This fascinating look at the tyranny of a male dominated Victorian age and its devastating effect on women is well illustrated in this novel in a unique way. Clara is a woman who is totally dominated by her fortune hunter husband Henry who commits her to an insane asylum in hopes of eventually inheriting the fortune bequeathed to her by her grandmother Izzie who lives in India for her health. When she is eventually released from the asylum and returns to Durham where her husband is a professor of mathematics at the local university she joins a group of ladies who visit the prisoners to offer "spiritual guidance" and meets the infamous poisoner Mary Ann Cotton. They develop a bond and Clara visits her often and learns much about her past as well as her philosophy concerning the domination of men and what women should do to protect themselves from it. She begins to take some of this advice to heart and thinks up a way of escaping from her husband but is thwarted several times. Eventually she pawns all her jewelry and escapes to her grandmother in India through the mysterious murder of her husband by two thugs which reminds Clara of something Mary Ann said to her once that for a bit of money some people would do anything. The part of the book that describes Mary Ann's hanging is quite emotional and moving. Her death throes show "the savage instinct" of life trying to override death even in the final moments. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and thank Net Galley and Inkshares, Inc. for giving me the opportunity to read this fascinating look at the dark side of Victorian society.

The Savage Instinct by Marjorie DeLuca
Publisher: Inkshares
Genre: Historical Fiction | Mystery & Thrillers
Publication Date: May 18, 2021

The Savage Instinct by Marjorie DeLuca is a fascinating story filled with intrigue.

I'm so quick to say I am not a fan of historical fiction, but then I find a book like this and I am drawn in and can't stop reading it. Suffice to say, I am learning to love the genre.

There was so much to love about this book! This characters are well thought out and compelling. I thought the story was fascinating and I could not get enough!

I definitely recommend reading this book if you enjoyed Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood (which I did, the audiobook was so well done!)

I'm so grateful to Marjorie DeLuca, Inkshares, and NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

England, 1873. Clara Blackstone has just been released from an asylum, into her husband's care. Trying to fit back into society and role of submitting wife, Clara finds solice in volunteering at the local prison. One prisoner in particular has her attention. Mary Ann Cotton, an alleged serial killer.
Clara and Mary Ann become friends fast. Mary Ann is looking for a supportive heart and Clara is looking for confession. She is obsessed with this woman who is accused of killing several husbands and their children. Though she cant understand the murders of the children, Clara wonders about the husbands. Clara is having her own martial issues. Mary Ann may be the solution to all her problems.

The Savage Instinct is set in Victorian England, at a time when women were supposed to obey and serve their husbands. At the time it was common practice to lock your wife away if she did not submit in the bedroom or complete other widely duties. The Savage Instinct describes those times perfectly, so much so that it made me uncomfortable and angry. I had a hard time reading this book because of this.
I did like the fact that Mary Ann Cotton is an actual real person, and that Deluca did a wonderful job with her in the story. Female serial killers are rare, but fascinating, and Cotton is one that I only faintly heard of. Even though this story is fiction, I feel like I have a better sense of her crimes. Those were real.
Unfortunately, I found the story slow moving I liked Clara and her determination to leave her toxic relationship, something unheard of at its time, but I also felt it was all very unrealistic. I wasn't sold on how well she could hide and get into the prison, not to mention her ability to access to a notorious criminal. Maybe its just me, but I wasn't buying it.
I'm also not a huge historical fiction fan, so that has a small role in my opinion. If its done well, and is believable, I can appreciate it. This was not, and fell flat for me.

The Savage Instinct by Marjorie DeLuca was first published in 2015 but has been redone and will rerelease May 18th, 2021! Thank you NetGalley, Marjorie DeLuca, and Inkshares for the opportunity to read this book!

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Rape, Murder, Child-Murder, Child Loss, Pregnancy loss, torture

It is in 1873, England. Clara Blackstone has just been released from an asylum. She was committed after the loss of her baby and the trauma that immediately occurred after the birth. She endured all kinds of torture in the asylum but now she is free and heading home with her husband. On her way home, they come across the arrest of Mary Ann Cotton, a woman who has been accused of poisoning at least 21 people, including children. Clara begins to volunteer at the local prison and meets the serial killer in person. Their conversations make Clara think about her husband’s actions towards her–the drugging, the abuse. Maybe she isn’t really mad? And maybe Cotton isn’t really guilty?

