Wasp: or A Very Sweet Power

by Ian Garbutt

For a gentleman seeking more prestigious company amidst the bawdy houses of an eighteenth-century city, the House of Masques provides the perfect no-touch escorts. Girls, highly educated and socially trained, are status symbols for politicians, bankers and royalty alike. Into this world comes Bethany Harris, a disgraced governess who has been rescued from a madhouse and transformed into the Masque named Wasp. She soon discovers that everyone in the House has a troubled past, and personal horrors, coupled with dark ambition, are leading to a crisis that threatens to destroy the House of Masques and everyone in it.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Ebooks, Fiction

397 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 3, 2015

About the author

Dr. Ian Garbutt has worked in journalism and publishing. He was awarded a Scottish Arts Council New Writer’s Bursary and attended Napier University, in Edinburgh, where he obtained a Master of Arts with Distinction in Creative Writing. Historical novels are his speciality, and he has published two historical novels for Piatkus under the pseudonym of Melanie Gifford. More recently he has obtained a PhD in Creative writing from the University of Stirling where he examined alleged links between creativity and the Autistic Spectrum.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This historical novel is set in eighteenth century England. Bethany Harris is a disgraced governess/companion, who, having caused a scandal, has been sent out of the way to a madhouse. She is taken from her prison by Kingfisher, a former tribal leader, now slave, to the House of Masques. Here, she is to be cared for, fed, clothed and taught how to behave in Society. However, what is the price for this care? From the first, Bethany believes she has been sent to a brothel. In fact, the House can be compared more to an upscale escort agency. There are strict rules about touching and the women of the House are elegant and beautiful; if marked with an emblem on their faces. New girls are known as ‘Kittens’ and have to be trained by the Fixer, a doctor who is also on the run from his own demons. Within the rules and walls of the House, all seems comfort and safety, but things are not as clear cut as they first appear.

This, then, is the story of Bethany, who is reinvented as Wasp. Virtually everyone in this historical novel are damaged; with dark pasts and secrets. They may wear pretty dresses, be a guest at the tables of the wealthy and privileged, but they began their journey as thieves, murderers, the lost and the despised. Although it is suggested that this novel deals with politics and power in society, the storyline is far more contained within the ways, and power struggles, of the House itself. Bethany is very much the main character, although the storyline does have flashbacks about what brought various characters to the House. There is the Nightingale, who arrived at the House with Kingfisher and the Fixer; the cheerful and kind Hummingbird and the new girl, Moth, who refuses to follow the rules. Over all the women, rules the Abbess, who – to all appearances – takes care of her Masques and offers them a home and comfort. However, there is a dark side to the House which Bethany only gradually uncovers.

I enjoyed the characters that populated this novel and liked the idea of the House of Masques catering to the sad and lonely, even as the women themselves are from the very dark fringes of society. The author managed to create realistic tension between the House and locals and there is a good scene where Hummingbird, Bethany and Wasp are virtually thrown out of a local tea room; only to return and make a point of being served. It is obvious that the House is not the genteel place its public face appears to be. However, the storyline took time to develop and, although I enjoyed the measured pace of storytelling, the initial suspense of what would happen did not really follow through. Still, despite some flaws, it was a good read and a promising historical fiction debut. I would certainly be interested to read more by this author.

Rated 3.5

[Maya Panika · Rating 2 out of 5]

Set in mid eighteenth century England where a cast of damaged and broken characters have been gathered together under one roof in a kind of Georgian escort agency. There's a deal of delightful writing here, a lovely tone and interesting use of metaphor. The character voices are good - especially considering the complications of the cast (not spoiling) - never once was I reminded that this is a male author writing overwhelmingly female voices. But the characterisation is far and away the best of it. The plot didn't grab me or hold me at all. It is achingly slow, it takes forever to get going and continues to move at a glacial pace for most of the book. I found it desperately hard to connect with. The story darts maddeningly back and forth in time, suddenly switching points of view after long swathes of a single voice. There is a subtle change of tense that points to whether the scene you are reading is a flashback or happening in the 'now', but the time-switches happen so abruptly, I'm afraid I found it hard to follow, to know who was talking, whose story I was reading. Nothing of any note happened for chapter after chapter after chapter and I'm afraid my interest steadily waned so that, when a reasonably interesting plot began to emerge (more than halfway through) I'd ceased caring. If I hadn't been reading this novel for review, I'd have given in and given up long before this point. As it was, it has taken me four times longer than average to wade through.
Maybe you have more patience and a stronger attention span than me and can cope with the paucity of incident and slow pace. It is certainly worth reading for some excellent writing and characterisation. I'm definitely up for a bit more Ian Garbutt. The man can write. There's the germ of a really good novel in Wasp, it just needs a really vicious edit to cut away the padding and speed up the pace.

