Review: This Savage World by Anna Housego
This Savage World by Anna Housego opens in 1770s London where young Maggie Bloodworth is trying to make her way in a city unforgiving to the poor. She is taken on as an apprentice midwife and eventually learns her trade with enough skill to stand on her own two feet. As Maggie’s life progresses, she marries and has a child, but her fledgling family is soon torn asunder when her husband is sent to the American colonies, her daughter is sent to a workhouse, and Maggie is sent to the Australian colonies. I was reminded a bit of Fled by Meg Keneally, which is one of my favorites, but Maggie’s story takes a different trajectory. She essentially must start anew despite being married and having a child; to give up the hope of ever seeing either one of them again.
Maggie meets Charlie, a British solider who means to carve out a new life in Australia. Maggie and Charlie build a life together in a new climate much harsher than England, with all the unique social norms of the time regarding how those with convict pasts move to “respectable.” While the setting is interesting, the author seems to give us a cataloging of Maggie’s entire life, simply telling us one event after another rather than crafting a focused plot. And by that I mean, “X did this and then X went here. X liked this and that. X was born here, etc.” This Savage World started promising, but it felt like 80%, if not more, of the book was summary of events rather than experiencing those events in real time through Maggie’s eyes. If you’ve read my reviews before, you probably know that too much summary of important events in books is a pet peeve of mine because that style makes it extremely hard to connect personally with the characters or to feel the full emotional weight of situations. To me, so much summary inherently holds the reader at arm’s length. Despite this fact, I was determined to read through to the end. While there were interesting moments and beautifully worded sentences, they were fleeting. I believe this book could have really flourished if not for all the summary.