First of all, this book is DARK. Expect to be furious at least 95% of the time while reading this book. The other 5% is just heartbreaking. Honestly, if a man treated me the way Clara’s husband treated her, poisoning would be the least of his worries. The way men have treated women throughout history and even now is absolutely abhorrent. Now, Mary Ann Cotton is really England’s first serial killer. The author casts doubt on her guilt. She had a defense lawyer but no defense witnesses were called. She maintained her innocence until the end. It is possible that she was just the victim of poverty and poor medical facilities of the Victorian Age or she was a prolific serial killer that mainly used arsenic.

The pace of the novel is a little rough in the transitions, and this isn’t the type of novel that is enjoyable. It is terrifying and graphic. However, I did read this book within a few hours. It is captivating and difficult to put down. I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars!

As soon as I read the description of this book, I knew I needed to read it. Women's agency and bodily autonomy is a topic near and dear to my heart, and has been the subject of many a research project- especially in this time period.

DeLuca makes so many references to discourse and literature being published and discussed in the 19th century and before. Allusions to Mary Wollstonecraft's comparison of women's married life to slavery, fiction writing such as The Yellow Wallpaper, and many more, come up as little Easter eggs that I adored identifying and unraveling.

The novel touches on issues surrounding women's agency and bodily autonomy, or more so the social norms that prevent them from exercising these rights, and focuses especially on how these power dynamics manifest themselves in terms of health and reproductive rights.

*This might be spoiler but I'm not sure*
I do wish Henry had been a more complex character. Although unarguably a villain, I think showing different sides of him, or maybe fooling the reader into thinking him sympathetic character at some point, would have made the overall plot more interesting and engaging. The narrative and plot also became choppy in some parts of the book, which disrupted the reading experience for me.

Overall, an enjoyable read!

5 stars

It feels strange to say that I really enjoyed this book that is so steeped in murder, but I did. I really and truly enjoyed this book. It's a excellent piece of social commentary about the animal instinct to survive and how women are disproportionately oppressed as a result. Like a train wreck, I couldn't look away.

DeLuca crafts some delectably devious characters, but the real core of this book is the relationship between Clara Blackstone and Mary Ann Cotton. It is a perverse joy to watch their twisted friendship unfurl as they suffer at the hands of Victorian society. It is absolutely provocative. I can tell that this book and its characters are going to haunt me for quite some time.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkshares for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

I loved every second of this book. Clara was just released from the asylum. Put there by her husband. Her story starts fast and the timeline is quick. Clara is expected to be a docile female who follows her husband every order. Very 1870s of them. She can’t express herself or stand up for herself. She has no rights and no one will listen to her. Except her new friend Mary Ann, who also happens to be accused of murder.

This book did not go how I expected and I’m so glad. This was so well written that I couldn’t put it down and read it all in one sitting. I enjoyed the consistency of the 1870s as well as the language. Some of the book was brutal but honest. I throughly enjoyed this book.

I received this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Happy to include this title in the spring Thrills and Chills roundup, my list of notable new crime and mystery titles for Zoomer magazine’s Club Zed book section.

The Savage Instinct by M.M. DeLuca
Length: 377 Pages
Genres: Historical Fiction and Psychological Thriller
Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

"I dreamt I stood at the door of a ruined barn, its roof split open to the moon. I saw a dark-haired woman standing in a pigsty, and as the pigs swarmed round her ankles, she stroked their bristled snouts and whispered, Thou shalt rest well soon, my husbands.
Then she saw me and seemed to float, through the muck and swill until I felt her behind me, whispering in my ear: I am in the city now. Come to me."

A special thanks to NetGalley and Inkshares for providing me with an ARC of this book!

I have a huge fascination with the past, and while I, like many others, am drawn to the glittering clothes, the balls, and the manners, I think more often than not the darker aspects are pushed aside. Glossed over, or gilded through the lens of time. As much as I enjoy the question "If you you could go back in time, when would you go?", I always add an addendum to my answer: Only for a day. Because as shocking and dangerous as it is to be a woman in my own day and age, I could only imagine what it was like for the women of the past.

