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The Gallows Girl
When the future of the Green Gallows is thrown into question, the owner does not hesitate to use the allure of his pretty daughter in order to pay his debts. But when Lucy refuses to carry out her father's requests, it is left to her sister Rachel to pay for her final act of defiance.
423 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
March 29, 2021
I read this over ten years ago, so can't pretend that I have many strong points to back up my rating. I do, however, remember being confused and disappointed by this book, and feeling nothing but contempt for any of the characters. At the time I read this, I was reading nothing but historical fiction, and this is one of the few that I don't look back on fondly.
December 6, 2020
Couldn't finish it. It didn't start well, didn't stick to its internal rules, mentioned stuff that didn't happen in the 18thC (esp fashion, Bernadette Banner would be horrified)
The author has no idea how teenage girls speak, the relationships and characterisations were inconsistent. It was contrived as hell, like it was being hammered in to shape to fit whatever plot the author was sitting down to that day, things literally changed line to line, in an actual example, one character says of a Black man they're hiring that the Lords and Ladies will be horrified by him. (this is their business' core clientele.) The very next line the Lords and Ladies don't bat an eyelid because the same character explains it's because most of the Lords and Ladies have black servants or slaves.
It was basically unrelated scenes stitched together.
Plot takes too long to arrive and then it turns into a completely different book. My disbelief was suspended so high, it got vertigo and the plot contrivances just kept rolling in. The metaphors were strange, the sentence structure was awkward. It was as if the author had read other books with these things in and decided to include them with no understanding of why they worked in that original story and didn't realise that they didn't work here and why.
I don't know what this book wanted to be, but it ends up being none of them.
Avoid.
The author has no idea how teenage girls speak, the relationships and characterisations were inconsistent. It was contrived as hell, like it was being hammered in to shape to fit whatever plot the author was sitting down to that day, things literally changed line to line, in an actual example, one character says of a Black man they're hiring that the Lords and Ladies will be horrified by him. (this is their business' core clientele.) The very next line the Lords and Ladies don't bat an eyelid because the same character explains it's because most of the Lords and Ladies have black servants or slaves.
It was basically unrelated scenes stitched together.
Plot takes too long to arrive and then it turns into a completely different book. My disbelief was suspended so high, it got vertigo and the plot contrivances just kept rolling in. The metaphors were strange, the sentence structure was awkward. It was as if the author had read other books with these things in and decided to include them with no understanding of why they worked in that original story and didn't realise that they didn't work here and why.
I don't know what this book wanted to be, but it ends up being none of them.
Avoid.
November 8, 2014
A good read overall, Rachel is an interesting character though I cannot say I found her particularly likeable. It's difficult not to feel sorry for her in the early chapters as her life is so much more difficult than that of her elder sister Lucy, & the treatment between the two sisters is markedly different. However, although Lucy may appear to have an easy life she is facing the fact that her father has "sold" her to improve his fortunes. When this plan goes awry (to say the least but conscious of saying too much due to spoilers!) Rachel embarks on a plan of revenge & for me this is where the story began to lose credibility. It almost seemed like two different books, the first half I felt was very evocative & really brought to life the running of a coaching inn & the problems caused by the introduction of toll roads but in the second half, while Rachel's actions made for a good tale they weren't very plausible - it's hard to believe that a girl of this age, at this time could pull off the things she did!
A good read all-in-all if with a slightly lacklustre ending. I would have also preferred the second half of the book to maintain the atmosphere that had built up in the earlier part.
A good read all-in-all if with a slightly lacklustre ending. I would have also preferred the second half of the book to maintain the atmosphere that had built up in the earlier part.
November 1, 2008
Fairly entertaining but not quite what I expected... I was expecting something darker since this was a tale about revenge but I felt disappointed as the novel evolved...
June 28, 2011
I enjoyed this so much more than The Spaniard's Daughter which I felt was a light and fluffy regency romance.
THis book however is a much darker and deeper tale of revenge, gripping and quite tense, apart from the fact that you have to suspend disbelief in quite a few places as a few of the things she does would have been difficult if not impossible.
Its the story of a young woman, Rachel who has been brought up with her parents and sister in an 18th century coaching inn, and when a new turnpike road is planned which will bypass the Inn and ruin their business a horrific and far reaching chain of events is set in motion which change the course of Rachels life forever.
