The Button Box

by Dilly Court

The new heartwarming novel from Sunday Times bestselling author, Dilly Court.

Clara held onto the precious button, glimmering like a jewel in the dark alleyways of London’s notorious Seven Dials. She needed to save her family… but who was going to save her?

There was a time when the Carter sisters’ father was their hero. Now he’s a drunk who’s gambled away everything they had and put them all in peril. It's on Clara's shoulders to save the four sisters from destitution. Clutching her precious button box, the only thing of value they have left, Clara dreams of starting a shop that could put a roof over their heads and keep them safe…

But in debt to the terrifying Patches Braggs, leader of one of the East End's roughest gangs, Clara is in fear for her life. When a mysterious benefactor seems to offer an escape, Clara realizes too late that it comes at a terrible price…

Cheated, abandoned and alone – can Clara save her family and hold onto her dreams?

Genres: Romance, Fiction

512 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2017

About the author

Dilly Court grew up in North-east London and began her career in television, writing scripts for commercials. She is married with two grown-up children and four grandchildren, and now lives in Dorset on the beautiful Jurassic Coast with her husband. She is the author of eighteen novels and also writes under the name of Lily Baxter.

Reviews

[Louise Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clara Carter found a button glimmering like a jewel in the dark alleyways of London's notorious Seven Dials. She lived with her father and four sisters but her father was a drunken gambler. He gambled everything they had and was in debt to the notorious and terrifying Patches Bragg the leader of one of the East Ends roughest gangs. It's now on Clara's shoulders to save her family dorm destitution. Clara has always dreamed of owning her own shop. Will Clara fulfill her dreams?

I have read all of Dilly Courts books and I have enjoyed them all. This is a tale of a families struggle to pay off their fathers debt and keep a roof over their heads and food on the table. The new friends they make along the way. Of Clara going off to Paris only to find she has been cheated, abandoned and alone with hardly any money left. Dilly Court has a style of writing that's draws you in to her story and you can imagine living in the era. Loved it.

I would like to thank NetGalley, HarperCollins UK, HarperFiction and the author Dilly Court for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read, sisters story who dream of having a store.a father starts gambling and gets into trouble and gets into a debt problem with some nasty people great read good author.

[Katelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first Dilly Court book, so I didn’t know what to expect.

This story is about a girl, Clara, and her three sisters who have run into some hard times because their father is a drunk and has run up some gambling debt. Life is hard for Clara, except for when all these dudes just hand her money. I’m serious, this girl gets some serious cash for doing nothing. Her *occasional boyfriend* Luke randomly walks by when Clara has no money for coal or food. Luke’s in some kind of gang so he’s got blood money or something. Then Clara’s boss dies and leaves her whole business to Clara. Shortly after, Clara meets Nat. Nat keeps buying Clara and her sisters some food. Now, this would all be fine, except Clara decided to take on her father’s gambling debts. Clara has three days to pay a huge chunk of cash. EXCEPT. Right before it is due… her collector disappears along with all traces of Clara’s debt. So I’m thinking. Wow. This girl has inherited a shop. Her debt is erased. She’s got dudes up the wazoo buying her dinners and taxi cabs. She’s got it all under control. On top of this, all of her sisters work and they have free lodging. I mean, they’re not going to be presented at Almack’s anytime soon, but they should be able to support themselves.

Nope. Clara decides after like a *week* of doing business (in which, she kept closing shop in the middle of the day) that she wants to expand. She sells her shop (which confused me because I thought she was renting) and starts to rent some shabby storefront that she wants to turn into a department store. Girl couldn’t feed herself last week but now she wants to rent a building she can’t afford? I can’t even. So she cleans the place up and opens for like 2 days before deciding to go to Paris with this other dude. WHO OFFERED TO PAY FOR HER. Also, at this point she got a cheque for 50 pounds in the mail from old pal Luke who is a fugitive now. She said she would go to scout out other department stores, but she would pay her way. She pays for her own tickets, but then lets this dude hold onto them. He ditches her. She can’t get home. She meets a girl who gets her a job in Paris so she can stay there and search for a friend that went missing which is a side story that I couldn’t get behind. She meets up with old pal Luke who gives her MORE cash to get home. Anyways. She gets home and does a grand opening of her shop because she closed the shop while in Paris. A different dude proposes to her promising her a life of luxury but she says no. She goes into business with the shady dude that ditched her in Paris. She has another?! Grand opening? The plot goes very cartoonish with a twist and reveal. And the end. Moral of the story, starting your own business is easy and there are no risks.

