The Turning of the Tide

by Liz Shakespeare

Devon, 1871
Young and vulnerable Selina Burman from Clovelly and her two young children are confined in the harsh environment of Bideford Workhouse. She can only observe them from a distance and despairs of a better future. Her prospects improve when she meets Dr Ackland, a popular G.P. committed to social change. He employs her as a servant in his own household, despite the doubts of his wife and the Bideford community, for whom any connection with the Workhouse is a source of fear and shame.
Selina's work gives satisfaction, but her search for love and security does not conform to the expectations of a middle class Victorian family and threatens to damage both her own future and Dr Ackland's career. Set in Bideford and Clovelly, this novel draws on newspaper articles, letters and census returns, and powerfully brings to life the factual origins of the story.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Liz Shakespeare was born in Devon and returned there after spending seven years in London, where she obtained an honours degree in English and trained as a teacher. Her mother's family are from Devon and the family stories she grew up with and the sense of being deeply rooted in the area have, she feels, influenced her writing.
She draws her inspiration from the North Devon countryside, from the strong historical identity of the area and the sense of past lives that can be experienced in any long-inhabited area. She is interested in social history and particularly in the lives of the less advantaged.

Reviews

[Ruth Downie]

It's hard to assess a book set in an area you're familiar with, because some of the pleasure must come from recognising the locations - so I might be biased. But, biased or not, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's the tale of one young woman's struggle to escape from the local workhouse, and of a local Doctor's attempts to improve the lot of his patients. If that makes it sound cliched, then I apologise, because it isn't.

Liz Shakespeare's characters are - or were - real people, recorded in documents and newspapers, and the story vividly captures the uneasy divide between the 'respectable' gentry of Victorian North Devon and the lower classes upon whose labour they depended. It's a fine combination of fact and imagination, structured into a story that keeps the reader hooked to the end.

My only complaint was nothing to do with the text - my aging Kindle wouldn't enlarge the historical documents enough for my aging eyes to read them properly. Such items as I could make out were fascinating.

[Michelle Higgs]

'The Turning of the Tide' by Liz Shakespeare is a wonderful blend of fact and fiction. The story is set in Devon in 1871 and the main characters are based on real people who lived there at that time. Documents relating to them such as birth, marriage and death certificates, workhouse records and newspaper reports are interspersed throughout the book.

Weaving in the known facts, Liz Shakespeare has written a compelling story and created characters you’ll care about. You’ll find yourself really rooting for Selina Burman, the heroine, who is a victim of circumstances and of what was socially acceptable in the Victorian period. Having a couple of illegitimate children born in the workhouse was quite common in an age when there was no access to reliable contraception for the working classes.

Liz Shakespeare has carried out meticulous research to write this novel and skilfully included lots of lovely period details. The reader can easily imagine the sights, sounds and smells of 1870s Devon through her descriptive writing. Reading 'The Turning of the Tide' was a real treat from start to finish and I’d highly recommend it.

[Wendy Percival]

I'm most impressed with Liz Shakespeare - she's so clever! Taking real characters from Devon's historical records and "telling" their stories in novel from is an inspired idea. And she does it so well!

As a family historian, I know what a treat it is to discover particular snippets of extra information on ancestors' lives which go beyond bare facts and help paint a picture of what that ancestor was like. But Liz takes this one stage further. She uses true facts as the basis of the tale but then applies her own imagination as to how events might have come about, adding in characters' thoughts and conversations to write a fascinating and compelling story, with a wonderful sense of time and place.

I really enjoyed this book and can highly recommend it.

[Judy]

A most interesting book. The carefully-researched story of a young unmarried mother living in a workhouse in Bideford (my current home town) in the 1870's. An absorbing tale with fate of the young woman in the balance right to the end. More importantly, it is a sobering reminder of social conditions and attitudes prevailing not that long ago. The author draws on archival material of people who actually lived in the area.

[Mr. Brian E. Mayne]

This book is based in Bideford north Devon in the 1870s. It begins with a young woman, Selina, in the workhouse there. The description was my first clearer understanding of what conditions were like in a Victorian workhouse and why the prospect of having to be in one was so feared.
In addition to being Selina’s story, it is also the story of the compassionate and visionary Dr Ackland and of how these two characters’ lives came together and affected each other. It is also the story of 1870s Bideford and surrounding area, including Clovelly and Westward Ho!, with social life and moral strictures prevalent then.
The characters in the book were based on actual people and Liz Shakespeare researched carefully, allowing her to build the story around real events and details. The book is helpfully illustrated throughout with news clippings, census and other records.
I was so caught up with the lives of some of the characters that, after finishing the book, I had to go online and find out what became of them in their later years!

[Margaret Gregg]

Such an amazing book. You sort of guess how it will be written but it's not like that at all. It is superbly written with all the evidence along the way. Bought for me by someone from Bideford. I have loved it. When the twist came about page 227 I thought that I was going to be disappointed but I wasn't. Would definitely read more of hers! Thoroughly recommend if you like social history books.

[Sue]

Out of all of the books by Liz Shakespeare that I have read so far, this is the one I have enjoyed the most and the fact that the main characters existed and can be traced is a fascinating on-site into what may have possiblity happened.

[Christine Parker]

The tale of many a girl of that era very well told

[Joanne]

While I enjoyed The Song of the Skylark better, this is another fascinating, really well written novel about local history, blending fact and fiction. The trials and tribulations of the poor and especially of women makes me very grateful to be born in these times. Thank goodness for birth control!

[Colin Andrews]

This is a very atmospheric novel, based on real life characters in the Bideford area during the 1870s, and authenticated by facsimilies of public records and newspaper articles of the time. Selina Burman, an unmarried mother of two children, is given a chance to escape the soul-destroying conditions of the workhouse by the kindness of a visionary G.P., Dr. Ackland, who employs her as a servant.Through hard work and willingness to learn she gains the trust of Dr. Ackland's wife who was not at all in favour of a workhouse girl entering her household. Selina longs to be re-united with her surviving younger son and thus relieve her mother of the burden of care. As the story draws to the climax we see her whole future once again at risk and her fate dependent upon the actions of a local craftsman.

Even if one is unfamiliar with North Devon this would still be a captivating story. Knowing the various locations in and around Bideford, however, gave the book added interest to me. With the author's detailed descriptions I could very easily visualise the scene of the action.

[Sue]

At first I found it difficult to empathise with the main character - why I don't know because her situation was dire to say the least - in Bideford workhouse, separated from her children. However as the story progressed I did care about them and really 'enjoyed' the atmosphere the author created. The inclusion of newspaper articles, birth etc certificates made the people and the times (around 1881) real. Unfortunately some of the newspaper articles were too small for me to read - I also have that problem at the record offices though! I would really like to read more of her writing.

[Lkai]

Historically based, this book includes photos, newspaper clippings, historical records and certificates (which are very difficult to make out in Kindle edition.) Ms. Shakespeare takes us from the desparation and desolation of a Workhouse, outside into Society. She touches on the judgments and moral duties of the betters in society and the limitations placed on the poorer members of society. Very well crafted; lovely writing--even when the story details are ugly.

[Chrissie]

I really enjoyed this book, mostly because its set in the town where I live. They have used factual documents to turn into a novel, well worth a read.

[Donna]

Not always predictable. Well told story set in the Workhouses of England. Great character development. Felt I knew them. Enjoyed it immensely.