"Set in a 1930s seaside town, and sparked by true events, this radiantly characterful novel casts a thought-provoking spell as it evokes the spirit of an era."
Inspired by real people and events that took place in Blackpool in the late 1930s as Britain braced itself for war, Claire McGlasson’s The Misadventures of Margaret Finch is an utterly charming, nuanced novel, with delicate details making it a thoroughly engaging joy.
Transporting readers back to a quintessentially British seaside town in an era that saw women compelled to hide their intellect, the novel is quite brilliant on the subject of perception, self-perception, and different ways of seeing and understanding, with extraordinary characterisation that captures the frustrations, longings and distinctly British awkwardness and eccentricities of its key players.
It’s 1938 and Margaret, a demure, rule-following 25-year-old marred by a judgmental mother who hides the fact her daughter read maths at Cambridge, has taken a job in Mass Observation in Blackpool. Here Margaret is employed to use her keen eye and discretion to research British behaviour: “For the first time in her twenty-five years, being female is a benefit; being plain and wholly forgettable, an advantage”. While at school, “Margaret was taught that there were seven wonders of the world”, in Blackpool “she found one on every corner: ‘The Missing Link from Borneo’ and ‘The Glamour Twins: Identical In All Ways!’”
Among these “wonders”, Margaret finds herself fascinated by a disgraced Rector, Harold Davidson, who now exhibits himself in Blackpool — think of him as a 1930s David Blaine, albeit a man who’s also the subject of a national scandal. Margaret feels there’s more to Davidson’s story than meets the eye – is he “a bestiary of a predator who prayed on young girls in God’s name”, or is he “Harold the Hero: the Prostitutes’ Padre who devoted his life to helping unfortunate women escape from vice”?
Tingling with mystery and tension as Margaret totters in life, as Britain teeters on the brink of war, this walk her in her shoes is intimate, compelling and brilliantly unexpected.
| Primary Genre | Historical Fiction |
| Other Genres: |
Blackpool, 1938. Miss Margaret Finch - a rather demure young woman - has just begun work in a position that relies on her discretion and powers of observation. Then, her path is crossed by the disgraced Rector of Stiffkey (aka Harold Davidson), who is the subject of a national scandal.
Margaret is determined to discover the truth behind the headlines: is Davidson a maligned hero or an exploiter of the vulnerable? But her own troubles are never far away, and Margaret's fear that history is about to repeat itself means she needs to uncover that truth urgently.
This deeply evocative novel ripples with the tension of a country not yet able to countenance the devastation of another war. Margaret walks us along the promenade, peeks into the baths and even dares a trip on the love boat in this, her first seaside summer season, on a path more dangerous than she could ever have imagined.
The Misadventures of Margaret Finch features in the following genres: Historical Fiction, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Historical adventure fiction, Fiction, General Fiction, Action Adventure
The Misadventures of Margaret Finch is available in Paperback, Hardback
The Misadventures of Margaret Finch was written by Claire McGlasson and published by Faber & Faber
The Misadventures of Margaret Finch has 311 pages
£13.49
