Publisher's write-up :
“In a respectable tea-shop in London, a girl with a pistol is
holding off three men. Sally Lockhart is fighting for her child – a
child that is suddenly hers no longer. Driven from her home, Sally is
in hiding, desperately trying to find out who is turning her life
upside down. Meanwhile, the man she is seeking is in a house in
Spitalfields, directing his lackeys to snare her deeper, and deeper.
No one will stop him, for he is the Tzaddik...”
The Tiger in the Well is the third book in the Sally Lockhart quartet,
written by the British author Philip Pullman, the author of the
famous His Dark Materials trilogy. The story happens in 1881, three
years after “The Shadow in the North”.
“One sunny morning in the autumn of 1881, Sally Lockhart stood in
the garden and watched her little daughter play, and thought that
things were good.” - page 3.
On a fine morning, all of a sudden, Sally Lockhart gets a divorce
notice, from Arthur James Parrish, a person whom she has never even
heard of. Parrish wanted control over the child of Fred (deceased)
and Sally, Harriet Rosa. Unfortunately, every evidence was against
Sally, the marriage certificate was perfect, with Sally's signature
and there was no birth certificate in the name - “Harriet Rosa
Lockhart” but only “Harriet Rosa Parrish”. Sally decides not to
appear at the court and inevitably, Parrish wins the case. As the per
the law, Parrish is entitled to take complete control over Sally's
assets. Sally has no money, no place to live and has an arrest
warrant against her due to several charges (including one for
kidnapping her own daughter).
This is a very good book. For the first time, Philip Pullman took the
Victorian period to his advantage. The time period was insignificant
in the previous books. These days, such a case might have been over
in no time with the help of a DNA test but here, it could be a 431
page novel because of the era. There was also a good element of
suspense. There were some unlikely coincidences throughout the book
but that is what separates fiction from reality. What I didn't like
was too many characters being introduced throughout the book but it
can't be helped when the protagonist is forced to be a nomad.
I really enjoyed reading this book but I'd recommend readers to read
the previous books before reading this because this book has a lot of
references to the events of the previous books and can be understood
better. I'd give this book a nine.
Rating : 9/10
Have a nice day,
Andy