This is a generous 3. I didn’t like the whole side story with Gertie and I’m pretty sure Patches was a cartoon character. But I wasn’t bored. I was mostly appalled by the way Clara ran her business.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

A massive book but with not so tiny writing makes it not as much to read as you first think. But it was easy to get immersed in and to read though it was rather slow moving at times and it lacked any great excitement or drama.
Clara is the eldest of 4 sisters whose mother is dead and father is a drunk and a gambler and so they live very frugal. Albert their father has got debts to a notorious gang who want paying or else so he leaves and goes into hiding and so the sisters have to survive on their own.
Clara gets left a shop but it's not doing well and has very little stock but her dreams are very big and she always seems to land on her feet where money is concerned and is able to rent somewhere bigger and furnish it and make a success of it. Whilst the shop remains closed more than it's open while she runs off to Paris where she gets in to trouble and more dramas.
I really didn't like Clara much as she was so stubborn and obstinate and the amount of men she had running after her was laughable, she was nothing special and appeared rather dull and boring. There was really no chemistry with any of the men nor any will they won't they as she could have easily ended up with any of them and I wouldn't have cared.

The twist with regards Luke was interesting tho I had already figured a large part of it out way before.
The addition of her three sisters made up for lack of excitement at times as they each brought something else to the whole shebang though I thought their innocent interactions with each other and others was somewhat naive and old fashioned.

I was very happy with the ending though and of all the men if she had to end up with one I'd have picked him.

[Leigh Library · Rating 1 out of 5]

Occasionally, other Libraries and Book Groups get hold of a book set before Leigh Library. Like our groups they have a love of books, like discussing the books they read and like to recommend their favourite Titles.
This dedicated shelf on Leigh Libraries page is provided for book groups and other Libraries, who want to post their reviews for books but, don’t have access to their own RGFE or Goodreads page.

Here’s what Upholland U3A Reading Group had to say about Dilly Courts new novel The Button Box.

“It made me Laugh. Unfortunately It wasn’t meant to be funny, but the ludicrous events made me chuckle. It was extremely far- fetched and improbable characters were hackneyed Stereotypes.”
Lindsey Aitchison.

“Unfortunately for me the best bit was the full stop at the end. The story was hackneyed, predictable, muddled and contradictory”
P. Lomax.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my goodness every book I read of Dilly Court I think she cannot beat the last one I read, but she certainly did with this one. Getting to know Clara and her sisters was lovely, but seeing where the other characters stories led too was amazing, had me gripped from start to finish. If goodreads gave more than 5 stars this would certainly have gotten many more.

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Be prepared to be transported to the East End of London in the 1870's. The streets are ruled by criminal gangs. Murder, robbery, kidnapping and debt are common where Clara and her sisters try to get by day by day.
This book is another gem by Dilly Court, a story that draws you in and keeps you reading, I loved all the characters especially Clara and Jane.

[Kathy E · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant book that I could just not put down. You can feel yourself in London and Paris with the characters in this book and you can imagine their ups and downs and you just have keep on reading to find the ending.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I traded this book with one I had just finished from a bookshelf in London. How cool is that? Set in London, it was fun to hear the names of places we’d just visited. Great read with lots of action and good character development. Looking forward to reading more by Dilly Court!

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book something going on from start to finish. Had a bit of a twist at the end but would recommend anyone to read it .

[Brenda Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book,love this author.

[Jenny Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in Victorian London, this is the story of the Carter family, Clara, her three younger sisters and their father, a gambler and a drunk who is in danger of leading the family into destitution. Clara is determined to provide for her sisters. She works in a back-street draper’s shop and has dreams of eventually opening her own department store. This is the story of the struggles that the family face, both hampered and assisted by dramatic adventures aplenty.

The Carter family themselves are vaguely reminiscent of the March family in Little Women, and each of the four daughters has a well-developed individual character. I cared about them and wanted everything to work out OK, which meant that I became involved and immersed myself in their story. It was very easy to read and was gripping from the start, becoming a real page-turner as it progressed. In retrospect the plot was totally implausible with rather too many coincidences and more drama than you might expect for a working class East End family, but I was so wrapped up in the lives of the characters and the enchanting story that this all washed over me completely and seemed entirely normal.

