Complex, Intellectually satisfying, liberally appealing
This novel (the tale of which is well described in other reviews here) was one of the best I have read this year. As a physician, I found the main character, Dr. Chivers, fascinating. There is a complex interweaving of symbolism in the characters and events (slum lords, pet ferrets, a girl named pink, a plague of frogs, a plague of cholera morbus, dissecting of bodies, the human side of a prostitute, a hated woman with an all seeing eye and a blind eye, a beloved child with the heart on the outside of its body...to bring up a few). This would be a really fun "book club" read (though I didn't use it in that context). I am surprised it didn't win a pulitzer. I had no expectations when I picked it up, which is why I am perhaps so pleased to say that this is true literature.

Here was a book that I had a hard time deciding whether I liked or not. THE DRESS LODGER by Sheri Holman falls short of my expectations, but I won't be giving it a terribly bad review. What was good about this book was the story. There are several themes and story lines going on at the same time, with Gustine the prostitute and her baby as one focal point, Doctor Chivers and his obsession with his anatomy school another, and finally the cholera epidemic the third. Between the three, Holman weaves a story about life in Sunderland, England in the early 1800's, focusing mostly on that of the poor and unfortunate, but also contrasting their lives with the upper class, which is represented by Doctor Chivers and his fiancée, Audrey.

Gustine works as a pottery assistant by day, and is a prostitute by night. She and her baby live in a rundown lodging, owned by a shady man named Whilky Robinson, who is also her pimp. He has the help of an old hag known as The Eye, who literally can only see through one eye. She is hideous and can strike fear into anyone that sees her. She cannot speak, but follows Gustine at night wherever she goes, making sure Gustine earns the money Whilky has hired her for.

The story starts with a narrative, an omnipresent narrator that points out Gustine to the reader. She is known for her blue dress, which from afar makes her look like a lady of upper class standing. Upon closer inspection one will know she is a prostitute, and she is working her shift. The Eye is always behind her, keeping watch. While Gustine is servicing her latest customer outside near the wharf, she spies a body near the water. It is a dead body, to Gustine's delight. She then searches out the Doctor, Dr Henry Chivers, who the reader soon finds out is looking for fresh dead bodies to help teach his anatomy class. Dr Chivers believes that a good doctor needs to practice on a real body, and that classroom lessons on paper are not enough. Gustine has volunteered to find bodies for him.

And so starts the intricate novel THE DRESS LODGER. It is full of interesting characters, two-dimensional yet serving the purpose, to tell a story. What makes this book not quite the winner it could be is the writing style and the structure. Holman apparently tried to emulate Dickens and other contemporaries of that time. However, she falls short of her goal. I would give this book A+ for effort, but the story definitely needed to be re-written and fixed up. The ending was also somewhat sloppy, although again I applaud the effort. If it were not for the fascinating story of the cholera epidemic and reading about 1800's England, I would not have wanted to finish this book. It was difficult to read, especially the first few chapters, and it wasn't until I got past that point that I really was able to get into the story. This book is getting 3.5 stars from me, 4 stars based on Amazon's rankings.

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