The Savage Instinct by M.M. DeLuca never flinches away from the reality of life for a woman in the Victorian era. On one end, we follow our protagonist Clara Blackstone, a woman of wealth who is crushed by the miscarriage of her child, and promptly thrown into Bethlem for a episode that ends in violence. Ferried to another asylum, more fitting of a woman of the Upper Classes, she is eventually released, only to be pushed headfirst into her husband's scheming clutches. Soon, at the behest of a genteel society lady, she is visiting the Durham Prison where she makes the acquaintance of one of Britain's most reviled serial killers of all time: Mary Ann Cotton.

Poisoner of eight of her children, seven of her step-children, three of her husbands, her mother, a lover, and a friend. She is destitute, the opposite of Clara, but with shocking similarities in their life. Clara can't help but be drawn into Mary Ann's cunning web, and I was just as charmed by her, at times wondering if she was telling the truth about her innocence or spinning another lie.

This book left me breathless and outraged, and I could hardly put it down, despite my growling stomach when dinner rolled around! In the end, I wondered how much truth there is in history's version of Mary Ann Cotton - was she really a heartless killer? Or was she another victim, of men, of circumstance, and time, much like Clara is? The Savage Instinct is a deftly woven work of historical fiction, ran through with bits of truth, and all the questions and chills of a psychological thriller, that will surely leave you wanting more.

England, 1873. Clara Blackstone has just been released after one year in a private asylum for the insane following a breakdown after suffering a tragic loss. Now Clara just hopes to settle back in with her husband in their new home, and to do whatever necessary to remain free from the asylum, but when an unconventional relationship between herself and a serial killer blossoms many questions arise compelling readers to turn the pages as quickly as possible to see just what comes of Clara.

Marjorie Deluca has provided us with one gripping gem that hooks you from the start with absolutely stunningly constructed prose, the reader is immediately catapulted in to the past where we are caressed with striking period accuracy, not once is this illusion broken throughout the whole book, which is a huge breath of fresh air in the historical fiction genre as of late.

The Savage Instinct is certainly a dark, twisty, slightly uncomfortable (in the best way possible) story. History mixed with a stunning fictional narrative this is one you do not want to miss!

A huge thank you to netgalley, publishers, and Marjorie DeLuca for providing me with an advanced digital copy for me to be able to provide my honest, unfiltered feed back.

Women. Terrible husbands. A psych ward. A serial killer.

This is the story of how women have been gaslit by men from the beginning of time.

Powerful storytelling and disturbing images. This book is major.

Thanks to netGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

This book had majorly similar vibes to another book I reviewed, After Alice Fell by Kim Taylor Blakemore. You can read my review of that book here. Both of these books are set in the late 1800s. Both main characters have some elements of unreliable narrating. Both main characters have niche professor husbands who are concerned with status and are ultimately betrayed by their husband’s colleagues. (That last similarity was a bit much for me.)

This book tells the story of Clara, locked away in an asylum after a tragic combination of miscarriage and stillbirth, now free to integrate back into society and join her husband in a new city as he begins climbing the ranks of the college he works at. However, all is not as it seems. He much prefers a wife who is obedient and socially acceptable than one that is mentally well. It’s obvious from the start that he doesn’t have Clara’s best interests at heart. One of the ways in which Clara is supposed to acclimate to her new life is through charity work. She begins to visit the local prison where she meets Mary Ann Cotton, a serial killer who targeted mainly her husbands and children via poison. Clara is instantly intrigued by Mary Ann and sees her as a fellow woman who has been scorned and rejected by society and let down by the men in her life. However, there is more to Mary Ann than Clara can see, and Mary Ann is always one step ahead.

Based on a real-life person, Mary Ann is probably the most intriguing story element. The audience is left uncertain of whether Mary Ann really did poison her family because virtually all of the evidence against her is circumstantial. Personally speaking, my view is that she did it based on the evidence presented in the book. However, the reader cannot be sure as Clara is unsure.

