Historical Fiction for February

Josephine Taylor's debut novel, Eye of a Rook, is beautifully written historical fiction that investigates the nature of pain and the experiences of women whose conditions elude treatment, putting words to something so many women go through. In 1860s London, Arthur sees his wife, Emily, suddenly struck down by a pain for which she can find no words, forced to endure harmful treatments and reliant on him for guidance. Meanwhile, in contemporary Perth, writer Alice and her older husband, Duncan, find their marriage threatened as Alice investigates the history of hysteria, female sexuality and the treatment of the female body – her own and the bodies of those who came before.