[Marguerite Kaye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably a high 3 in terms of the story, but definitely a 4 for being something differed.

This was an odd one, and I came across it on a KDD. It's Georgian, and it's set in a sort of upmarket brothel, where all of the women are Masques, defined by a tattoo on each of their cheeks. The story centres around Bethany, or Wasp as she becomes known, who is rescued from a Comfort Home (asylum) where she was dumped by her aristocratic lover when she started to mouth off about his son's unwelcome overtures. At least that's what we think, but as the story unfolds, told both in the current time and retrospectively, we realised that Bethany, like almost every other woman or girl in the story, is not at all what she seems.

I have to say, I found the jumping backwards and forwards in time a bit confusing at first, because you're given no indication at the start of the chapter that that's what's happening, but once you realise, it's easy to follow. What I liked about this was the power struggle at the centre - of women trying to fight back in a man's world. Of course, they thought they were doing things on their own terms, using and abusing, taking and taking and taking, but never giving back either affection or any sort of emotional involvement. And of course, ultimately, they were just as used by each other, by the Abbess and the Fixer, paying a very high price indeed for their very limited freedom. But as a political metaphor, the set up was extremely intriguing, and multi-layered. I really liked that the author chose not to resolve it in any sort of facile way, and I appreciated that he left the waters as muddied at the end as they were at the start. Bethany doesn't win, though she thinks she does.

What I wasn't so keen on (a very common complaint for me) was the resolution of the story. I didn't believe that Bethany was as strong as she would have had to have been, and more importantly, I found the sudden crashing of the Masques' world, the dispersal of Kingfisher and the Fixer and the Abbess for very different and separate reasons, just a step to far in probability terms (sorry, you won't have a clue what I'm talking about unless you read the book, but I don't want to give anything away). I understand, it only takes one thread of a scandal to bring down a House (witness Profumo) but in this case, some of the threads felt too contrived.

On saying that, this was a very enthralling read. It was a very different story, and it put women right at the centre of a political struggle, which is rare indeed, especially in a historical book. I am going to be looking for more from this author.

[Kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were bits of this book that were well crafted and well written. The city and world that the writing invokes feels real and present, but the characters, their motivations, their development, falls flat. The way the larger plot unfurls is believable if predictable, but the motivations and backstories for many of the characters particularly Bethany, is muddled and inconsistent. It’s also extremely hard to forget most of the time that these are women - and women representing the hardships of all women of the time- who are written by a man, and the way they interact often feels flat or unbelievable bc of that. Maybe that’s my own bias but there were sections that just felt off to me. It’s a fine story and again, some good writing but overall a lot of it just rubbed me the wrong way some how or felt inconsistent and flat, especially Bethany as a main character, whose characterisation never felt authentic.

Edit: TW SEXUAL ASSAULT. SPOILERS.

Also the fact so much of this book revolves around women being mistreated and their trauma around that, often used for shock value, but then the relationship between a young (she’s only like 16/17?) Bethany and her much older, much more powerful in terms of class, male employer is presented totally uncritically in that they like “tried to slake their lust with each other but couldn’t” - a relationship her employer initiated but Bethany is seen as complicit in and weilding / attempting to wield power in, despite her vulnerable position. And it’s like, presented as a positive she enjoyed *totally uncritically* despite the frame work provided?? And also the use of “she cried false rape” as an act of power despite how much of the novel has women in vulnerable positions either being coerced or flat out assaulted. Like. That really didn’t sit well with me. And the way her relationship at the end with George is presented is just… not only is it inconsistent but it’s like it’s trying to grant Bethany this power she categorically doesn’t have and has actually been victimised by these things?
Also there’s so many babies and dead babies. And Anna - despite being more priceless in a lot of ways (tho her childhood flashback was weird and again, felt inconsistent with her later characterisation) but were not supposed to sympathise with Hummingbird despite Anna’s version of her story being remarkably similar - a woman trying to take control of herself and her child and paying the price. And if Hummingbird’s own version of her story - any part- is true then we should actively feel sympathy. And yet we’re immediately shut down for any sympathy toward Hummingbird and supposed to be … relieved? Glad? She’s been “defeated” even tho she’s doing what all of the women in the story are doing - getting power however she can, using sex and sexual appeal - which is exactly what Bethany did.

