The Solitary House/Tom-All-Alone’s
By Lynn Shepherd
Inspired by Charles Dickens' masterpiece Bleak House, to mark his bicentenary.
London, 1850. Fog in the air and filth in the streets, from the rat-infested graveyard of Tom-All-Alone’s to the elegant chambers in Lincoln’s Inn Fields, where the lawyer Edward Tulkinghorn has powerful clients to protect, and a deadly secret he will stop at nothing to conceal. Only that secret is now under threat from an unseen adversary - one who must be tracked down at all costs, before it’s too late.
Who better for such a task than Charles Maddox? Unfairly dismissed from the Metropolitan Police, Charles is struggling to establish himself as a private detective. Only business is slow and his one case a dead end, so when Tulkinghorn offers a handsome price for an apparently simple job Charles is unable to resist. But nothing, as he soon finds out, is what it seems...
Inspired by Charles Dickens’ masterpiece Bleak House, this novel is a gripping murder mystery set in a grim London underworld Dickens could only hint at – a world where girls of ten work as prostitutes, unwanted babies are ruthlessly disposed of, and those who pose a threat to great men are eliminated without remorse.
Reviews and quotes
A brilliant and sinister re-make of Bleak House, exposing the vicious underworld of Victorian London. Totally gripping.
John Carey
...an imaginative spin-off. Tom-All-Alones is a novel rooted in Bleak House, although you don't need to have read Bleak House to enjoy it. It's a highly compelling, immaculately written 19th-century murder mystery with a lot of Dickensian references in the language... There's a slightly post-modern sense of looking back at a less enlightened age from a 20th-century perspective, and Shepherd can be franker about the evils of prostitution and the disposal of unwanted babies than Dickens could. It's an engaging read.
Susan Elkin, Independent on Sunday
A necessary eye for squalor, meticulous research and deft plotting, as well as the ability to handle the difficult God's-eye-view narration with aplomb make this a book ... you'll be guaranteed to enjoy.
Laura Wilson, The Guardian
This is Dickens' world described with modern precision not afraid to deal with underage prostitutes, babies murdered at birth and the Jack the Ripper killings. A grisly period detective story with a light-hearted literary conceit
Peter Millar, The Times
I can think of no better way to mark the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Dickens than to recommend Tom-All-Alone’s... This terrific Victorian mystery ... whose Dickensian horrors are twinned with a sophisticated understanding of the nature of sexual predation.
Joan Smith, Sunday Times
...both an intelligent simulacrum of the great man's style and something individual and inventive.... Tom-All-Alone's is such an enjoyable novel - something more than mere pastiche - that the strong hint at the end regarding future developments will have readers rubbing their hands in anticipation.
Barry Forshaw, The Independent
Those unfamiliar with Dickens' "Bleak House" need not worry that they won't enjoy Shepherd's "The Solitary House." At its core, Shepherd's book is a historical mystery with a flavor and character all its own. Her suspenseful story and winning prose ably serve her literary conceit. Fans of Dickens, meanwhile, will find it a treat.
Associated Press, appeared in the Washington Post, Huffington Post, CBS News, Miami Herald, San Francisco Chronicle and others
Shepherd is a brilliant writer with an encyclopedic knowledge of Victorian England, which she uses perfectly to surround you with atmosphere and a story you won’t put down. Not to be missed.
RT Book Reviews
An intelligent, gripping and beautifully written novel which sparkles with a bibliophilic glee that reminds us that literature should, above all else, be fun
Jacqueline Thompson, The Scotsman
A beautifully written and atmospheric addition to the large number of thrillers set in the London underworld of the 19th century ... Shepherd has perfectly caught each tone of voice, ranging from the lawyer Tulkinghorn to ... Inspector Bucket, and describes the horrors of 19th century slums more candidly than Victorian novelists ever could. Spotting the literary references adds another layer of enjoyment to what is already an absorbing story.
Jessica Mann, The Literary Review
Shepherd’s latest detective story... is a Victorian tour de force... Shepherd offers an intricate plot and a thousand details of the least-admirable side of Victorian life. A must-read
Kirkus reviews (starred review)
Shepherd follows her 2010 debut, Murder at Mansfield Park, which successfully channeled Jane Austen, with an equally satisfying reworking of Bleak House
Publishers Weekly (starred review)
An intelligent and gripping post-modern crime novel. Beautifully written and cleverly plotted, it plunders the best of Dickens without trying to ape his genius, maintains a sense of artful playfulness amidst its gross themes and refuses to be sidetracked by fears of literary vandalism.... Despite its ‘borrowed’ themes, Shepherd’s book brims with originality and style – cameo appearances from literary characters and their creators, piquant vignettes of Victorian life and an atmosphere redolent of Dickens’ oppressive underworld make Tom-All-Alone’s a rare and witty pleasure for those familiar with the classics, and a thrilling page-turner for the uninitiated. Ever the consummate entertainer, Dickens would surely have been amused and flattered!
Pam Norfolk, Lancashire Evening Post
There is a wealth of detail in this book. Expertly, Shepherd has recreated Dickensian London but made it anew so that I never felt ‘why would you re-do Dickens’ but did feel, ‘why has no one done this before?’ I think groups will get a great deal of fun with it, especially if they also combine a reading of Tom-All-Alone’s with Bleak House. As a personal read, it’s a cracking good story, well told. Personal read: 5 stars, group read: 4 stars
NewBooks magazine
Compellingly written and with an engaging story, Tom- All-Alone’s is a must for fans of historic mysteries
The Bookseller's We Love This Book website
Elements of Bleak House are glimpsed throughout but it’s clear from the outset that this is very much Shepherd’s own story and should be read as such... This is a well-researched, well-crafted book that shows a deep understanding not just of the original work but also the social issues the great author championed. If you enjoyed Murder at Mansfield Park, you won’t be disappointed by Tom-All-Alone’s and I’m sure that Dickens fans would most definitely approve. This is one book you really should add to your reading list. 5 stars
The Crime Fiction Lover website
Required reading for fans of Victorian crime
Shots Crime and Thriller e-magazine
