A knockout debut…
In the squalid backstreets of 18th-century London, where blood mixes with mud and survival is a brutal, daily fight, an orphan earns her place in the world with her fists in Basson’s compelling debut. In London’s ruthless underbelly, Elizabeth Wilkinson-Stokes fights to survive. A bare-knuckle boxer in a world that preys on women, she defies the rules. But when her violent husband is executed, Elizabeth must face a new battle: life beyond the pit.
Based on the life of Elizabeth Wilkinson-Stokes, one of the earliest recorded female boxers, Basson’s novel is an unflinching portrait of a woman who refuses to bow to the forces trying to break her. Elizabeth is no genteel heroine. Raised in an orphanage, sold into servitude, and molded by violence, she fights because it is the only thing she knows how to do. When she steps into the pit, bloodied and bare-chested, she is both spectacle and survivor. Basson’s prose is as raw as her protagonist; clipped, unembellished, relentless.
Like any great historical novel, this one is deeply rooted in its time. Basson does not simply recreate the past; she forces the reader to live it. Her portrayal of London as a city that devours its weakest and rewards its most ruthless is rooted in reality. The stink of gin-drenched alleys, the roar of the mob, the crunch of bone, every detail drags the reader into the filth and fury of a world that is both fascinating and repellent.
This is a novel that does not romanticize its history, nor does it offer easy victories. From the corrupt policing system of thief-takers to the savage spectacles of bear-baiting and public executions, Basson seamlessly weaves historical facts into the narrative. The novel offers a stark look at the realities of gender, violence, and class in 18th-century London, making it as much a social critique as it is a character study. Elizabeth’s story is ultimately about power: who has it, who takes it, and what one must sacrifice to keep it. Basson does not offer easy victories; even when Elizabeth wins a fight, she loses something in the process—blood, dignity, or another piece of her soul.
Fans of Hannah Kent’s Burial Rites will recognize the same brooding intensity, the same sense of doom. This is not a comfortable read, but it is a necessary one; a novel that grips, bruises, and does not let go.
Pub date November 9, 2024
Whitefox Publishing Ltd
ISBN 978-1916797604
Price $13.99 (USD) Paperback, $7.99 Kindle edition
