Thank you Kensington Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via Netgalley. All opinions are my own. I was drawn to this book by the blurb, and let me say it did not disappoint. The Blackbirds of St Giles is an adventure. As an American, we are not often told the stories of what people of color experienced fighting for the British side. Though this is a work of fiction, the historical elements make you want to delve deeper into the actual history. Daniel and Pearl go on a harrowing journey after he is denied his patronage for service. They are pulled into the rookery where they meet all sorts of savory and unsavory characters. Daniel never loses sight of taking care of Pearl. A true tale of survival against all odds.

Thanks to Netgalley, I received this incredible historical fiction. As an American, I learned about our own African American history at the time when such history was not suppressed like it is currently. I continued learning about that history through books and documentaries. I was not aware Great Britain also had an awful history.

Author Cain made it clear her book of fiction is ingrained with factual events and experiences from multiple sources.

Caribbean slaves Daniel and his sister Pearl flee during one of Jamaica's violent slave rebellions. He goes to the British colonies and serves with the British army. The British have promised any black who serves will be rewarded.

After the revolutionary war defeat, he returns to London and is met with contempt and prejudice. He is betrayed and they are forced to live in utter squalor: a slum designated for the most underprivileged, corrupt, disease infested part of London.This foolery is run by a corrupt evil man.

At every turn, there is a barrier. Everyday, Pearl is in peril because she is beautiful. People want her for nefarious purposes. Daniel is forced to do things to keep her safe, and keep them alive. He is far from perfect. Pearl is dangerously naive. Danger is everywhere

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for an Advanced Reader’s Copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Blackbirds of St. Giles is set in 1780s London and follows a man, Daniel, and his younger sister, Pearl, brought over from America by their recently deceased patrons. Daniel, after escaping slavery and serving in the King’s army during the Revolutionary War, finds himself cheated out of his rightful inheritance by his patron’s bigoted brother. Down on their luck and with nowhere else to turn, Daniel and Pearl are taken under the wing of Jen, who introduces them to an entire underground society called the Rookery, and, in turn the Blackbirds of St Giles, a group of prosperous, intelligent, and well-connected Black men in London that quickly absorb Daniel into their ranks. Together, Daniel and his new cast of vividly drawn friends must find a way to protect Pearl and the rest of the Rookery from the community’s wealthy, tyrannical, and dangerous leader, Elias.

The authors co-writing under the pen name Lila Cain did a wonderful job at illuminating an era of English history not often written about in historical fiction. Daniel’s world is a delicate balance of violent and hopeful, betrayal and friendship. A wonderful and unique story.

Kindle Copy for Review from NetGalley, Kensington Publishing and Dafina.

I received a free, advance copy of this book and this is my unbiased and voluntary review.

It is a journey of a world of the horror of a Jamaican plantation to the streets of 1th century London. You will be thrown into a place of survival and the heartbreak that is involved. T s not a pretty picture of slavery and the criminal elements that can come to play as people are willing to break for money. This story will leave a mark.

took some time for the story to pick up that i almost put it down completely, but then i got to the second half and things really got going... (im sorry my brain isnt working wtf are words)

Having survived the slave rebellion in Jamaica in 1768, Daniel and his sister Pearl arrive in London in 1881. For Daniel he answered the call of the English King to join the British and fight the American War of Independence. With the war lost, both siblings arrive in London with the promise of a bright future, a future that promised freedom and an inheritance. Yet this was not meant to be for the young Black man and his 15 year old sister Pearl. Instead they were found in the back allies, labyrinths and tenements of London where there was poverty, violence and a society and a brotherhood of Black men known as the Blackbirds of St. Giles trying to get their people free. However, first they have to overthrow a man called Elias who runs the underground with an iron fist. This is a story of emotions, a story filled with cruelty, prejudices but love as well. This novel kept you glued to the many pages that flowed from these authors. The history was interesting, not one I had heard of before. While I was studying the American Revolution in school, I knew nothing of the what was going on in England. A difficult book to put down, I would highly recommend "The Blackbirds of St. Giles."

An interesting historical fiction started in 1768, when Daniel and his young sister, Pearl, flee from a Jamaican plantation,,after it was set on fire during a violent revolution. Even after a decade when they arrived in London in the hope of a better future, they only get struggles, betrayals, and more humiliation. It's their story of survival. The horrors they endured just to get a decent life. The plot and the characters are defined thoroughly and carefully crafted, I just found it a little slow paced. Overall, it is an interesting book about many unknown events in history. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC

This was a heart rending, but fabulous read. Starting from the Jamaican plantations where Daniel and his young sister Pearl escape the burning estates and after a perilous journey first to America where he saves a Majors life, befriends him and his wife till the end of their tragically short lives, and then moves to London to start a new life, claiming his inheritance. Daniel then faces disaster in the form of the Major’s brother who drugs him, destroys the will and both siblings are on the streets, impoverished as before.

Becoming a part of the underground haven for Blacks in London, Daniel comes to the attention of Elias then faces disaster king of the Rookery. Daniel has no chance to refuse the offer of whatever comes his way and he himself realises he is putting himself in the power of a very vicious, crooked man.

The story of a need for survival, the hopelessness when every card is stacked against you, the bonds of family, and especially the hostile racist element throughout the story. From Jamaica to New York to London the blacks were hopelessly marginalized, although it was their immense work which kept the plantations running and London itself working smoothly. The humiliation that had to be faced were immense and daily in every Black persons life. The hypocrisy of the white men of this generation were unimaginable and there were very few who stood up for the people working under them.

The saga of Daniel his fall and rise is one story, the history of the era covering three countries is another.

Book review: 5/5 ⭐️
Genre: historical fiction
Themes: abolition, misfortune, racism, gutter life, fighting back
📖 Read if you like: Washington Black, Homegoing

There are some books you start reading and instantly know you are going to enjoy - this was one of mine. I have long since romanticized the Edwardian era with regency romps and Jane Austen, but of course there would rarely be any characters who looked like me, at least in any stories with historical accuracy. So while this story is one of cruelty, alienation and man’s greed on every level, I was thrilled to have it focus on those that look different, those that are deemed the dregs of society.

Born as slaves on a sugar plantation in Jamaica, siblings Daniel and Pearl are the only surviving family members to escape the tyranny of their childhood. With the promise of freedom after service, Daniel joins the King’s regiment to fight against the Patriots in America. After saving the life of a kind and fair Major, Daniel and Pearl find themselves with opportunity and an inheritance. Setting sail for England is where their good fortune seems to run out. Friendless and abandoned to the shores of a city overrun with poverty and ripe with racism, the pair are dumped into an underworld of menacing creatures and violence. With no other options, Daniel makes a deadly deal with the Rookery’s King. A true testament that enslavement can wear many faces. While oppression and control are maintained even into this underground world, there is also camaraderie. A brotherhood of black men known as the Blackbirds of St. Giles want nothing more than to set their people free from a tyrant.

This story of misfortune is also one of finding hope when all hope seems lost, of surviving in a world that doesn’t want you and where the odds are always stacked against you simply for the colour of your skin. For every act of kindness is followed with an avalanche of discrimination and abuse. In that way it did indeed have a very Dickensian quality. This story can be heartbreaking at times, but surprisingly it didn’t come across as bleak. The characters are steadfast in looking to the future and not the past, which makes their resilience shine.

It is a remarkably well crafted story and I didn’t know of the rookery of St. Giles within London. I enjoy historical fiction that teaches me something new and provides a commentary of social issues of the time without sugarcoating. There is a sort of predictability to the brutality of ownership, but knowing what would happen didn’t affect my reading experience. I was hooked from the first chapter and this time and place in history was new to me. Lila Cain is a pseudonym for two authors, but they were able to seamlessly blend their voices into this story I really had no idea.

Thank you to Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for an eARC of this gem!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Lila Cain for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for The Blackbirds of St. Giles coming out May 27, 2025. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I really love historical fiction. I really love island stories. The characters were interesting. I think there was something missing for me. The plot didn’t flow for me as much as I thought it would. I would definitely check out other books by this author.

I was really intrigued by the premise of this novel and it did by no means disappoint in the bigger picture. The storyline was solid, there were likable characters and villains. However, it was a bit long and also rather predictable. At no point in time did I feel surprised by an outcome.
I also did not really connect with the characters. There were many and I found it easy to keep track of them. But I also didn’t really feel like any one of them interested me. I mean it was nice enough to know what happens, but apart from the likable minor characters like the boxing trainer, I kind of just read on to get to the end. Also, I don’t really feel any chemistry between Jen and Daniel nor between father and daughter. It all felt a bit…cliche.

It's one of the best novels I've read so far this year.

The story follows a young man, Daniel, and his younger sister, Pearl, who escape slavery and work tirelessly to build their names and lives from scratch in the 1700s.

At first, I struggled to connect with the characters, but as I kept reading, I became so attached to them that every challenge they faced twisted my nerves. Every disappointment or misfortune hit me hard. And let me tell you—these characters endured a lot of drama on their way to freedom.
I've read novels by the Brontë sisters and Jane Austen, and although they lived much later than the world of The Blackbirds, the contrast between their time periods is staggering. This novel highlights just how much a character's background shapes their worldview. I wouldn’t want to live in the 1700s—whether as a white woman or a Black woman. The world Lila Cain created is harsh, unapologetic, racist, and lecherous. It's shocking to realize how different it was, especially compared to the imperialistic novels we often read.

The Blackbirds of St. Giles surprised me, kept me up at night, and was impossible to put down.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!
This was a journey! It was emotional, thrilling , sad, mysterious, and at its core a story about love. This had a lot of twists and turns and I kept being surprised. This was a unique story and different than anything else I have read recently.

A brother and sister must learn to make their way in late 1700s London after they are cheated out of the future they were promised.

The novel opens on devastation at a Jamaican plantation; the slaves have revolted, and burned the place down, looting whatever they can then fleeing. Daniel and his young sister Pearl barely escape, and spend years in hiding, before Daniel enlists, along with a number of other former slaves, with the British Army, who need men to oppose the colonists in what will become America.

After the conflict, the British king promises the Black soldiers a new life in Britain. Daniel is eager to set sail with Pearl; he has what the King has promised, as well as an inheritance from the Major whose life he saved during the war.

Of course, things don't transpire as expected, and Daniel and Pearl find themselves with nothing, unsurprisingly, and in great danger when there are abandoned, and Dainel badly beaten, on the streets of the St. Giles neighbourhood in London, a place full of poverty and desperate people who ran out of options elsewhere in the city. The people live within the crypts of St. Giles church, and it's a foul and cramped place. St. Giles is also ruled by the ruthless Elias, a gang boss who styles himself a gentleman, and whose word is law.

Daniel and his sister are taken in by Jen, in exchange for protection from Elias. He blackmails Daniel into becoming a boxer, claiming as long as Daniel wins an upcoming bout, Elias will not send the adolescent and strongminded Pearl to a brothel.

Daniel finds a wide variety of people living in St. Giles, including a Black apothecary named Jerome who treats the people of the neighbourhood. Jerome introduces Daniel to prosperous Black men in London whose families have been in Britain for generations, in some cases, and who wake Daniel up to the dangers of attracting the notice of the law, who would put people on slave ships bound for the colonies across the Atlantic. But they also show him of things he can aspire to in London.

Through his time with the Blackbirds, and learning to trust those around him, including his sister's desires to make a life she's happy with, Daniel begins making a life in London.

This is a moving story of a time in London's past I was not familiar with, so it was great to learn about the St. Giles neighbourhood, as well as the types of people who lived and worked in London at this time.

Was I surprised to learn that the Crown utterly failed to live up to its promises to Black soldiers who fought for them? Nope. Was I surprised by the utterly horrible conditions poor people lived in and the immense contrast between them and the lives of the gentility? Nope. But it was still horrifying to read about. But it was also fantastic to read about the way various people, such as Inigo Richardson, had made fulfilling lives for themselves, and how they aimed to share this life with others.

I enjoyed the way the authors writing as Lila Cain take us through Daniel's growth and the evolving relationship he has with Pearl, and with others in St. Giles. He starts out as proud of his achievements, and protective of Pearl, then when adversity hits, he is full of anger and fear, and becomes overly protective of his sister. Damiel's journey is exciting, sometimes very frustrating, but also compelling.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and what it shows us of a lesser known part of history.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Kensington Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Daniel Fitzallen, ex slave and former soldier, arrives in London in 1782, accompanied by his sister Pearl. He has high expectations of a good life , thanks to a promised inheritance from a brother officer, but he learns the hard way that not all men, or brothers, are honourable or share the same moral code.
Pearl and Daniel are drugged and cheated out of their inheritance, and are thrown out onto the harsh streets of The Rookery of St. Giles, one of the worst slums and a criminal underworld ruled by the self proclaimed King of the Rookery, Elias.
Daniel is offered protection for both himself and Pearl, but in exchange, Daniel must become a pugilist. He agrees to this and believes that this may be a way to a better life for them both.
This is a story of love, courage and resilience. I liked the balanced views in this book, the issues of slavery, both here and in America, and the difference a powerful sponsor can mean to Daniel and Pearl is well demonstrated.
Using boxing as a violent means to an end is almost poetic justice, it is a very good choice, bare knuckle fights were commonplace, and the underclass of St. Giles need a strong champion to lift their spirits and remind them that change will have to be fought for.
Daniel did annoy me, considering he served in the army, boy, could he moan and groan about his misfortunes, this made him seem really petty at times, only too willing to blame others when they tried to help him. He seemed to be torn about Pearl, chastising her for wanting to be independent, and grudgingly grateful for the money her singing brought in. The reasons for this become clearer later.
The conclusion was left up in the air, I like endings that are clear, cut and dried, in this case, would Daniel’s true character towards his fellow men be realised or not?
I have learnt so much about British Black history in this novel. I found this to be a really immersive and entertaining novel, the amount of research and deciding what to omit must have been a real juggling act for the authors. It educates but doesn’t preach. It is a book to be savoured and appreciated for its brutal honesty. I rated it a five star read.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers , Kensington Publishing, for my advanced read, freely given n return for my honest review. I will post to Goodreads and Amazon UK upon publication.