I did not end up liking this book. My biggest problem is that a lot of the characters and interactions in this book felt painfully one-dimensional. Clara’s husband undergoes somewhat of a flanderization throughout the book. He starts out seeming well-meaning though he misses the mark. He ends the book being outlandishly cartoonish and wholely unbelievable. (The same can be said of the reverend character). The doctors in this book are also cartoonishly evil, trying to imprison Clara based on fabricated evidence that she is insane. Furthermore, many of the conversations between Clara and Mary Ann are painfully one-dimensional as well, though this time focused on sexism.

I wish the book had stuck to more believable characterization for individual characters and interactions. Ultimately, the way many of these issues were handled was so ham-fisted as to detract from the important message. Many of the scenes between Clara and her husband (and the ever-present reverend) essentially read as follows:

“Henry, I’d be more happy here if I were allowed any modicum of personal freedom. I feel a bit stifled.”

“You women folk take advantage of man’s good nature! Harumph harumph Bah Humbug! I’ll be sure to send you back to the asylum unless you perform your wifely duties, take care of the house, and submit to me–your caring and god-given husband.”

*The reverend chimes in* “You women folk need to learn your place and keep your diseased lady uteruses from wandering around your body and disadvantaging your husband.”

*End Scene*

I really think the book would have worked so much better if the husband was made less cartoonishly evil and leaned more into him being justifiably sexist for the time. For example, the plot could have remained largely the same had the tension come from of the looming threat of Clara’s commitment at the hands of her husband, who thought that it was genuinely best for her based on the science of the time. Medicine is still sexist today! Plenty of Victorian medicine was sexist then too. This would have portrayed the main message of the book (Sexism!) more subtly, which I think would have made the message more relatable and realistic.

Overall, this book wasn’t a bad book. It just appears to be surface-level critique of sexism masquerading as a deeper message. I’d recommend After Alice Fell instead. I think that book handled the themes better. The suspense also worked better in that book than in this one. There were several points in this book that made me unpleasantly tense. I found myself growing increasingly frustrated by every chance Clara had to escape her situation, particularly when she would inevitably screw it up instead. Ultimately, Clara doesn’t even save herself. Without giving away the ending, the plot is resolved by a deus ex machina event.

I wanted to like this book, but found myself increasingly frustrated by the plot and how the message was handled. If Victorian sexism interests you, and it’s not a topic you’re familiar with, this book might be for you. If you’re intrigued by the “woman in an asylum” aspect and ambiguous storytelling, check out After Alice Fell instead.

There is something so innately chilling about this haunting story. While part of it is based on the tellings of the historical facts of the female serial killer Mary Ann Cotton, who is said to have poisoned not only her 3 husbands, her mother, lover, and all but one child, totaling some say over 20 lives. Yes, this is a ghoulish and macabre tale from the beginning.

What I think is part of the darker history here, though by no means less real even if the characters are given fictitious names in this fictitious plot, is the treatment of women at the Time of the turn of century. It is a grim affair; one that is often over looked.

This book shines a blinding light to the horrors that women faced in a society where they were considered powerless and disposable. Where vision and drive were considered hysteria. Passions and lusts led to many a woman having a hysterectomy or worse. No longer beautiful or once a man had their fortune, many were confined forced to live their lives in asylums; cast side like they were nothing, while being treated with broken treatments and savage medicine.

That is the life of Clara. After the stillbirth of her child, she is sent to Bedlum by her husband. The broken person that returns is not the one he desires. Not understanding this new world after she has seen and felt the ugly harshness that befell her by husbands hands, Clara seeks guidance from an unlikely source. So behind the beginning of the end of many things as truths are revealed and lies come to light. Clara must decide what kind of woman she is to be. Will she allow herself to remain broken beneath the heel of her husband or will she have the strength to put herself back together again and become stronger for what she went through?

For all the horrors, imagined or real, I felt the voices of the woman who walked similar stories, cried similar tears, screamed similar cursed throughout the past at the injustices. It was a two fold story for me. My scientific mind appreciated that the advancements and shivered at the treatments. My bookworm mind loved the intrigue and the struggle of Clara. Overall I really enjoyed

** Thank you so much to the author and Inkshares for the opportunity to review this book **

I don’t think I have read a historical thriller before, that too one set in Victorian Era. In The Savage Instinct, we follow the story of two women - Clara, who just wants to impress her husband and Mary Ann, England’s first female serial killer. This is truly an unique story and is more than just about two women - its about an unconventional relationship, what does ot mean to find company and what insanity meant at that time in the society. Though Clara is a fictional character, I was rooting for her and Mary Ann is a real character whose story formed an atmospheric background to the fictional one. I loved how the storytelling kept my interest peaked. This was a good gripping read overall.

