Birdcage Walk: A dazzling historical thriller

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Julia combines intelligence, humour and a powerful maternal instinct, while despite his bullishly capitalist impulses, Tredevant is sensitive and needy. Well developed characters and a unique perspective kept my interest; even though the plot doesn't show up in the first half of the book.

While I have not read her other writings, I can say that it is clear that she poured herself, body and soul, into this book. The subplot is that of the French revolution, as perceived by random reports that make it in, whether by post or by newspapers, and how differently they are perceived by John Diner and by Augustus and his milieu. Only they don’t – and it is this impermanence that is another of Dunmore’s poignant themes in a novel that deserves to be cherished and to last. Whilst Dunmore often excels in her novels with her descriptions of the natural world, and in setting scenes, I did not quite feel as though this was the case here.From the opening of the novel there’s a sense of foreboding as a labourer, a quarryman, walks out of the city at daybreak, seemingly to work. It had so much promise - a beautiful cover, the story built around very interesting historical facts, well written prose, a mysteriously dead wife, some initially intriguing characters. Riordan conjures up the artistic skill and patience that creat

The novel opens in present day Bristol, where a dogwalker comes across an overgrown grave: 'If my friends hadn't decided that I should have a dog I would never have opened the gate and gone into the graveyard.But she has recently married John Diner Tredevant, a property developer who is heavily invested in Bristol’s housing boom, and he has everything to lose from social upheaval and the prospect of war. Her third novel, A Spell of Winter , won the inaugural Orange Prize for Fiction in 1996, and she went on to become a Sunday Times bestseller with The Siege , which was described by Antony Beevor as a ‘world-class novel’ and was shortlisted for the Whitbread Novel of the Year and the Orange Prize.

Many of you will likely have read about the IMechE HQ building in our recently published annual report or have heard the discussion at the annual general meeting. Here she even more concentrates on “the ways in which an individual vanishes from the historical record”, but the individual in this case (Lizzie’s mother – Julia Fawkes) is largely absent from the novel, and even more so than with the figure of Cora Seaborne in The Essex Serpent one is left with a character so apparently compelling as to hold many of the other characters in her orbit (in this case even after her death – both via her writing and reputation and in Lizzie’s case by way of ghostly visions) but whose fascination is less clear to the reader. Our paints are fast drying and washable, making it ideal for any interior walls, including kitchens and bathrooms. What I had learned of prose technique through the short story gave me the impetus to start writing novels. Mention Birdcage Walk to Clifton residents, and many will say, "Ah, but it's not really in the churchyard, it's in Victoria Square".Set during the political and social turmoil of the late Eighteenth century, this beautifully written page turner really captures the mood as France is on the brink of a revolution. I don't know if I've ever read a book that has such a deep character study on the protagonist, Lizzie, and her supporting players. The HQ working group’s draft report and business case has now been considered by the trustee board, which has consulted with and sought assurance from the finance board, audit and risk committee and strategy committee on the assumptions and approach taken. As her husband Diner Tredevant speculates on property in Bristol's housing boom, he risks losing everything in the social upheaval caused by the French Revolution.

Lizzie is Diner’s second wife and I found echoes of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca as Lizzie is tormented with curiosity about her predecessor, Lucie, who she is told died in childbirth in her native France. And naturally, post-covid, livestreaming facilities means you can stream content live to other rooms like the Manufacturing Room, or even online to a remote audience. Indeed, the big reveal at the end seemed almost a bit incidental, though afterwards I did think 'oh yes, I see, that explains a lot'.Bristol cannot compete with besieged Leningrad when it comes to privation but Lizzie still suffers as Diner’s money fails to materialise and he becomes more combustible.