The thing I like most about historical fiction is that I always learn something. I never heard of the rookery of St. Giles and the “blackbirds” until I read The Blackbirds of St. Giles by Lila Cain. Not only did I learn some new history, but I had the pleasure of reading a very enjoyable book about hope, perseverance, kindness and love. Daniel and Pearl begin their journey during the American Revolution. They are confronted with a decision. With much sadness and guilt, they begin a perilous journey towards what they hope will be a new life. When things do not go as planned, they are rescued and assisted by many secondary characters, who display the true meaning of friendship. Daniel and Pearl preserve and find their true family. I enjoyed this novel.

The Blackbirds of St. Giles is a breath of fresh air-book in addressing black history, both in the United States and in England, and giving a voice to the former slaves themselves. A wonderful book for lovers of history and stories that advocate for justice and freedom for all human beings.

Thank you Netgalley & Dafina for an eARC ♥️

This story doesn’t ask for your sympathy—it demands your pulse. From the first page, the air tastes of salt and soot, the kind of tale where history doesn’t just whisper but snarls. Daniel’s London isn’t the polished cobblestones of drawing-room dramas; it’s a festering wound, a city that grinds Black bodies into the mud even as it preaches liberty. And yet, against that darkness, *The Blackbirds of St Giles* strikes like flint.
What haunts me most isn’t the violence (though there’s enough to make your knuckles whiten), but the moments between it. Daniel, staring at his hands after a fight, wondering if they’re still a soldier’s hands or just a killer’s. Pearl humming a lullaby from Jamaica under her breath, as if the song alone could stitch their shattered past back together. The Blackbirds arguing in the damp cellar, half in shadows—because freedom means something different to each of them, and not all of those meanings can survive.
Elias is a villain carved from nightmares, yes, but the real horror lingers in the silences. The way a merchant averts his eyes when Daniel is cheated. The way the law isn’t just absent in St Giles—it’s complicit. This isn’t a story about good men triumphing; it’s about broken men (and women) deciding what they’ll burn down to be whole.
And still—*still*—there’s a thread of hope, brittle but unbroken. Not the naive kind, but the kind that’s been dragged through hell and refuses to die. By the end, I didn’t just want Daniel to win. I needed him to. Because if he couldn’t, what does that say about every other fight that’s been lost to history’s shadows?

Final Thought: A story this fierce shouldn’t just be read. It should leave bruises.

This novel was indeed an interesting read and really tackled some uncomfortable yet informative facts when handling racism in the eighteenth century. I was super proud of myself that I took the time to read this novel. It was indeed remarkable and it raised awareness to some of the difficult situations of the time period.
Our main characters Daniel and Pearl are slaves in Jamaica however the plantation burns down one night and they flee to Revolutionary war America where Daniel serves under the British as King George decreed that any man of color who serves will be allowed absolute freedom in England. He saves the life of one solider who offers both Daniel and Pearl a home with his brother.
However, along the way the Solider dies and to make matters worse his brother does not take kindly to Daniel and Pearl and casts them out onto the street. From there Daniel and Pearl end up meeting an interesting cast of characters who have also been looked down on in society. From there they will learn to take care of themselves while trying to make a living in this unfamiliar place.
I received an arc copy from Netgalley and all opinions are of my own.

This book is dark and immersive, well-written but too slow-paced for me. It lingers on every misfortune. DNF ~14%.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.