Thomas de Quincy is living a comfortable, middle class existence when we meet him in the early 1800's, and eventually he will go on to become a writer of some renown. However, much will take place on his life's journey before he's lauded as one of the best writers of his day.

After a disagreement with his family, Thomas finds himself destitute on the streets of London. He's discovered by Anne,( a young prostitute ) malnourished and close to collapse. Anne takes pity on him and takes him back to her lodgings where she feeds and tends to him until he slowly begins to regain his strength. Though these two are from very different backgrounds, they find the love and affection that so far has evaded them.

Tuah is a victim of the slave trade, taken from his island by Dutch traders, he is bought by the Captain of an English ship. The Captain treats him fairly and begins the slow process of educating Tuah, and after some years sailing the seas, they eventually return to the Captain's London home.

How the lives of a future writer from a middle class background, a prostitute, and a freed slave come together, it would be difficult to imagine, but the author has managed to do this beautifully, seamlessly weaving the threads of their lives together in a most pleasing way. From the drawing rooms of the wealthy middle classes, to the brothels and opium dens in the filthy London slums, all of life is here!

1800's London is brought perfectly to life, the smells, sights and sounds jump out from the pages. This was a time of extreme poverty for the majority of people, and it wasn't difficult to see how the young Anne turned to the world's oldest profession just to put a little food on the table. For Thomas, used to the better things in life, it appeared to be something of a comedown to be living in the slums of London, but he's clearly never been happier, and seems to relate to these people more than he ever did amongst his middle class acquaintances. For Tuah, he doesn't think London will ever be his real home, but he's well looked after, and content, even though others think he's beneath them, preferring to ignore his existence.

This was a wonderful tale that allowed us to walk the streets of early 19th century London, and to see first hand the poverty and it's associated problems including opium addiction, which was a way for the poor to forget their miserable existence for a short time, but of course the addiction which overpowered them, presented it's own immense problems.

Very well written with strong characters and a wonderful storyline.

*Thank you to Netgalley and Holland House for my ARC. I have given an honest review in exchange*

Tuah was captured and sold into slavery in Cape Town however his master brought him back to London. Anne was born into poverty and became a whore after the death of her father. Thomas was born into the gentility but relations with his family were difficult and he found himself on the streets. In real life Thomas de Quincy was found on the streets of London by a prostitute called Anne and nursed back to health before being reclaimed by his family. It was at this point he became addicted to laudanum as depicted in his autobiography but he never stopped looking for Anne and the 'Malay' also makes an appearance in the story.

Here accomplished author Keaney has taken a few facts and woven a dazzling piece of historical fiction. Set mainly in the dirty streets of early Victorian London, the lives of three lost people come together and then separate again. None of the characters is allowed to dominate and, even though de Quincy is a known element, the stories are powerful and believable.

This was a historical fiction novel that contained three main characters (I later found out that Thomas and Anne were based on real people). Their three braided stories wove together and apart throughout the novel, and their lives undulated with highs and lows. The author does a great job of evoking a time and place, but I felt less connected to the characters than I did to the setting.

I appreciate the copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

Thomas Penson de Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium-Eater (1822) is one of the first literary works written from the point of view of an addict and, an English addict at that. Samuel Taylor Coleridge also began using opium in 1791, after suffering from both jaundice and rheumatic fever and eventually consumed 80 – 100 drops of laudanum, opium prepared in an alcoholic solution, daily. His famed poem, Kubla Khan, is about the opium experience.
I found (online) the following recipe for laudanum:
Laudanum.-Best Turkey opium, 1 oz.; slice, and pour upon it boiling water, 1 gill (1/4 pint), and work it in a bowl or mortar until it is dissolved; then pour it into the bottle, and with alcohol of 76 per cent. proof, 1/2 pt., rinse the dish, adding the alcohol to the preparation, shaking well, and in 24 hours it will be ready for use. Dose -- Form 10 to 30 drops for adults, according to the strength of the patient, or severity of the pain.