This is my voluntary review for an eARC provided by Inkshare & Netgalley.

So, I still have no idea how I feel about this book.

On one end, I see value in the content and what I think the story was trying to convey between the treatment of women in the late 19th century and fertility. This could be a pretty hard story to wrap your head around due to the mental, physical, and sexual intensities our main character endures.
But on the other side of the spectrum, the fight she goes against feels like it’s worth the read in the end.

What I Liked:
-women’s empowerment
-the mystery/thriller unveiled towards the end
-linking her story to a real-life serial killer

What I Didn’t Like:
-the husband! I almost stopped reading this book because of the things he says and does.
-the treatment done through the asylum, but unfortunately, this is our history
-the pacing was a little slow at times
-wish there was more satisfaction for the main character

Overall, I think I’m landing on a 4 out of 5 star review. I think in the end, it was more of the author’s ability to convey the thoughts and feelings of the time into a feministic, historical, thriller novel, which she obviously does well with.

I also recommend that you read the author’s note at the end. It really seemed to bring the story together and why what was written was important to the overall plot.

I’d suggest this one if you are looking for a fictional story following women’s rights, victorian vibes, and, even, a serial killer.

Using the story of convicted serial killer Mary Ann Cotton as a backdrop, this novel speaks to the plight of women in the latter part of the 19th-century, particularly with regards to childbirth, multiple pregnancies, still births, post-partum health and their utter dependence on men. Set in the city of Durham, England, it takes place over six months from 1872 to 1873.
After months in a sanatorium in which her husband confined her after a still-birth, Clara Blackstone returns home. The carriage encounters an unruly mob gathered to glimpse Mary Ann Cotton being transferred to the Durham jail. Their eyes meet and something stirs in Clara and she begins spiritual comfort visits to the prisoner. Henceforth the two women’s stories intertwine and without offering anything in the way of spoilers, the non-judgmental way in which the author deals with Mary’s story, really tugged at me.
I was thoroughly transfixed by this novel, its subject matter heart-breaking at times, but immersive. The characters are multi dimensional despite the narrow-mindedness of the men, time and place well drawn and I was rooting for Clara to somehow find a way through her nightmare. Her treatment in the asylum leaves nothing to the imagination―her endurance of freezing baths and douches, straight-jackets, forced nutrition and forced medication. I didn’t see the end twist coming, but it’s a clever one and leaves the reader thinking!

The Savage Instinct was one of the hardest books to read, not that I misunderstood anything, but because of some of the content in it. Having said that, this was one of my favorite reads in March and I hope to read more by Marjorie DeLuca in the future. I'd say I love a "good" historical fiction, but this wasn't just a good book, this was absolutely astounding!

Marjorie DeLuca did a mind- blowing out-of-this-world job at obtaining knowledge about Mary Ann Cotton and giving a count of certain events that transpired mixed with fictional characters and their strife. The descriptions are, in some areas, grisly, but real and shows the extreme injustice women have experienced since the 1800s. I love how the characters are written and if you're anything like me and have a great imagination, then you will be able to visualize the events in the story...which to be honest, will be difficult for some to read.

I could write a very long review for this book, but I don't want to give a ton away, because what fun would that be? I highly, highly recommend The Savage Instinct. I will be reading more about Mary Ann Cotton as well.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Inkshares and Marjorie DeLuca for the opportunity to read The Savage Instinct! All opinions are my own.



TW:
Still birth, miscarriage, post partum depression, physical abuse, fetus removal (non-descriptive) w/ fetus description, force feeding (medicine & food), murder (child & adult), suicidal thoughts and talk, hanging/strangulation, abandonment, gaslighting, hysterectomy (description & talk)

“Humans are possessed of savage instincts—to protect, to survive, to avenge, but the evil ones amongst us are ferocious predators, deriving pleasure and power not only from preying on the weak, but from destroying them slowly, deliberately, and cruelly.”

