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Truths
Two women, Elizabeth and Jen, separated by two hundred years, but inescapably connected. Will the echoes of the past be enough to save Jen as she begins to discover her truth?
In 1808 Elizabeth Cooper, found guilty as a thief, is sentenced to hang and thrown into prison, the convicted women with whom she shares her gloomy cell the only solace she will have until the day of her execution. In gentle Gilly Stevens she finds the strength and comfort of a growing intimacy. As the horrors of the prison threaten to overwhelm her, Elizabeth and Gilly must soon fight to ensure Elizabeth’s innocence, her truth, can survive into the future.
In 2008 Jen is a costumed tour guide, the prison where Elizabeth Cooper was imprisoned now an atmospheric museum. Jen’s work relating its horrors distracts her from the confusion of her personal life. Then she encounters Aly, an intriguing, confident photographer, who seems to change everything. Jen is determined not to deny her truth any longer and to finally reach for happiness, but, as the shadows within the high prison walls lengthen and seem to warn her of the threat, she is in more danger than she realizes.
In 1808 Elizabeth Cooper, found guilty as a thief, is sentenced to hang and thrown into prison, the convicted women with whom she shares her gloomy cell the only solace she will have until the day of her execution. In gentle Gilly Stevens she finds the strength and comfort of a growing intimacy. As the horrors of the prison threaten to overwhelm her, Elizabeth and Gilly must soon fight to ensure Elizabeth’s innocence, her truth, can survive into the future.
In 2008 Jen is a costumed tour guide, the prison where Elizabeth Cooper was imprisoned now an atmospheric museum. Jen’s work relating its horrors distracts her from the confusion of her personal life. Then she encounters Aly, an intriguing, confident photographer, who seems to change everything. Jen is determined not to deny her truth any longer and to finally reach for happiness, but, as the shadows within the high prison walls lengthen and seem to warn her of the threat, she is in more danger than she realizes.
264 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
4 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
About the author
Rebecca S. Buck
7 books14 followersBorn in Nottingham, England, Rebecca’s life has taken a few twists and turns, including a spell working as a private tutor in eastern Slovenia, but now she is back in her homeland again and working in the education sector of the museum and heritage industry. She returned to England in 2010, around the time her first novel was published. Her second novel, Ghosts of Winter, was shortlisted for a Lambda Literary Award. History is her passion and she has several historical works currently in progress.
Rebecca lives just outside of Nottingham, with her partner.
Rebecca lives just outside of Nottingham, with her partner.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 26, 2013
I'm going to put this one in my five-star category - not something I do often. I think this book captured a 'coming out' story that I was able to relate to better than any I've read so far. The emotions and experiences Jen had through her process were very believable to me in comparison to my own. That sudden and almost overwhelming realization when everything just sort of falls into place was captured quite nicely in the modern portion of the story.
The historical part of the book was pretty gripping also and I love the way the two stories intertwined. Ms. Buck really does have a great ability with putting you right into the scene and making the reader 'see' what she is describing.
I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
The historical part of the book was pretty gripping also and I love the way the two stories intertwined. Ms. Buck really does have a great ability with putting you right into the scene and making the reader 'see' what she is describing.
I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
August 17, 2023
I'd say between 3 and 4 but not quite 4 stars :)
August 31, 2018
I grew really upset whilst reading this book. The author's choice to alternate every other page in the POVs of the eras was just annoying. That part was really poorly done. That said as I read on and actually got to Jen's meetings with Aly I got sucked into their relationship. And while I kept asking myself what was the connection between Jen and Elizabeth the author I guess tried to answer that towards the end but I still feel that connection lacks conviction
January 9, 2011
In 2008, Jen is working as a costumed tour guide in a Victorian Nottingham gaol. Fresh out of an unsatisfying relationship and unsure about future career prospects, Jen feels most comfortable in the enclosed exercise yard, tucked away from the modern world. Her ease there is disturbed by some strange noises in the dark passageways, and a vision of one of the long-ago prisoners. On a trip to the library to research the name that pops into her head, she meets Owen. Her first date with him is pretty miserable, and she makes an escape with a cute charity collector who happens to be a girl. Over the course of the novel, Jen has to begin figuring out who she is and what she wants in life.