I felt the descriptions and feel for the era, what it would be like to try and run a coaching inn in those days were evocative and real, the heroine is feisty and flawed and not always likeable.
For me the book bore similarities to Slammerkin and The Book of Fires and although its far from perfect it was a jolly good read for anyone who liked these books.
THis book however is a much darker and deeper tale of revenge, gripping and quite tense, apart from the fact that you have to suspend disbelief in quite a few places as a few of the things she does would have been difficult if not impossible.
Its the story of a young woman, Rachel who has been brought up with her parents and sister in an 18th century coaching inn, and when a new turnpike road is planned which will bypass the Inn and ruin their business a horrific and far reaching chain of events is set in motion which change the course of Rachels life forever.
I felt the descriptions and feel for the era, what it would be like to try and run a coaching inn in those days were evocative and real, the heroine is feisty and flawed and not always likeable.
For me the book bore similarities to Slammerkin and The Book of Fires and although its far from perfect it was a jolly good read for anyone who liked these books.
November 4, 2018
This is a book that started slowly. Ever so slowly. It took me over 100 pages to get to any kind of action, and about halfway through the book to really see where it was going. That being said, it was a page-turner towards the end, and I finished it rather quickly.
There are few things that irked me, especially at the beginning. Phrases which didn't sit well with me, for example. On the very first page, there is the expression 'she had a voice that could peel potatoes'. That just threw me. What does it mean? Rough? There are better expressions for a rough voice. And the first 100 pages was basically a long description of Rachel's life and the people in it. I didn't understand who anyone was at first, which almost made me put the book down.
The plot, too, was a bit lacklustre. I enjoyed it enough to read to the end, but it wasn't much. The characters were not all that compelling or likeable, either.
All in all, it was a disappointing, but quick and easy read once I got past the slow start. Not sure I'd recommend this to anyone else, though.
There are few things that irked me, especially at the beginning. Phrases which didn't sit well with me, for example. On the very first page, there is the expression 'she had a voice that could peel potatoes'. That just threw me. What does it mean? Rough? There are better expressions for a rough voice. And the first 100 pages was basically a long description of Rachel's life and the people in it. I didn't understand who anyone was at first, which almost made me put the book down.
The plot, too, was a bit lacklustre. I enjoyed it enough to read to the end, but it wasn't much. The characters were not all that compelling or likeable, either.
All in all, it was a disappointing, but quick and easy read once I got past the slow start. Not sure I'd recommend this to anyone else, though.
April 26, 2014
It was an OK story about 18th century England. A bit dark and gloomy. The main character is quite a likable one, though the other ones seemed a little bit stereotypical. For the romance I think you won't find much what comes to your mind with the word "love", I would rather call it "lust", but I kind of enjoyed this. Some might be displeased with the end of the story as it leaves some questions unanswered, but I'd rather also have it this way.
Moreover, it is well written and you don't struggle with complicated scenery or long and boring passages of whatever background story.
All in all, I would say that it's a nice story, but not the one to remember and to return to after some time.
Moreover, it is well written and you don't struggle with complicated scenery or long and boring passages of whatever background story.
All in all, I would say that it's a nice story, but not the one to remember and to return to after some time.
July 8, 2010
Slow to start and quite dark and depressing but the second half picked up enough for me to award 3 stars instead of the 2 that I had been contemplating early on. It almost felt like two books somehow - by the time I got to the end, the events of the first half of the book had receded so far in my mind that I felt I was reading a sequel from the halfway point onwards.
August 23, 2016
Pretty shit .
I could be more eloquent but I'm too annoyed about all the other books I didn't read because I was reading this . Written like an A* GCSE student throwing every trick from the school bag at the page . Two stars because it was so formulaic that I nearly enjoyed it in places like a bad film you get sucked into . Popcorn monkey.
I could be more eloquent but I'm too annoyed about all the other books I didn't read because I was reading this . Written like an A* GCSE student throwing every trick from the school bag at the page . Two stars because it was so formulaic that I nearly enjoyed it in places like a bad film you get sucked into . Popcorn monkey.
September 26, 2008
deals with adult issues, quite dark.
August 24, 2010
This book is so creepy towards the end. It really, suddenly, hits you. The hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
October 5, 2015
A slow burner for me- over half the book read before I couldn't put it down..
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October 19, 20192011 was the year I listened to this on audio wow I loved it
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews