Sarah Evans (Bernice Barry, Echo)

Sarah Evans is a richly imagined and meticulously researched historical fiction novel based on a true story. The tale begins in grimly Dickensian early 19th-century Clerkenwell, London, where powerful men can control a woman’s fate with the stroke of a pen or a beckoning finger. When the body of young George Evans is discovered drowned in the river, his loving mother, Sarah, suddenly finds herself on trial for his murder. The narrative encompasses Sarah’s life in poverty and her entanglement with the detestable prison governor, Thomas Aris. It is told through Sarah’s diary entries as she looks back on her life, interspersed with the perspective of other characters. Sarah is a sympathetic yet passive protagonist; however, her passivity speaks volumes about the lack of power suffered by women of the period, in which she has been raised to believe she has no rights and no voice. Exploring themes of women’s liberty as well as political corruption, Sarah Evans is Bernice Barry’s first foray into fiction and is a dark, absorbing story of sorrow, hope and freedom. With a tonal similarity to Kate Grenville’s work and sharing a setting with Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist, this novel will appeal to fans of London-based historical fiction and readers interested in the history of feminism. Due to the heavy subject matter, including rape and infant death, this book is best suited to adult readers.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Kate Dunphy is a bookseller and postgraduate writing student based in Meanjin. She is an emerging writer and editor, and near-constant library dweller. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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