Whilst the book is certainly not deep and meaningful, it is a thoroughly enjoyable holiday read. It also evokes the life and times of Victorian England, the hardship and poverty which was prevalent among much of the working class and the relationship between the well-to-do and the lower classes.

I couldn’t bring myself to give a fifth star purely because the book is lacking in depth. Maybe that’s unfair because I did thoroughly enjoy it. Although it was my first Dilly Court, I sincerely hope it won’t be my last.

[DayDreamer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too many "she said angrily" dialogue tags by the main character. She was either angry or acting stubbornly, which made her a flat and boring character to read. From the middle onwards it got repetitive. I expected more gang rivalry within their hometown...punching, kicking, robbing, turf wars, that sort of thing. I wanted it to be more about achieving her dreams whilst saddled with her father's debt, fighting both worlds at once, maybe even falling into the vipers nest and committing a crime herself to pay off the debts, feed her family, and save her father's hide. The seedy gambling underworld of Patches' establishment would have made for more of an interesting story than all this ferrying about to and fro from London to Paris, searching for a girl I did not give a damn about. Even Bones could have had more of a central role, as he was far more interesting than Gertie. The reveal of family ties at the end also added nothing to the story. It started out solid, but it slowly fell apart for me when Clara found the gambling den suddenly empty of gang members and players.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley.

I really enjoyed this book, it was a quick easy read with likeable characters and interesting twists. I really liked Clara and all her sisters, I think spin off books for her sisters would be a really interesting idea! I loved how independent Clara was, I realised fairly soon there must be some kind of twist concerning Luke's character but I totally didn't guess what it was at all.

Overall a lovely book and definitely worth a read.

[Luisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

i won this book in the good reads giveaway, i really enjoyed this book, its not typically what i would pick up so glad i had a chance to read it, its a story of family and sisterhood with a little romance, there are plenty of plot twists to keep you entertained, and has very likeable characters who you genuinely want to see succeed,

[Pauline Chamberlain · Rating 4 out of 5]

A GOOD NOVEL BY THIS AUTHOR, REALLY ENJOYED IT

[Trudie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was slightly different to Dilly's usual style but I really enjoyed this. I hope to read more of the same!

[Annemarie Farthing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots happening in this book
Favourite quote which made me laugh was...
'I can do as I please because I am extremely wealthy and you are poor'

[Amelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was weird in the sense of it was both what I expected and not what I expected. I expected it to have a very strong 'family first' undercurrent which seems to be common of well.. family sagas. But what I was not at all expecting was how dramatic everything seemed to be. The best way I could describe it is the book equivalent of a soap. So much seemed to happen and characters were almost over the top caricatures of themselves, with each being more dramatic than the last.

I can understand if you are into soaps why you would enjoy this book, but this is not one for me.

Special mention has to go to the minor plotline where it is revealed that one of the characters has been in a romantic relationship with their nephew because two babies were swapped at birth, only for it to come out 50~ pages later that they are not actually related because there was a third baby that also happened to be swapped at the same time.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The Button Box” a heartwarming tale, one of my favorites by Dilly Court heats up when hardworking Clara Carter struggling to provide for her family and keep her father from being beaten for not paying his gambling debt, is bequeathed the draper’s shop where she works. With dreams of making the business a success, gangster Patches Bragg threatening bodily harm if she doesn’t pay back the money owed, and the lease to the shop running out, Clara makes a radical decision to move the business uptown.

Set in the Victorian age between London and Paris, intensity and suspense escalate when Dilly not only discovers a distraught and dirty woman living in the upstairs of the building she leases, is pursued by the son of her sister's employer, agrees to a phony engagement but also when she gets swept up in the sinister intrigues of Patches Bragg and her son. With twists and turns that keep you enthralled from beginning to end Clara finally manages to transform the store and encourage her landowner’s sister Lady Quinn to attend the opening only to face masked robbers, and a vengeful Patches. Skilfully Dilly Court sets the stage for a mesmerizing journey that has Clara fulfilling her dream under a shroud of mystery as past secrets are revealed and romance permeates the air.