By the middle of the 19th century, morphine was invented purposefully to offset/reduce addiction to opium. In 1874 chemists created heroin, with its potency twice that of morphine. Still opium imports (into the US) peaked in 1890. In 1937, methadone was first synthesized at Germany’s IG Farben company. Meanwhile, in 2017 the illegal opium trade continues, and the opioid crisis deepens.
But, I digress. Alphabet of Heart’s Desire takes the bare outline of what is known about De Quincey’s biography, including a brief encounter with a teenage prostitute, Anne, and tells the story of Anne, Thomas and a third character, Tuah, a slave, then ex-slave in late 18th century through 1802 London. The fourth character is opium, taken for most of the characters in the form of laudanum, and it is omnipresent throughout the novel. The novel is told in split narrative form – with each of the three named characters being given largely equal time, and with somewhat different voices. Tuah’s voice is the least successful, Anne’s the most, and Thomas, in comparison, can come across whiney and privileged, from time to time; nonetheless, his misery and sense of being trapped and limited by his family and its decisions about his schooling and living situation come across believably. The three characters don’t encounter one another until well into the novel. Hence, the experience for much of the novel is one of reading three books simultaneously. It works surprisingly well.
The first half was a 5-star read – the pacing was perfect, the characters well-drawn and London detailed in an absorbing, compelling manner. A 12-year old in a whorehouse. The desparation of a single mother unable to support herself. The Dutch slave trade and capture of Tuah at a young age. The ever present risk of street attacks and violence. The descent of a character, and decline of his health, into opium addiction, with nightly visits to an opium den. From the point where Anne and Thomas meet through the end of the book, it is a 3+ reading experience. The energy and suspense present earlier are greatly reduced, and Anne and Thomas spend a fair amount of time sharing laudanum and possible happy endings.
Ultimately, Keaney’s ending is realistic, reminding me of The Miniaturist, another literary historical fiction novel I read and liked more than many others. If you liked The Miniaturist, I suspect this one’s for you. It’s not for the faint-hearted, though, what with its rawness and commitment to truth-telling, at least with respect to the poor characters.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ecopy.

This book follows the stories of three young people in the early years of the 1800s: Thomas de Quincey (later to become author of “Confessions of an Opium Eater); Anne, a child prostitute (a person de Quincey actually knew); and Tuah, a freed slave and avid reader, who, as far as I know, was not a real person. Their stories are told in alternating chapters; Anne and Tuah tell their tales in the first person, Thomas’s is in the third person, which makes him seem a little more distant and less real.

Anne is a pre-teen girl who becomes a prostitute to avoid a fate just as bad with her step-father. Coming from a life of grinding poverty, living in a brothel and being warm and not having to wash load after load of clothes with urine is a step up. Tuah is captured by Dutch slavers who kill and rape his family and friends; the captain of another ship buys him and brings him to London. Along the way he is taught English and how to read. Thomas, whose father dies when Thomas is young, is very bright and his school masters say he should go on to Oxford. Sadly, his mother and her brother, who are controlling Thomas’s inheritance, are too stingy to pay his tuition. After an attempted theft, he is told by them to get out of the area, and disappear for a few years. They give him an allowance that would have been hard for the most frugal of souls to live on. Thus he ends up on the streets, starving and freezing, where Anne finds him.

The stories of Anne and Thomas are closely connected after the middle of the book. Tuah, however, while having the story that I found most interesting, seemed not to really fit in with the other two- he does connect with Anne, briefly, mid-way, and then again at the end. Tuah and Archie, the brother of the sea captain who saves Tuah, are the characters that caught my attention. Archie runs a used clothing store and does fitting; his building is filled with old clothes and books, hundreds of books. Archie reads incessantly, a hobby that does not hurt his hunch-backed body. His gentle humanity, and kindness to both Tuah and Anne, are a stark contrast to many of the other supporting characters.

Oddly, I found Thomas the least interesting of the main characters, even though history tells us the most about him. He just seemed sort of… helpless. He was dealt a bad hand in life, but seemed to be the least able to make a go of it. I was really captured by the book, and I’ll give it five stars even though Thomas was a disappointment.

I found this to be a well written and researched story. It is the story of three different people coming of age and settling into adult life in different ways in London. The three main characters are Tuah, a freed slave, Anne, a doxy and Thomas, an opium addict. The book tells their stories from their childhood to young adulthood and how they came to be who they were. The three people in the story come to know each other, but not at the same times.
The story was based on the true story of Thomas de Quincy, a minor friend of Wordsworth and Coleridge, most known for his autobiography ‘ The diary of an Opium eater’. The ending stays true to the real life story and I am glad the author didn’t choose a more fictional option.
Thomas in my opinion was the least likeable of the characters,or the one who evoked the least sympathy.
My only quibble with the story is the title, which didn’t really fit for me.
Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book. All opinions are my own.

