‘When my mother lay down to birth that last baby, she was so tired of everything that I thought I could have sold her shoes; surely she’d not get up and need them anymore. I go to her now only because I should. My glass is full to the brim with sorrow and there is no room for another drop, whether sweet or sour. This is my nineteenth summer, but I have known only thirteen happy years to this date. And that is only if I include my early childhood in the reckoning, back when, in all honesty, I owned no accountable state of mind. Without that, it is a very poor tally.’

London, 1763. 19-year-old Anne Jaccob lives a sheltered life in a miserable home. Her family has money, but her father is heartless and her mother is ill following a number of miscarriages. Anne is destined to marry a man she finds repulsive and – worse – dull. But when she meets the butcher’s boy, Fub, she is awakened to possibilities she never could have dreamed of.

This book has achieved a lot of attention, thanks in part to its author, actress and presenter Janet Ellis. It was also longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2016 and has received a flood of good reviews. I enjoyed this book, though it wasn’t without its faults, and would recommend it to anyone looking for something a bit dark and different.

For, despite its traditional-sounding plot, this is a very dark story. Anne is a character you will love to hate, with absolutely no moral compass and a cold heart that together permit her to do unspeakable things in the pursuit of what she wants. In this way this book reminded me of Wideacre by Philippa Gregory, which also features a ruthless female protagonist willing to do anything to achieve her desired end.

Ellis is undoubtedly a good writer and really excels at writing characters who leap off the page – at least in terms of their physical descriptions. In terms of personality, however, they can come across as one-dimensional caricatures at times. The reasons behind their actions are all too obvious and how they are going to react becomes predictable, so there is no tension.

Despite this, Ellis’s prose is both shocking and beautiful, and will carry you easily along without too much effort on the part of the reader. There are moments of black humour that will shock you even as they make you laugh. Ellis displays flashes of brilliance; it was just a shame that she couldn’t carry this through for the whole book.

The book also could have used more plot. Anne spends a lot of time going over what has happened or what she plans to do next – which makes the book fairly predictable. The story is straightforward and at times quite ludicrous. I kept waiting for something more to happen, but unfortunately it never came. It was a shame because Ellis has some good characters and relationships here; I just felt she could have done more with them.

A dark and sinister historical tale that could have been so much more than it is. Entertaining, yes, but nothing special.