To avoid pastiche, contemporary writers of historical fiction set in Victorian London focus on aspects of society or human nature that were ignored by, or off limits to, their 19th-century counterparts. Some recent novels have turned their attention to what Charles Dickens in "Oliver Twist" called "melancholy shades of life" and provided more graphic depictions of squalor, cruelty and violence. Other novels, also shorn of past constraints, have candidly explored sex and sexuality.
Lianne Dillsworth's debut novel shines a much-needed light on another overlooked area in Victorian fiction — namely, race. "Theatre of Marvels" makes its agenda known in its enticing opening pages. In less than a year, Zillah has risen from novice performer to headline act at Crillick's Variety Theatre. After the ballerinas, crowns, acrobats and magicians have entertained the crowds she takes to the stage and dazzles them as the Great Amazonia, "a dangerous savage from darkest Africa."
But beneath the feathered cloak and beads and the layer of sooty greasepaint stands a young mixed-race actress who was born and bred in London. To maintain her fame and keep the punters happy she must live a lie.
One person sees through Zillah's act — an African grocer called Lucien Winters. He calls her a "counterfeit" and tries to change her direction and open her mind to his philanthropic work to help Britain's Black poor. Gradually, his feelings for her intensify.
However, Zillah already has a man in her life offering her a "path to better things." Yet she wonders how much of a future she really has with dashing aristocrat Vincent Woodward when he insists on keeping their relationship under wraps?
Zillah finds herself faced with a more pressing concern when she encounters Crillick's latest freak-show act: a caged Black woman with vitiligo exhibited as the Leopard Lady. Appalled at her treatment, Zillah decides to rescue her and her young son. But first she must discover where Crillick is hiding them and his other new "livestock," and that means embarking on a perilous mercy mission and learning to separate her friends from her enemies.
Readers will cheer on this gutsy heroine, a woman who, unlike her mother, refuses to be a servant, and who is prepared to go out on a limb in her quest for justice. Zillah's two male admirers make up a vibrant cast that also includes her best friend Ellen, an Irish singer who dreams of a new life in New York; stage manager and loyal lookout Barky, and Black Bill, ringleader of a vicious criminal gang, the Blackbirds.
In addition, London-based Dillsworth brilliantly renders parts of the city, from gas-lit streets to Mayfair mansions via docks, slums, and Crillick's hellish "Odditorium."
Several anachronisms rear their ugly heads throughout and there is a rather frictionless run-up to the finale. Fortunately, the book's closing scenes yield a surprise and pack an unexpected emotional punch. This is an accomplished first novel from a bright new talent.
Malcolm Forbes has written for the Times Literary Supplement, the Economist and the Wall Street Journal. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Theatre of Marvels
By: Lianne Dillsworth.
Publisher: Harper, 320 pages, $27.99.
