I have moved my Bookwyrming to @kingrat@sfba.club
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This is the age of vice, where money, pleasure, and power are everything, and the …
Four ran away together after stealing from their employers, and of those four, two were convicted of dacoity and murder and two were known to have been shot before ever reaching jail.
— Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor (Page 67)
New word: dacoity
An act of violent robbery committed by an armed gang
This is the age of vice, where money, pleasure, and power are everything, and the family ties that bind can …
In Lee Child's astonishing new thriller, ex--military cop Reacher sees more than most people would...and because of that, he's thrust …
Mrs. King is no ordinary housekeeper. Born into a world of con artists and thieves, …
Mrs. King works in the household of Mr. de Vries, an Irishman who made a fortune in South African mining (and changed his name). But shortly after his death Mrs. king is dismissed from the staff after being discovered in the men's quarters.
Soon she's plotting revenge along with other dismissed staff and de Vries' unacknowledged sister, Mrs. Bone.
They're going to steal everything in the house. Everything.
The Housekeepers is set in 1905 London. I love the setting and the plotting and the characters. At the end, i even feel a bit sorry for Miss de Vries, who is a thoroughly unlikable character. Her father didn't have her interests in mind.
Mrs. King is no ordinary housekeeper. Born into a world of con artists and thieves, …
The girls were dangling together, the diptych hovering — safely —above the floor.
— The Housekeepers by Alex Hay (Page 542)
New word: diptych
Mrs. King is no ordinary housekeeper. Born into a world of con artists and thieves, …
An equerry pulled out a chair for her.
— The Housekeepers by Alex Hay (Page 503)
New word: equerry
An officer of the British royal household who attends or assists members of the royal family
Mrs. King is no ordinary housekeeper. Born into a world of con artists and thieves, …
A group of men, fresh shaven and quick eyed, stood in a louche group at the edge of the hall.
— The Housekeepers by Alex Hay (Page 348)
New word: louche
Disreputable or sordid in a rakish or appealing way
Mrs. King is no ordinary housekeeper. Born into a world of con artists and thieves, …
Miss de Vries had dressed for compline in plain black satin, buttoned all the way up to the chin, her hair swept up under a coif.
— The Housekeepers by Alex Hay (Page 309 - 310)
New word: compline
A service of evening prayers forming part of the Divine Office of the Western Christian Church, traditionally said (or chanted) before retiring for the night
Mrs. King is no ordinary housekeeper. Born into a world of con artists and thieves, …
She'd picked up the aroma of the back offices already. Stewed gammon and carbolic.
— The Housekeepers by Alex Hay (Page 196)
New word: gammon
Mrs. King is no ordinary housekeeper. Born into a world of con artists and thieves, …
"I've only got chilblains and blisters and bleedin' corns popping up all over my feet, tramping around that great blooming place for you."
— The Housekeepers by Alex Hay (Page 195 - 196)
New word: chilblains
A painful, itching swelling on a hand or foot, caused by poor circulation in the skin when exposed to cold.
Mrs. King is no ordinary housekeeper. Born into a world of con artists and thieves, …
Mrs. Bone used to truss herself in her vulcanite and black bog oak beads and sit on a bench in Regent's Park, going over and over the process: gently, girl, like your fingers are made of air… she always said she had great expectations of Dinah.
— The Housekeepers by Alex Hay (Page 194)
I know what vulcanite is, but the context here confuses me. Did people used to have clothing made from vulcanite??
Mrs. King is no ordinary housekeeper. Born into a world of con artists and thieves, …
She spent hours in Mr. de Vries's company, taking dictation, acting amanuensis.
— The Housekeepers by Alex Hay (Page 193)
I've seen amanuensis before, but need to look it up again.
A literary or artistic assistant, in particular one who takes dictation or copies manuscripts.
Mrs. King is no ordinary housekeeper. Born into a world of con artists and thieves, …
A squashed, queasy-looking article gazed back at her. It had taken on the shape and color of a blancmange, festoon with ghastly brown ribbons.
— The Housekeepers by Alex Hay (Page 53)
So many new words: blancmange
British: a sweet opaque gelatinous dessert made with flavored cornflour and milk
Mrs. King is no ordinary housekeeper. Born into a world of con artists and thieves, …
She engaged in elegant, useful trades. A neat bit of housebreaking. Some calculated affray.
— The Housekeepers by Alex Hay (Page 43)
New word: affray
An instance of group fighting in a public place that disturbs the peace
In modern, beautiful Green City, the capital of South West Asia, gender selection, war and …
Content warning minor spoilers
Some aspects of the word-building feel very thin. While I can easily suspend disbelief on a city-state having a virus the decimates its female population, and the government severely restricting the rights of women as a response, things like quiet acquiescence seem hard to sustain. Particularly, the idea of an underground group of women who are prostitutes who don't have sex seems like a hard thing to sustain. There's so few women that men use prostitution bots as a matter of course, and but there are many rich men who just want women to hold them so much they'll pay for the service doesn't seem tenable. The story itself makes it clear that it isn't tenable. But the sexless brothel is already decades past its founding before sex becomes an issue.
Anyway, after a while I was able to put aside my reservations about the setup and enjoy the story, which centers Sabine as she visits her most devoted Client as well as her relationships with other women of the Panah. However, when something goes wrong, the story starts to get into the minds and motivations of a lot of other characters.
