The Pleasures of Men

By Kate Williams

Book Overview

July 1840: The young Queen Victoria has just entered her third year on the throne when a major recession brings London's desperate and destitute into its sweltering streets. While the city crackles with tension, orphaned Catherine Sorgeiul stays locked away in her uncle's home, a peculiar place where death masks adorn the walls and certain rooms are strictly forbidden. Nineteen years old and haunted by a dark past, Catherine becomes obsessed with a series of terrible murders of young girls sweeping the city. Details of the crimes are especially gruesome--the victims' hair has been newly plaited and thrust into their mouths, and their limbs are grotesquely folded behind them, like wounded birds--and the serial killer is soon nicknamed the Man of Crows. Catherine begins writing stories about the victims--women on their own and vulnerable in the big city--and gradually the story of the murderer as well. But she soon realizes that she has involved herself in a web of betrayal, deceit, and terror that threatens her and all those around her. A remarkable fiction debut, The Pleasures of Men is a gripping and spine-tingling thriller.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1401324231
• ISBN13: 9781401324230
• Release Date: August 2012
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.2" x 8.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher