It is the year 1710, and Thomas True has arrived on old London Bridge with a dangerous secret.

One night, lost amongst the squalor of London’s hidden back streets, he finds himself drawn into the outrageous underworld of the molly houses.

Meanwhile, carpenter Gabriel Griffin struggles to hide his double life as Lotty, the molly’s stoic guard. When a young man is found murdered, he realises there is a rat amongst them, betraying their secrets to a pair of murderous Justices.

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Can Gabriel unmask the traitor before they hang? Can he save hapless Thomas from peril, and their own forbidden love?

Set amidst the buried streets of Georgian London, The Betrayal of Thomas True is a brutal and devastating thriller, where love must overcome evil, and the only true sin is betrayal…

My Review

This book is undoubtedly a masterpiece, a modern classic, but it was hard to read at times. The way people were treated was unbelievable, with punishments as cruel as they could possibly be. The bull defies imagination. Who could come up with something like that?

Thomas True is the son of the reverend and his wife in Highgate. The reverend is a cruel man who regularly beats his own son and even puts him in the pillory to be stoned and ridiculed. Thomas eventually runs away to London where he meets first Jack and then Gabriel and becomes a patron of Mother Clap’s molly house, where gay men could be themselves, but risked execution if caught. As someone whose usual historical novel is Gothic mystery of the Victorian period, I was out of my comfort zone with Georgian England.

I’m not going to pretend I liked Thomas, in fact he was rather annoying at times. Gabriel was really the star of the show, a huge, hairy, bear of a man with a kindly heart, who fiercely protects his friends. What drew him and Thomas together still mystifies me, but together they were.

Unfortunately, the discovery that there is a ‘rat’ amongst them makes the mollies’ ‘Always Together’ motto a misnomer, as they all suspect each other and trust has been truly defenestrated.

My favourite characters, however, were the Blackguard of Alsatia, a gang of children, moving and speaking in rhyme as one, like the chorus in a Greek tragedy. In fact I did some research to find out more about them. The Blackguard were runaway orphans, but don’t think Oliver! ‘picking a pocket or two’ – they were far poorer, dirtier and more deprived, living in the worst parts of London. Brilliant.

Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours

About the Author

A.J. West’s bestselling debut novel The Spirit Engineer won the Historical Writers’ Association Debut Crown Award, gaining international praise for its telling of a long-forgotten true story. An award winning BBC newsreader and reporter, he has written for national newspapers and regularly appears on network television discussing his writing and the historical context of contemporary events. A passionate historical researcher, he writes at The London Library and museum archives
around the world. To connect with AJ and discover more about his research, visit www.ajwestauthor.com

About Orenda Books

Orenda Books is a small independent publishing company specialising in literary fiction with a heavy emphasis on crime/thrillers, and approximately half the list in translation. They’ve been twice shortlisted for the Nick Robinson Best Newcomer Award at the IPG awards, and publisher and owner Karen Sullivan was a Bookseller Rising Star in 2016. In 2018, they were awarded a prestigious Creative Europe grant for their translated books programme. Three authors, including Agnes Ravatn, Matt Wesolowski and Amanda Jennings have been WHSmith Fresh Talent picks, and Ravatn’s The Bird Tribunal was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award, won an English PEN Translation Award, and adapted for BBC Radio Four ’s Book at Bedtime. Six titles have been short- or long-listed for the CWA Daggers. Launched in 2014 with a mission to bring more international literature to the UK market, Orenda Books publishes a host of debuts, many of which have gone on to sell millions worldwide, and looks for fresh, exciting new voices that push the genre in new directions. Bestselling authors include Ragnar Jonasson, Antti Tuomainen, Gunnar Staalesen, Michael J. Malone, Kjell Ola Dahl, Louise Beech, Johana Gustawsson, Lilja Sigurðardóttir and Sarah Stovell.