There’s just a lot of nuance in this book that I think is lost bc it doesn’t delve enough into or deeply understand or interrogate the relationships these women have with a) each other b) sex and c) men beyond “they suck but we love them”.


Also Kingfisher’s entire plot was just abandoned when it could’ve been so compelling.

[Cassandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uhm... this was an interesting book, if not a tad too disjointed. A bit too confusing at the end. But I wasn't bored.

[Ever Dundas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wasp is a brilliant character-driven novel set in 18th century England, where The House of Masques provides escorts to those willing to pay for their services. It’s a well-crafted, well-written page-turner.

I enjoyed the way the present and the past unfold together – as we learn more about The House of Masques we gradually learn more about how the protagonist, Bethany (or ‘Wasp’, as she comes to be known), and the other characters came to be there.

Wasp exposes the hypocrisy of ‘civil’ society, which sadly is still relevant today. It’s a feminist novel without being preachy or falling into the trap of simply portraying one dimensional ‘strong’ women; all the women are flawed – they’re human. Bethany isn’t simply a victim swept along by circumstance; she makes the best of her situation in the House of Masques but never sinks into apathy. Moreover, (without spoiling the plot) it is clear that she shoulders some responsibility for what happened to her.
As well as portraying the difficulties of being a woman in patriarchal society, Wasp touches on the brutality of slavery and also shows the way men and the upper classes are constrained and damaged by social norms.

I wasn’t entirely convinced by aspects of the denouement but that didn’t spoil it for me – I loved this book and very much look forward to more from Garbutt.

[Carla Bastiaans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dit verhaal geeft een inkijkje in hoe het leven van vrouwen kon zijn in een tijd dat je zonder man minder kansen had. Boeiend geschreven.

[Petra · Rating 3 out of 5]

*** Read in Dutch translation ***
I like most part of the book, the era it was set in, the very original way to give woman another chance (even though it seemed that they didn’t really have a choice) and the clients stories. What confused me though was the timing. Sometimes the story jumped back in time to get more insight in the history of some characters, I often didn’t know at first who they were talking about and for me, this kind of story telling often breaks the pace. It’s not clear to me how much time passed before Bethany became a Masque and how long she worked as one before the final episodes. Ialso was confused by the Moth character, for me, her name meant that she was already part of the Masques, but she still was a kitten…
I had the most trouble with the ending though. Wasp is praised as a very strong character, but she doesn’t seem that way to me. In my eyes, she’s rather naïve, childish, still trying to find her way in her new life, not knowing whether she likes it or not.

[Cherry Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always I wish GRs allowed us to award half stars! In comparison to other books I've rated 3 stars is too low and 4 stars too high.
I liked this, the story is good - not brilliant but interesting and captivating, something a little different - although I felt it petered out somewhat towards the end, suddenly jumping towards a resolution with everything falling into place a bit too easily. The writing is also good, despite the use of the phrase 'higgledy-piggledy' 3 times in different contexts. Not that I mind the use of it, I like it, I use it, but once would have been enough, 3 times is lazy. There were also numerous small typos a decent editor/proof-reader should have found. However, now I'm just being pedantic. It's an enjoyable read and I look forward to seeing what Ian Garbutt does next. 3.5 stars.

[Desiree · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story about a governess who falls into disgrace and is send to a madhouse. Here she is "rescued" by an ex slave and taken to the house of Masques, an institution for high class, no touch, escorts.

In the house of Masques no one is who he or she seems to be however, and it is very difficult to find out who is friend or foe.
All characters have had serious problems in the past and have their own (double) agenda's.

Nice enough metaphors for the 18th century English society where everyone in "polite" society was hiding behind a masque of some kind in a manner of speaking.

Liked the book but a bit disappointed that the ending was a bit too open for most of the characters
otherwise would have given 4 starts

[Tim Stretton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This exquisitely-written historical novel defies ready categorisation. It's the story of Bethany/Kitten/Wasp, rescued from immolation in a madhouse to be trained as a courtesan in a mysterious Regency escort agency. If you demand breakneck pace, this book isn't for you, but it has everything else: rounded and credible characters, intrigue and a plot of clockwork precision. It has echoes of Dickens and Sarah Waters, but Ian Garbutt's voice is wholly original.

Highly recommended - my novel of the year so far, and we're in December....