Review: Fascinating story built around the dramatic historical events of the early 1900s.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 28, 2012
This is a well written and researched epic drama with great historical merit wrapped around a fascinating web of characters and interwoven diverse plot lines. Vicary shows real skill; effortlessly transporting you back in time to the pre WWI period.The book is set in both London and Northern Ireland and focuses on two sisters; one an active suffragette campaigner and the other a campaigner against poverty. For different reasons they find themselves in loveless marriages and as the story unfolds you discover the secrets which their husbands have been keeping from them - all in the name of keeping their reputation and place in high society.It's titled after the 1913 `Cat and Mouse Act' which was passed by Asquith's government making the hunger strikes of the Suffragette individuals legal and the practice of force feeding illegal - however this system seemed to have had many faults as the story points out.This book is set in a very interesting window of history, the struggles of which led to the introduction of many social and political changes. It tackles topics such as famine, poverty, poor working conditions, industrial action, hunger strikes, child prostitution and the often hypocritical state of the Edwardian society marriage. All of these historical events are skillfully put into the mix of the story which provides something for everyone: riots, romance, mystery, intrigue and crime all the while depicting lies, deception, betrayal and political struggles complete with a climatic ending - what more could you want from a novel?Andria Saxelby for the Kindle book Review