In this story Clara in love with Luke Foyle for years cannot admit her feelings for a man she considers little more than a gangster working for the Skinner and Bragg gangs. Although he’s confessed his love and does everything in his power to protect and provide for her and her family, Clara ignores his advances throwing herself into her work and even agreeing to a fake engagement to help her friend Nathaniel. Like every Dilly Court book the romance is gripping and hides a twist that’s not revealed until the end.

The author deftly creates characters who are interesting, complex and believable like Clara Carter who cherishes her button collection but will pawn it in a heartbeat if it means saving her sisters from starvation. She’s independent, stubborn, ambitious and spirited but also impulsive and naive; recklessly confronting the danger to her father’s life and even her friend Gertrude Batt’s. Handsome, educated Luke Foyle is charming, intelligent and secretive. Overconfident and arrogant his jealousy is stirred when he suspects Clara’s engaged to the optimistic and kind-hearted, classical violinist Nathaniel Silver. It is these personalities and others including Clara’s sisters; the forthright, and tough Betsy; the delicate, sensitive and handicapped fourteen-year-old Jane; and the prickly, often self-absorbed Lizzie that infuse this tale with depth, emotional intensity and drama.

I thoroughly enjoyed “The Button Box” and look forward to reading more of Dilly Court’s historically- based romances in future.

[Jessy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Button Box is an immensely readable mystery novel. I like the cover art, it gives a believable appearance to the main character of the novel. The placement of the name of the writer in a bigger font, on a more prominent place, is however a strange choice.

The pacing of the story and its twists and turns make for an eventful experience while reading. The main- and supporting-characters seem to have had a life all of their own, this makes their actions within the constructs of the story believable.

I do not like the ending, its happy, but feels empty and rushed because of this. In life some things can not be undone simply by wishing them to be so.

Themes: gambling addiction, alcohol abuse, class society, prostitution, inheritance law and poverty.

[V.E. Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another satisfying family saga from the pen of Dilly Court, set in the 19th century slums of London. Clara Carter dreams of starting her own fabric shop, to be called 'The Button Box' after her most treasured possession, but when her drunkard father gets on the wrong side of malevolent gang leader Patches Bragg, he is forced to flee and Clara's dreams seem dashed. She and her siblings are left near destitute until an unexpected opportunity comes along but how many strings are attached? And who is pulling them? Evocative, entertaining, a wonderful book to curl up with on a rainy day.

[Tina O'reilly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite a sweet book, atmospheric, with plausible characters. The relationships the main character, Clara, has with her sisters is lovely and commendable. Clara is a strong women in a tough world. Times are hard, she is just above being a pauper, but she strives to do so much better, to make something of herself and to make life better for her family.
If you like a little historical romance then this is the book for you. If you have any yearnings to work with haberdashery, ribbons, buttons etc, even more so!

[Shirley Hamlod · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first book by this author and I’ve really enjoyed it. As the book is quite long, the author had time to develop the characters in detail. The main protagonists of Luke and Clara are well drawn. The plot is interesting and the reader is kept in suspense until right at the end as to who Luke really is! Great!

[Stef · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book enabled its readers to understand the travesty of poverty and gave them an insight into the struggles faced daily by many people. Each character was expressed perfectly and the images made in the reader's eyes allowed them to deeply connect with the book. I would rate this book 9/10 for its character development and the whole general story

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow a riveting read from page one. I love the way you are drawn into the characters lives as though you are part of the family. A great read with lots of twists along the way. I will be highly recommending this book to all my book loving friends.

[Carol Lavery watkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this from a goodreads giveaway.
This is my first time reading a Dilly Court book and it is also not my usual type either but I loved it.
I couldn't put it down and it's full of twists & turns that keep you enthralled. I can't wait to read the author's other books

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

What a great read, I really enjoyed this book. As with most of the authors other books I found it very engaging and found myself liking almost all of the characters. I think this is my favourite, I just couldn't put it down!!!!

[Cathy Williamson · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're a fan of this genre you'll probably love this book - it was nicely written and had interesting characters and sub-plots. I did guess the twist about Luke quite early on, so there was not a lot of suspense in it for me, but it was an enjoyable and easy read.

[Linda Leedham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished reading this Dilly Court book its the 3rd one I've read of hers and would fully recommend . The outcome is not obvious as you read it through . To me this was a surprising end .
And full of mystery.