The Alphabet of Heart's Desire is an interesting and well-written work of historical fiction centring on three characters: child prostitute Anne, Tuah who was abducted and enslaved from an unnamed island in his youth, and the writer Thomas de Quincey. Each of these main characters has an authentic voice, with the gallows humour of Anne and Tuah's use of Biblical quotations for every situation being conveyed especially well. The novel's themes - man's inhumanity to man, the degradations of poverty, how the powerful keep a rigid grip on power - are illustrated by the violence, slavery, abuse, prostitution, drug addiction and poverty that permeate the novel. The irrepressible humour of Anne, as well as acts of kindness and love, prevent this from being too bleak a read.

I feel I should advise readers that the violence in this book is in places pretty graphic. I felt uncomfortable with the detailed descriptions of Anne as a child becoming a prostitute - is it just me that would have felt less uneasy if these scenes had been written by a female author?

I received this ebook free from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I felt like I was reading about real people from the very beginning of this book - turns out I was but wasn't aware of it!! The horrors of Laudanum and Opium and the depravity of the poor in London at this time are brilliantly captures and portrayed. I really enjoyed this book and flew through it!

My seven year old great nephew got it right about this book . No , he didn't read it, but he described perfectly to me why he (and I ) like to read. He was pretty animated, using his hands, had great facial expressions when he said , "Aunt Angela , do you know why I like to read ? Because when I read I feel like I'm in the book, you know like watching a movie." I replied, "Me , too , Nicholas!" What he described is exactly what I felt when reading this book - that I was transported to London in the early 1800's through wonderful descriptions of the streets, the society, and the people through the three characters who make up the alternating narratives of this story. The images
images were so clear - "like watching a movie".

When I read the description of this novel, the name Thomas de Quincey sounded only vaguely familiar, so I really went into it blindly not knowing much about him. As it turned out, at least from my perspective, this is not just a fictionalized account of de Quincey, who I later found out was a writer known for his essays, and most famous for "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater". It's the story of a young girl, Anne, whose misfortunate life forces her to find salvation from starvation and abuse as a prostitute. It's the story of a young boy, Tuah, taken from his native island by Dutch slave traders. I felt I immediately for Anne and Tuah as I read their first person narratives and was appalled and heartbroken for what happened to them. It took me longer to connect with Thomas, whose narrative, interestingly enough, was written in the third person. The book touches on some things that reflect the times - the slave trade, prostitution, class differences, and drug addiction, but it is also about the goodness of people who save each other . As their individual stories moved forward, I was anxious to see how they would converge. I won't say here, but will say that I was captivated and I would definitely recommend this to lovers of historical fiction.


I received an advanced copy of this book from Holland House through NetGalley.

A novel like a roller-coaster ride: exhilarating in some parts, stomach- churning in most parts, still you regret it’s ended.
The three characters (a child –prostitute, a freed slave and a very sensitive, intelligent and promising young man coming from a good family) have to face all kinds of misfortunes (death, violence, and stigma) and their slipping from bad to worse seems endless. They are so lonely in a city full of dangers and so young… Maybe this is why they don’t always take the best decisions (leaving home, seeking shelter in a whorehouse, trying to cash a cheque that could have been forged), but life has no patience or indulgence for the weak. Death is equally indiscriminate, taking its toll on good and bad.
In the end, all three characters (Anne, Tuah and Thomas) got second chances, which sounds a bit forced to me, after struggling so long to accept their dreadful fate. Or, should we admire their resilience?

Historical Fiction is my favourite, and I especially like when it borrows from real history - using real historical figures and elements of their true story.

This was a wonderful story of three lives brought together by fate, and the second chances a person can find in a new acquaintance.

I liked that each chapter focused on a different character. This book has 3 main characters and equal time is spent with each, so you get to know each well. Each chapter goes back to another character so you don't lose the thread of their story for long. And each character has a very unique voice and their chapters are told in that voice - the low born accent, high born accent, immigrant accent were all well relayed through text.

