#BlogTour: Vulcana by Rebecca F John @Rebecca_Writer @honno @RandomTTours #Vulcana #RebeccaFJohn #RandomThingsTours #5Stars #HighlyRecommended

Book Synopsis:

On a winter’s night in 1892, Kate Williams, the daughter of a Baptist Minister, leaves Abergavenny and sets out for London with a wild plan: she is going to become a strongwoman.

But it is not only her ambition she is chasing. William Roberts, the leader of a music hall troupe, has captured her imagination and her heart. In London, William reinvents Kate as ‘Vulcana – Most Beautiful Woman on Earth’, and himself ‘Atlas’. Soon they are performing in Britain, France, Australia and Algiers.

But as Vulcana’s star rises, Altas’ fades, and Kate finds herself holding together a troupe of performers and a family. Kate is a woman driven by love – for William, her children, performing and for life. Can she find a way to be a voice for women and true to herself?

My Review:

Vulcana is an atmospheric, absorbing read that I really enjoyed.

Firstly I absolutely loved Vulcana and enjoyed following her throughout the book. She’s a strong, confident lady, who knows what she want and I really admired her having the strength to go against the times to achieve it. I thought she was very inspiring and I liked that she wanted to help other women realise the joy of weight lifting.

The author has obviously done a lot of research and I enjoyed learning more about the period, especially all the little details the author includes in the story. Some of the details, like the ice skating on the Thames at the beginning, made me smile as I could really picture it in my mind. It was also interesting to learn more about the music halls and what it was like to work in one as I’ve only really read about them in passing before. It’s definitely a place that I’d like to experience for myself, though in the audience as I’m not sure I’d be brave enough for the stage.

The book has a good pace to it and there always seemed to be something happening to keep my interest. I loved the bird’s eye view of life in that period and felt fully absorbed into Vulcana’s life. Vulcana and William are real life characters and I found it very interesting to be able to Google them and find out more about them.

Huge thanks to Anne Cater for inviting me onto the blog tour and to the publisher for my copy of this book. If you’re a fan of historical fiction I highly recommend this book.

About The Author:

Rebecca F. John was born in 1986 and grew up on the south Wales coast. Her short stories have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 4Extra. In 2015, her short story ‘The Glove Maker’s Numbers’ was shortlisted for the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award. She is the winner of the PEN International New Voices Award 2015. Her debut novel, The Haunting of Henry Twist, was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award. She lives in Swansea.