as in all revolts, some people got hurt or killed. The people were starving and they wanted to try to save their livelihood. The book's main characters are a brother and sister who are stockingers and who are twins. They get caught up in the riots and the brother finds himself arrested for the death of a factory owner. Lord Byron (yes the poet) organizes the rioters and they set out to break more frames. The book is a short one, but I found it very simplistic, and the conversational style was not at all what you would expect from 1811. It sounded more like what you'd hear in the local coffee shop today, than 19 century England. This was probably the most disturbing thing about the book, but I found that it also seemed rushed and lots of storylines got left dangling, especially at the end. I didn't enjoy this book.

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reads a little like a collection of short stories to begin with, although it all comes together in the end. What sets this book a part from others set in the same period is that it tells the tale of the common people and the bleakness of life during this time of hunger and repression. The characters were an interesting combination of both rich and poor. Lizzie, the main character is a strong woman who is determined to survive despite those around her, particularly her brother who is a drunk and a gambler. An interesting read.