Other Women: Emma Flint

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The darting silver girls were for noticing, for flirting with and tipping hats to, while the older women were wives and mothers and widows. They had made sacrifices. They had earned the deference of Madam. And besides them, there was a third type of woman: less visible and less noticed, and neither one thing nor another. These women were Misses without youth, middle- aged without wedding rings. They held fast to the banks of the river, avoiding the current, clustering together in the cool green shade. We follow the stories of Beatrice who is a single woman in her thirties who falls for the charms of a married man, and of Kate Thomas, his wife.

Writing a review for this book without giving away anything is quite a challenge. The story is based on a true murder case from the 1920s and begins by introducing two women – one married and one unmar A story of Murder, deceit, obsession, and betrayal, Other Women, this book gives a voice to the women, the murder victim, and the wife of the accused. Inspired by the true story of a murder that took place over 100 years ago and looks at the lengths we will go to to protect the ones we love. Emma Flint reworks the details of a notorious historical murder and unspools the fate of her three entirely convincing main characters. * Daily Mail *Staggeringly brilliant, harrowing, haunting and entirely beautiful. Other Women takes a thrilling yet compassionate look at the making of a murder, at loneliness and love, at fixation and the sting of shame. A wonderful novel. -- Chris Whitaker, author of We Begin at the End

Bea had a rich and happy life. She had people who cared for her, people who would miss her when she waas dead. Other Women was born from a fury that the life she created for herself could be so entirely destroyed, and from a determination that she would not be forgotten. When I started writing Other Women, I was in my early forties. I was single and financially independent, with a career I loved, friends, hobbies, ambitions, dreams. The woman who inspired the character of Beatrice Cade was around my age and she had all these things too – yet she risked every one of them for a relationship with a man she knew was married and unavailable. Then there is Kate. A wife and a mother. Living the 1920s dream. Isn’t that what every woman wants? But if you ripple the surface you will find things are far from perfect. And eventually the dream will become a nightmare as these two women become connected in a way they could never begin to imagine. This riveting read is based on a true story which seems to add an extra dimension. I love the way it’s written with the tone changing as the novel progresses as our understanding of events and both women deepens. At the beginning we view a trial and it’s drama is captured in sharp, staccato, snappy sentences matching the eager anticipation of those about to devour the proceedings. As the trial progresses the morality of the times clarifies and the position of women in the 1920’s is made transparent with male control especially seen in the all male jury. The tone here is judgemental and harsh though via Kate there are some small shoots of change. In the early sections of the book there’s plenty of colour but this changes as events unfold and things take a darker turn. This constantly changing tone keeps you interested and utterly absorbed making it a hard book to put down.All that changes with the arrival at the office one day of Tom Ryan. He is a traveling salesman for Morley’s, taken on at the suggestion of his wife, who works in another branch of the company, and he is both handsome and personable. Bea begins to look forward to Ryan’s occasional appointments with Mr Morley. Gradually, the pair become friends… and then something more than friends. Huge thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review, and for hosting the Readalong - the discussions have been fantastic, and I adore how our perceptions and opinions of the characters shifted as the book went along.

Heartbreaking. I wanted it to go on and on, even as I raced to the end. Excellent, absorbing and totally gripping. -- Melanie Golding, author of The ReplacementsOverall, I think this is a terrific book, a five star winner with an ever changing plot that keeps you absorbed. Highly recommended. The women's ruminations are just too detailed, become boring, and the reader loses interest. How many kettles of tea do you want to read about, or how much of the women's distant memories. No doubt, part of this belongs in the women's perspective but Ms. Flint overdid it, which makes the book almost insufferable.

Just a few years after the end of World War I, Britain is still coming to terms with the high price of victory. The country is mourning its dead, and thousands upon thousands of women are living without husbands, sweethearts, fathers, brothers and sons. Single and unattached, at 37 Bea Cade isn’t one of them and she cuts a solitary figure as she attempts to conjure up a new life in London.It’s six years since the end of the Great War and the ladies in the typing pool eagerly anticipate the arrival of new employee Mr Thomas Ryan. As he walks in he smiles at Beatrice Cade and that smile sure does something to her! Beatrice is 37, unmarried and lives in a ladies club in Bloomsbury. Then there’s Kate Ryan, Thomas’ wife who presents a good face to the world of the state of their marriage, in particular to their daughter Judith. This is an extremely dramatic, well written story of a love triangle with the focus being on the impact of it on both women. It’s told in alternating perspectives by Beatrice in the third person and by Kate in the first which makes for a fascinating contrast. The book was selected with the help of a panel of library staff from across the UK. Our readers loved Other Women – here are some of their comments: Post WW1 England does not provide women with the best of opportunities to build a fulfilling life. True, many are taking advantage of the relatively new office posts springing up in every town and city. However, ‘career girls’ are still regarded with suspicion and the main aim is to find a husband and become a mother. Enter Thomas Ryan, a charismatic man who provokes whispers and giggles amongst the young office staff. Nevertheless, it is 37-year-old typist Bea who gains his attention and they begin an affair with disastrous results. Based loosely on a real-life murder case from the 1920s, we are thrust into London six years after the end of the first world war. Other Women is an immersive read and a book I could hardly bear to put down. This is an author with a talent for characterisation and scene setting, and her ear for authentic dialogue is sharp and true. This is historical crime fiction, but its message still rings loud and clear 100 years on, within the tandem narratives of two women wronged by a master manipulator. Dowdy, easily dismissed spinster Bea and dutiful wife and mother Kate are given equal billing here and neither of them should be taken for granted. They are women with surprising depths – in stark contrast to the conniving but shallow Tom Ryan.