filled with betrayals, corruption, dreams of stardom, low-life nightclubs, secrets, family, marriage, boyfriends, gangs, back alley abortions, bad cops, con men, solicitation, thieving, a couple of missing girls, (Freda and Florence), hedonism, London night life during the Jazz aura in the 1920’s, alcoholism, sexual identity confusion, addiction, prostitution, random attacks, assaults, murders, remembering the horrors-of-war, people being taken advantage of, and even a little romance. Young girls are discarded like used tea bags on the same narrow streets where sleek roadsters spill Bright Young Things in their diamonds and furs. Wish fulfilment, maybe, yet so deeply has Atkinson drunk from the history of the period (as an afterword attests) that you’re ready to give her the benefit of the doubt; either way, you’re left grateful for the gear change, even as the longed-for justice of girl power only serves to pave the way for the rougher justice of state power at its most lethal. It begins when the notorious club owner Nellie Coker has just ended a six-month jail term for a licensing breach at one of her legendary Soho venues – an embarrassing episode that leaves her asking if she’s really getting value for money from the backhanders she’s giving police. However, much of London was still reeling from the trauma and the tremendous losses incurred in the Great War which is echoed throughout the narrative in different ways.

Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson - Goodreads Editions of Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson - Goodreads

Kate Atkinson’s latest fictional treat is packed with intrigue…Atkinson’s tapestry of 1920s London glitters. His real passions were esoteric, as a little interest to the common man or his colleagues in Bow Street, certainly not to his wife—the Berlin Treaty between Germany and the Soviets (how could that end well?

First and foremost, the only thing Dickensian about it is the excessive use of arcane vocabulary, adjectives, commas, and parentheses ! I could see myself doing a reread at some point though and that will mean an actual read of the gorgeous physical copy.

Shrines of Gaiety: A Novel: Atkinson, Kate: 9780385694940 Shrines of Gaiety: A Novel: Atkinson, Kate: 9780385694940

Even though I couldn't keep up with the characters, I still loved the audiobook which was narrated by Jason Watkins. From the inimitable bestselling author, Kate Atkinson, a mesmerising novel set in the glittering world of Soho in the 1920s - a place of gangsters and showgirls, Bright Young Things and one remarkable woman. We talked to some of our graphic designers to learn more about the amazing book covers they created this year. Atkinson]takes on London in the 1920s, masterfully capturing both its shimmer and its seediness…It’s a deliciously fun, absorbing read.Kate Atkinson’s writing is captivating, she built up such a great cast of characters and a story that left me wanting more and more at the end of each chapter. Atkinson captures both the glamour and the seediness of this heady period with consummate skill in a book teeming with memorable characters. A heady brew of crime, romance and satire set amid the sordid glitz of London nightlife in the 1920s…This is Atkinson on her finest form…A marvel of plate-spinning narrative knowhow, a peak performance of consummate control. There are attempted sexual assaults and back alley abortions and sex workers and pickpockets and homophobia and suicide and plenty of cocaine, too.

Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson - Penguin Books Australia Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson - Penguin Books Australia

In Soho clubs, peers of the realm rub shoulders with starlets, foreign dignitaries with gangsters, and girls sell dances for a shilling a time. Of course, the world in which Nellie Coker exists is a very dangerous one, there’s always someone wanting to take the very lucrative crown, and so it is, that Nellie’s empire comes under threat from various sources, including enemies at the gates and also within the walls! I just want to start this review by saying Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson probably would have been a full 5 stars if I had actually known what the heck was going on the whole time. Ramsay, the younger son, is addicted to the drugs he regularly receives from the bartender at one of the nightclubs.Like empires throughout history, this one is in danger of crumbling, and there are many who would like to see its demise.