In 1808, Elizabeth Cooper has just been sentenced to death for the crime of "stealing in a dwelling house". Conditions in the prison start out miserable and quickly get worse; her only comfort comes from one of her fellow prisoners, a woman facing transportation to Australia.
The two stories alternate throughout the book. Jen's story is told in first-person, while Elizabeth's is in close-third-person, so the reader only sees events through those two particular viewpoints. Both stories are about truth and lies and the cost of both living lies and embracing the truth. The two women are connected in a way that is gradually revealed.
Overall, the writing is good, but I had a few quibbles. For one thing, there was really only one Elizabeth Cooper in a couple hundred years of prison records? Also, the mystery behind the vandalism really wasn't much of a mystery; Jen just seemed a little slow in figuring it out.
Equal parts historical fiction and contemporary romance, with dashes of mystery and paranormal, it's an enjoyable (though predictable) read. Buck is clearly a promising writer, though, and this is her debut novel. I look forward to her future work.
In 1808, Elizabeth Cooper has just been sentenced to death for the crime of "stealing in a dwelling house". Conditions in the prison start out miserable and quickly get worse; her only comfort comes from one of her fellow prisoners, a woman facing transportation to Australia.
The two stories alternate throughout the book. Jen's story is told in first-person, while Elizabeth's is in close-third-person, so the reader only sees events through those two particular viewpoints. Both stories are about truth and lies and the cost of both living lies and embracing the truth. The two women are connected in a way that is gradually revealed.
Overall, the writing is good, but I had a few quibbles. For one thing, there was really only one Elizabeth Cooper in a couple hundred years of prison records? Also, the mystery behind the vandalism really wasn't much of a mystery; Jen just seemed a little slow in figuring it out.
Equal parts historical fiction and contemporary romance, with dashes of mystery and paranormal, it's an enjoyable (though predictable) read. Buck is clearly a promising writer, though, and this is her debut novel. I look forward to her future work.
September 16, 2014
In her debut novel, Truths, Rebecca Buck has restricted herself to two narrative threads, contained within a common setting albeit separated by 200 years. Like Willie Beamiss in The Tell-Tale Heart, Elizabeth is held in a squalid prison cell for little more than the offence of powerlessness and poverty but she, unfortunately, is sentenced to hang via the ghoulish short-drop method, while her cellmates await deportation. Two centuries later, Jen is a costumed tour guide in the same prison, constrained less by locks and bolts than by her detachment from the horrors she acts out with the museum visitors and her continual denial of the yearnings of her own heart. Like Drew and his ancestor, Willie, Jen undergoes her own awakening as she faces the truth about her sexual orientation, but not before she has fought off the threat that lies within the shadows of the high prison walls.
I found both these narratives compelling and, as might be expected from an author who has done a job similar to Jen’s, the historical context fascinating. For me, the shared setting was sufficient to link the two women’s stories, but Rebecca Buck has thrown a couple of other potential connections into the mix. When, waiting in the darkness for her next group of tourists, Jen hears strange sounds she can’t account for, there’s a suggestion this could be an echo of another layer of history unfolding in the same place, but unseen.
Continues at http://annegoodwin.weebly.com/annecdo...
I found both these narratives compelling and, as might be expected from an author who has done a job similar to Jen’s, the historical context fascinating. For me, the shared setting was sufficient to link the two women’s stories, but Rebecca Buck has thrown a couple of other potential connections into the mix. When, waiting in the darkness for her next group of tourists, Jen hears strange sounds she can’t account for, there’s a suggestion this could be an echo of another layer of history unfolding in the same place, but unseen.
Continues at http://annegoodwin.weebly.com/annecdo...
July 17, 2011
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel. It's beautifully written, telling two stories - one in the past, one in the present. The writer has an uncanny ability to make you feel you're really there! Recommend highly!
June 19, 2011
I enjoyed the historical aspect of this book the most. Good debut novel. The author joined us on episode 12 of Cocktail Hour to discuss Truths.
http://www.cocktailhour.c-spot.net/ar...
http://www.cocktailhour.c-spot.net/ar...
January 22, 2015
The story is very well written and calls on the author's own experiences of working in Nottingham (UK), but the tie in at the end between the modern day and the past seemed a little contrived.
October 25, 2015
2010 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention (5* from at least 1 judge)
November 24, 2016
Well done! Reminds me of Sarah Waters.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews