It is 1670, and returning to 17th-century London for another novel, Jack Jewers thrusts famous diarist Samuel Pepys once again into the spotlight in this instantly absorbing historical fiction thriller.
In ‘Seething Lane’, Pepys is called into action by Thomas Marshall, a mercurial figure who at first requests that the writer spy on religious extremist Inigo Wrath, in a plot that soon becomes complicated with the discovery of two dead bodies. Soon, Pepys is drawn into a murder inquiry, which takes him into King Charles II’s court, and his mistresses, the dank streets of London and even into an acting troupe with some familiar faces at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in an immersive novel that draws readers into life in Restoration-era England.
Over 400 pages, Jewers’s novel ebbs and flows with great ease, drifting through the murder cases which Pepys and his friend Will investigate, while balancing this with the presentation of Pepys’s deteriorating wife Elisabeth. It is an engrossing read, and one which is enhanced by Jewers’s exceptional research into the era, which enables the characters and settings of the novel to breathe with authenticity. While Jewers takes some creative license with one or two figures (no spoilers here!), it is a joy to weave, through Pepys’s eyes, among some of the biggest political and literary figures of the time.
Moreover, the novel is, for theatre fans particularly, enjoyably witty too. Pepys’s experiences among the theatrical divas of the era are well-crafted, especially the flamboyant yet charming presentation of contemporary stage-superstar Nell Gwyn. Some other names, such as the Condell family, will be recognisable too to those with an interest in the era, but Jewers does a terrific job here of making the history accessible, not getting too bogged down in exposition and instead using Pepys’s investigation as a means to clarify who is who.
Indeed, while the ‘cast of characters’ which opens the novel is, at first glance, overwhelming, Jewers’s structure is strong, layering the introduction of these characters, and the novel’s wider mystery, with care and attention which enables the book to methodically reach its conclusion. It is an ending with a good payoff, even if it comes a few pages too early, yet the joy is in the immersion Jewers quickly creates through his descriptions of the era.
‘Seething Lane’ is out on September 3.
