The Corset

About this book

The new Victorian chiller from the author of Radio 2 Book Club pick The Silent Companions. Is prisoner Ruth Butterham mad or a murderer? Victim or villain? Dorothea and Ruth. Prison visitor and prisoner. Powerful and powerless. Dorothea Truelove is young wealthy and beautiful. Ruth Butterham is young poor and awaiting trial for murder. When Dorotheas charitable work leads her to Oakgate Prison she is delighted with the chance to explore her fascination with phrenology and test her hypothesis that the shape of a persons skull can cast a light on their darkest crimes. But when she meets teenage seamstress Ruth she is faced with another theory: that it is possible to kill with a needle and thread. For Ruth attributes her crimes to a supernatural power inherent in her stitches. The story Ruth has to tell of her deadly creations of bitterness and betrayal of death and dresses will shake Dorotheas belief in rationality and the power of redemption. Can Ruth be trusted? Is she mad or a murderer?