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Back The Dazzle of the Light Save as PDF
Chapters (55)
  1. Praise for Georgina Clarke
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. 35
  37. 36
  38. 37
  39. 38
  40. 39
  41. 40
  42. 41
  43. 42
  44. 43
  45. 44
  46. 45
  47. 46
  48. 47
  49. 48
  50. 49
  51. Historical Note
  52. Acknowledgements
  53. Also by Georgina Clarke
  54. About the Author
  55. Copyright

Her fingers find a small manicure case in the drawer. She knew it would be there, next to the lipstick. She plucks it out, as she does often, allowing it to rest on the palm of her hand. She strokes the cool tortoiseshell with her thumb, marvelling, as she always does, at the smoothness of it. It might be made from silk.

Ruby should be out of Holloway prison by now. Harriet has been counting the days since she saw an account of the trial in the newspaper. She might bump into her on the street, should she ever wish to visit Soho or Southwark. It is unlikely that she will.

In Debenham and Freebody or Hartleys, perhaps. Not Selfridges, of course. She never goes there now.

She puts the case back in the drawer and paints her lips, staring at her reflection, wondering whether anyone would say, these days, that she looked alive.

She reaches for a glass bottle and dabs herself with perfume. Her favourite. She has worn it every evening since marrying Ralph.

She tells herself that she wears it to keep him faithful – a subtle reminder that she remembers his infidelity.

She breathes in the scent of jasmine and fastens her earrings into her earlobes. The emeralds catch the light and sparkle.

Historical Note

Historical Note

The Dazzle of the Light is set in a very particular period. 1920 is not ‘the 1920s’, and the images of flappers, gin palaces, Bright Young Things and hedonism that we might associate with the 20s had not yet come into focus. Instead, Britain and other parts of Europe were grappling with the catastrophic aftermath of the Great War and the Influenza Pandemic. Many were scrapping to make a living. Men returned from war bewildered and altered – physically and mentally. Women were in the very early stages of enfranchisement and professional employment. The Representation of the People Act, enabling women to vote, was passed in 1918, but only for women over thirty who held property.

The Forty Thieves were a real, all-female crime syndicate who had been in existence since at least the nineteenth century, in some form or another. They were in their heyday around 1920, when department stores like Selfridges and Debenham and Freebody offered opportunities for shoplifting and were only beginning to realise that they needed eagle-eyed store detectives to tackle this issue.