Book Blurb:
From the shadowy streets of York to the seedy underbelly of Venice, Renna's life transforms from an orphaned waif to a lavish courtesan in a very gothic-type Victorian tale. With all the sensuality of Lady Chatterley's Lover, Renna's story is of a young girl carried on the wind of other people's desires... all in an attempt to discover her own strength and the secrets behind who she really is.
Book Buy Link: Coming soon!
Author Bio:
Even as a young child Nicolette Croft would conjure up stories with her imagination, sharing them with anyone who would listen. She's developed her storytelling and writing quite a bit since then, but the thrill of language and creation she first discovered as a child has never gone away.
She's been writing since 2000 and has no intention of slowing down anytime soon.
Editorial Review:
My story must have begun before life as a stray waif, but I didn't know the tale. The cotton house takes in children as little as three – the unwanted offspring of criminals, crazies, and the contagious. By sixteen, we were expected to make room for younger sprogs and pursue meaningful work.
There is a secret behind Renna's life, one she does know but the clues reveal themselves in small snatches throughout this very gothic Victorian tale reminiscent, at times, of a dark Brontë tale set in York intermingled with the sensuality of Dangerous Liaisons and Lady Chatterley's Lover. Renna is an orphan bearing the scorched scars of a fire on her shoulder, who meets two men at an Inn who will set the course for her life – Donovan McGuinness and Henry Moore – both who take an interest in the beautiful young girl.
“I hope to hear your tale one day, for I believe we all share a bond of survival. But not everyone understands that surviving frightening and often-unclean events is a virtue. Rahter, they will equate it to a fungus contaminating the ripe and healthy. You will be seen as a such a fungus. You are beginning to discover your history, which might be frightening and unclean indeed. Keep your body covered. Don't expose yourself, especially your back. There are a few in the household who will see the marks as signs of evil.”
After Renna encounters a strange lunatic girl at the nearby asylum, and after a sudden change in fortune from the workhouse to Moore's manor home to work as a maid, the questions about her past, about her parents and the asylum girl weigh upon Renna day after day. This is a time period when very little hope and prospects lighted the horizon, especially for a female orphan and outcast, so Renna uses the knowledge she has already acquired under the 'grooming' of the local Yorkshire priest to focus on building a life for herself... with her eye and passion set on the unnerving Henry Moore. Yet, Henry, a nobleman, has his own ideas about how to use Renna for his own desires... and he does so in quick order, leaving Renna further scarred by the inability to control her destiny. Yet, before long, Renna makes two discoveries – a necklace anonymously gifted to her bearing a noble crest, and a tombstone in the cemetery bearing her name: Serenna.
When it is discovered that another priest, Father Thaddeus, is fulfilling his own sadistic methods upon the patients at the asylum, and upon Renna's best friend, Max, fate steps in once again and Renna must flee York, crossing the ocean to Venice where more secrets unravel about her family's past and a connection to a notorious Venetian madam and the asylum at San Servolo. Along with Max, Max's mother, Camilla, Donovan, Henry, and Anne, the world of brothels and seduction envelope Renna as the courtesan Danielle continues Renna's ingratiation into the lavish and lascivious world – all with her own agenda against Renna which include human trafficking.
Camilla had been clear that my role as a girl could only lead to three real places if I was not in service – nun, wife, or whore. After my time with the Minster priest, I didn't have much taste for religion. Streetlife, whore or vagrant, was the worst option. And, I wasn't marrying material. What could I offer?
There are moments of brilliant and descriptive passages, a hallmark of excellent storytelling skills, interwoven with dark and graphic nuances reserved only for certain readers. And the historical aspect and world-building is very evident; yet this is not a story for everyone but is a narrative which relies heavily on mature themes and depictions of the life of a young girl thrust into the courtesan world without her control. Yet, she desires nothing more than to take back her power and create a life not based on the secrets of her childhood or family. She desires acceptance, safety, and above all, love based on the heart and not the flesh. While the storyline is immersively graphic, the end result for Renna's life is left a bit vague in comparison to the rest... which, might leave the reader a bit wanting. Renna's character felt, at times, like a weak butterfly carried adrift by other people's desires, never fully coming into her own as a character and as a person, even as all of the secrets are revealed and serve to bolster her future... she still feels adrift, much like the ending... to which, if this is the author's intention, is done so with great success.
Even then, I had to reluctantly acknowledge the advantages of a courtesan's life beyond the learning. We were gifted every luxury – food, wine, pets, parties, dresses, and powerful connections. I'd thought if Mother had found a new way to live, I could too. It was a modern time, with oil lamps, the printing press, and hot air balloons. We could light the way around the world, documenting our travels. That was at least what I dreamt of doing.
*****
“Maiden Scars” by Nicolette Croft receives four stars from The Historical Fiction Company