A chilling historical mystery set against the gothic backdrop of Victorian London, The Small Museum won the Caledonia Novel Award in 2023 and is inspired by the extraordinary treasure trove of curiosities that is the Hunterian Museum in London.
London, 1873. Madeleine Brewster’s marriage to Dr Lucius Everley was meant to be the solution to her family’s sullied reputation. After all, Lucius is a well-respected collector of natural curiosities, his ‘Small Museum’ of bones and things in jars is his pride and joy, although kept under lock and key. His sister Grace’s philanthropic work with fallen women is also highly laudable. However, Maddie is confused by and excluded from what happens in what is meant to be her new home.
Maddie’s skill at drawing promises a role for her though when Lucius agrees to let her help him in making a breakthrough in evolutionary science, a discovery of the first ‘fish with feet’. But the more Maddie learns about both Lucius and Grace, the more she suspects that unimaginable horrors lie behind their polished reputations. Framed for a crime that would take her to the gallows and leave the Everleys unencumbered, Maddie’s only hope is her friend Caroline Fairly. But will she be able to put the pieces together before the trial reaches its fatal conclusion?
The Small Museum is a really immersive book and one I have enjoyed immensely. It a gripping story which grabbed my attention from the beginning. Maddie is our central character and we meet her at her wedding. This should be a joyous occasion but it is rather muted. Whilst marriages in the 1800s were often arrangements rather than matches for love, this feels tremendously forced. Maddie’s family have been disgraced due to the actions of an older sister, the details of which are not made completely clear at this point, and so Maddie’s marriage will go some way towards repairing this. Her husband to be is an important surgeon and her life in London is sure to be a world away from her current life in Cheshire. However, the reality is a large, stuffy and dark house where she never really gets the opportunity to settle or feel welcomed. The staff are at best cool, if not downright unfriendly, despite her best efforts and she is made to feel like an inconvenience with no opportunity to make the house a home. In addition to this, she is prevented from doing activities she would like and is somewhat a prisoner in her home. Her husband shows little interest, her sister-in-law is overbearing, and the idea communicating her sadness and loneliness to her family makes her feel she is disappointing them. Every few chapters we fast forward into the future where Maddie is on trial, accused of murdering her child. We hear from witnesses and contrasting their words with what we know from the previous chapters makes for grim reading at times. Of course misogeny was rife in the 1800s, arguably it still is, but some of the claims made by men about Maddie are horrific!
I found this to be quite a tense read. There’s clearly plenty of secrecy within the household and this builds the suspense. I felt somewhat claustrophobic reading about Maddie’s new life and, even had I not know about the future trial, felt worried for her safety from the beginning. I liked how little snippets of information are revealed, allowing the reader to build up a picture of life in the Everley household. The relationships between the Everleys and the Barkers is very interesting and well described. Whilst there is a lot of darkness and gloom, there are some very bright moments and friendships which bring hope to the story.
This is a book for those who enjoy a gothic read. There are some difficult to read passages but these are used to progress and add depth to the story. It is dark, gritty and immersive and I would recommend for readers who enjoy historical fiction, and for those looking for something new with a bit of an edge.
About Jody Cooksley: Jody Cooksley studied literature at Oxford Brookes University and has a Masters in Victorian Poetry. Her debut novel The Glass House was a fictional account of the life of nineteenth-century photographer, Julia Margaret Cameron.The Small Museum, Jody’s third novel, won the 2023 Caledonia Novel Award. Jody is originally from Norwich and now lives in Cranleigh, Surrey.
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