Every other book I was reading took a back seat when I picked this one up. It has it all. History 👏🏻 Fictional murder 👏🏻 True crime 👏🏻 Strong female lead shaking off the patriarchy’s toxic masculinity. Every murderino will love this book!

The Savage Instinct has not only restored my faith in NetGalley, but has gotten me interested in Inkshares. Will be recommending this book and it’s editor to all my author-friends!

Actual rating: 3.5 stars.

The Savage Instinct follows Clara, a woman who has returned living with her husband after being held for one year in a private asylum. As she struggles to adjust to her life, she comes in contact with Mary Ann Cotton, a woman awaiting trial and accused of poisoning her husbands and children.

I found the beginning quite slow and it took me a while to get invested in the story, but after a while I became quite attached to Clara and I sympathized a lot with her. She was trapped in a loveless marriage and her husband, Henry, was absolutely despicable, I loathed him! The things Clara had to endure both in the asylum and at home with Henry were hard to read. I was so angry while reading the book, and I wanted to see how Clara would escape her difficult situation.

Mary Ann Cotton, famous for being England’s first female serial killer, was present in the story but, as the author said in her note, the story was not about her crimes but .about the impact her figure had on Victorian society. I appreciated this choice and I enjoyed the interactions between Clara and Mary Ann, and I also liked that, while towards the end it seemed quite certain that Mary Ann was guilty, she remained an ambiguous figure.

I must admit I found the ending a bit unsatisfying, but it might be a matter of personal preference. Still, I would recommend this book if you like stories about the hardships women have to face.

The Savage Instinct by M.M. Deluca follows Clara Blackstone, a young Victorian woman who has recently been released from Bethlem Asylum into the 'care' of her husband. As Clara tries to re-adjust to life following the trauma she encountered in the asylum, she begins visiting Mary Ann Cotton, a woman imprisoned awaiting trial for the murder of her children and husband(s). Comparisons naturally evolve between Clara and Mary Ann's lives and situations as Clara suspects her husband of trying to have her re-committed to access her money without her interference.

The historical fictionalised true crime is quite a large subgenre all on its own, its most famous contribution perhaps Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood. The prison visiting element also brought to mind Affinity by Sarah Waters. However, in The Savage Instinct, it feels like we are promised a centrality to the true crime element of Mary Ann Cotton that actually becomes quite side-lined. As in many stories of this genre, Mary Ann's account of the crime is the only one we're really given -- she is the only person who really knows her own guilt or innocence. But even within this framework, there isn't the ambiguity we find in Alias Grace or Anna Mazzola's The Unseeing. There doesn't seem a lot of choice except to see Mary Ann as guilty; no real evidence is given to the contrary. This robs the reader of part of what is so enjoyable about historical true crime fiction: the fact that a case is so cold, and forensic science so new, that we often can't be entirely sure.

The main thrust of the story is rather Clara's, and her rapidly faltering relationship with her husband, Henry. Without wishing to pathologise, Clara suffered from what appears to be post-partum psychosis following a miscarriage and was committed. The conditions and treatments of Victorian women's mental illness are described at length and in vivid detail. While I think it is important that we bring to light the way conditions were, in order to better understand how society now views women's mental state and mental illness in general, I found the descriptions really upsetting. Perhaps as a woman with bipolar, knowing I almost certainly would have suffered the same fate during this period with probably little hope of escape, it hit a bit close to home.

The disgust and dread I felt through most of the novel felt like it would be rewarded by the end, as there are 'flash-forwards' throughout the book that suggested Clara eventually attains a life as a free, happy woman. However, I found the ending ultimately unlikely and unsatisfying.

The Savage Instinct is very well-written and has very interesting things to say about the role of womanhood. It highlights the Victorian assumption that women were essentially all mad, but some of them were 'tamed' by strong-willed husbands and the duties of motherhood. However, as a reading experience, the book left me miserable and deflated. I would definitely read more of Deluca's work in future, but this story was not for me.

Many thanks for the review e-advance review copy provided by the publishers and NetGalley.