In telling the stories of Thomas, Anne and Tuah, the author explores a lot of themes... poverty, slavery, addiction, privilege... It wad an easy read, but still made you think. For me this is the best kind of read - I don't want it to be laborious, but I enjoy gaining new perspectives and having food for thought.

Would definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys well researched historical fiction with a thread of truth.

This is a beautifully written novel of historical fiction. Enjoyed the characters and their separate lives and how they were weaved together. One question though: why didn't Thomas try and get the French letter translated? Were we just meant to accept it was a letter mistakenly sent to him? Finally, I felt ending was somewhat rushed, especially after the level of fictional detail given for the characters' childhoods.

'The Alphabet of Heart's Desire' is a well-written piece of historical fiction by Brian Keaney. Mr. Keaney is an excellent writer. His characters easily come to life as does the time period. There were many wonderful descriptive passages about London in the 1800's

The outline of this book is drawn with facts taken from the life of Thomas De Quincy, an essayist from 19th century who is famously known for his work 'Confessions of an Opium-eater'.

The chapters rotate between three main protagonists along with some interesting minor characters. A young prostitute, an Asian slave and the youthful Thomas De Quincey. I did not know until after I finished the novel that Mr. De Quincey was a real person during this historical time frame.

I found myself feeling drawn to the three main protagonists. Their trials and tribulations were vivid and at times stomach churning. I was not all together pleased with the ending. The bobbing and weaving to bring these three characters to the same place and time was a tad unbelievable. However, I did not investigate if this was actually part of the main character’s life.

I would like to thank Holland House, Brian Keaney and NetGalley for an ARC.

I love historical fiction that weaves fact with fiction and this works so well. There are 3 stories interwoven, Thomas de Quincey (based on fact), Anne and Tuah. All 3 are shockingly abused and damaged in very different ways but Tuah's story will stay with me for a long time. The historical details of Victorian London and the continuing narratives as we switch from Anne to Tuah to Thomas makes for a cracking read. This is strong historical fiction, well written, pacy and absorbing.

I am drawn to historical novels featuring artists or writers and looked forward to reading this book. I was not familiar with Thomas de Quincey and, perhaps if I was, that would have forewarned me of the darkness within this fictional look at his life.

The novel used the lives of three very diverse characters to tell the story and their experiences and voices were extravagantly varied. One a young intellectual; one a young boy captured by slavers; and one an impoverished child who "saves herself" through prostitution. I found it very challenging to read because hope was in very short supply.

Artfully written, the characters were so well-conceived that I felt like I knew them well. The challenge was wanting to continue walking in lock-step with them throughout the book. The well-born young man was the least appealing of the three featured characters -- he had the intellect, but not the common sense to know how to manage his gifts, his problems, and his future.

The slave and the prostitute both had heart-breaking challenges, but the grit to accept their issues and move forward. If the author had led me to do anything other than reflect on the hardships of these lives, I would have admired the book more. But, it left me depressed and nothing more.

NETGALLEY provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Remember our November reads list? No? Well this was on it.

“There's so much potential to explore here, with class divides and racism and prostitution and sex and drugs (ok, maybe no rock and roll)... I'm sure Keaney will have fun with it.
“
I was excited about it. Keaney has made his name with children's books. This is his first foray into the world of adult literature. I like children's books and I like historical fiction. So when NetGalley offered me an ARC in exchange for an honest review, I leapt at the opportunity.

“A visitor calls with a gift and a message from the past in this literary, historical novel. In 1802 Thomas de Quincey, a young man from a comfortable middle-class background who would go on to become one of the most celebrated writers of his day, collapsed on Oxford Street and was discovered by a teenage prostitute who brought him back to her room and nursed him to health. It was the beginning of a relationship that would introduce Thomas to a world just below the surface of London's polite society, where pleasure was a tradeable commodity and opium could seem the only relief from poverty. Yet it is also a world where love might blossom, and goodness survive. The lives of a street girl, an aspiring writer, and a freed slave cross and re-cross the slums of London in this novel about the birth of passion, the burden of addiction, and the consolations of literature.
“
Sounds fantastic, right?

It wasn't.

The story follow three characters: Thomas, the future author of Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, Anne, the teenage prostitute, and Tuah, the freed slave. Except that each is a separate story and they really don't feel linked. This could easily be solved with a few more interactions between them all but, as it is, it feels like reading two or three different books simultaneously. To be honest, I'm not sure why Tuah's story was included at all because it didn't really overlap with Anne's and Thomas'.

Pacing was a problem. Anne and Thomas do (eventually) meet up and fall in love but it's very brief and it comes right at the end of the book. He never quite sells it. Thomas doesn't even collapse on Oxford Street until about three quarters of the way through the book!

Each character is very stereotyped. Thomas is the Posh Boy Out Of His Depth and he's incredibly passive. Anne is the Unwilling Prostitute With A Heart Of Gold. Tuah, the most interesting of the three, becomes Crazy Christian very early on but thankfully abandons this soon into the book. He quotes the bible when describing being taken as a slave. Why? Just because. Never mind that it doesn't fit with his early memories (which seem to have taken place on an island from Disney's Moana), we'll stick it in anyway.

I'd heard a lot about the beautiful writing in this book. It's ok... but there are problems. Let me give you an example.

“The dress swung open to reveal her large, heavy breasts with their dark purple nipples that looked to Thomas like some unknown and exotic fruit.
“
WHOSE NIPPLES LOOK LIKE FRUIT? More importantly, whose nipples are purple? Seriously, she should visit a doctor.

So my main issues with the book are the stereotypical characters, a lack of in-depth sociopolitical exploration, and no real grittiness. This is eighteenth-century London. I want to see some suffering! Having said that, all of these issues are perhaps understandable from a man who has, until now, written children's literature.

I really wanted to like this book but it never quite clicked for me. I'm not ruling out reading Brian Keaney in future, but I'll wait until he's a bit more comfortable with books for adults first.
From now on he would learn the language of heart’s desire and he would listen to no other.

Verdict: good concept but telling the wrong stories

Read if you like: stereotypes, historical fiction

The Alphabet Of Heart's Desire by Brian Keaney ⭐️⭐️

I wasn't at all impressed with this title.
It reads rather like the texts aimed at giving historical perspective to young teens, to me, given it's simple style and form with nothing to give me much interest at all, despite it combination of three different story lines and significant historical setting.
'Alphabet of Heart's Desire just doesn't strike me as being of the calibre of writing I expect from good (adult) 'literary fiction. In fact, having read the first quarter I really didn't feel at all inclined towards pressing on with the rest. Had I not been writing a review I probably wouldn't have bothered - and I'm not in the habit of giving up on books part way through.

I was so lucky to receive The Alphabet of Heart's Desire from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

Novels like this are why I love to read historical fiction. The novel is loosely drawn from the autobiography of real life journalist and opium addict Thomas De Quincey and in alternating chapters, tells Thomas's story, the story of Anne, a child of the slums who is forced into prostitution and Tuah, a former slave who lives near Anne in London.

Keaney pulled me into the world of this story right from the first paragraph. The streets of Victorian London, with its vivid sights, smells and sounds, are always a fascinating world to spend time in and all three of the characters in the story sprang to life right from the first pages. As a reader, I was fully invested in the characters' fates and the many challenges they faced as they grew from children into young adults. I even found myself worrying about them when I had to put the book down and return to real life. I was sad to day goodbye to them and look forward to a re-read in the not-too-distant future. This will definitely be on my favourite books of the year list.

Brian Keaney is a new author for me and I'm looking forward to exploring his other work. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys Sarah Water's Fingersmith and Tipping the Velvet as well as for fans of Michel Faber's Crimson Petal and the White.

I really enjoyed The Alphabet of Heart’s Desire which is a novel based on the early life of Thomas de Quincy, a would be poet. Thomas’ life intersects with two other very interesting characters - Anne who has fallen on hard times and has had to resort to prostitution and Tuah, a young captive who has been saved from a life of slavery by two brothers, themselves most colourful characters. The protagonists cross paths in ways I certainly did not foresee, given their vastly different origins. I experienced a whole gamut of emotions when reading this book, ranging from anger and sadness at the injustices suffered by the vulnerable, to admiration for the resilience of the human spirit. I would recommend this book. Thanks to Holland House and NetGalley for the ARC.