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Summary
Summary
For fans of The Greatest Showman and Water for Elephants , The Candlelit Menagerie grabs hold and pulls readers into the dim halls of the exotic animal emporiums of London, over two centuries ago.
Set in late eighteenth-century London, this haunting debut novel features Lillian, a freakishly tall woman who struggles to fit into society because of her size and desire to wear trousers. Each morning, she wakes in her tiny maid's room in a too-small bed to the sound of a lion roaring nearby, on the Strand. One day, she investigates the sound and discovers a candlelit exotic animal emporium. When she meets the lion, there is an instant bond. At first, Lillian is repulsed by the stench and squalor, but there, in the menagerie, Lillian finds her natural home taking care of and befriending wild animals brought from around the world, stolen from their habitats, misfits like her. The British empire had become the dominate colonial power, plundering resources across the ocean, including humans and animals, and bringing them to England's shores for the first time to the amusement of the public. The menagerie, under Lillian's management, becomes a successful attraction. It is her life's mission. She even marries the veterinarian's single-minded apprentice. But when her unborn baby dies in an accident, she is given a chimpanzee to raise as her own child, upending the order of even Lillian's unusual existence.
Told in a simple, mesmerizing voice, The Candlelit Menagerie is intensely atmospheric and transporting. This stunning debut will put Caraline Brown at the forefront of the list of new novelists to watch.
Author Notes
Caraline Brown is an award-winning British businesswomen, having started her first PR company with nothing but a £2K loan. Her internet-focused approach revolutionized start-up business strategies. She left the PR world in 2017 to devote herself to writing. The Candlelit Menagerie is her magical debut. She lives in Brighton, England.
Reviews (2)
Kirkus Review
A unique woman finds her place caring for wild animals in 18th-century London. Lillian has never quite fit in as a lady's maid: She's extremely tall, would rather wear trousers than skirts, and always feels slightly out of place. Every night, out her window, she can hear a lion roaring from the Strand, and one day she decides to go see it for herself. Touring Grady's Menagerie, the exotic animal emporium, she's drawn to the animals and they to her. Grady offers her a job, and soon she's practically running the place; she has a rapport with the animals that seems almost magical. As time goes on, she marries John Button, the veterinarian's protégé, and communes with the lion, a baby rhino, and other creatures--but then a terrible accident begins her extremely close companionship with a chimp, which might change everything. Brown has done her research, and each page of her debut novel is full of interesting details about living in London in the late 18th century. Every character is interesting in their own way, from Lillian, Grady, and Button, with whom we spend the most time, to the one-offs Lillian meets along the way. The only thing missing is a driving plot. The novel is more a series of events than a story with a beginning, middle, and end. Luckily, Lillian's life is fascinating enough that it keeps the reader involved anyway. A historical novel for those more interested in the setting than the plot. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Set in late eighteenth-century London, Brown's debut centers around six-foot-tall Lillian, who is working as a lady's maid when she discovers Grady's Menagerie, home to a wide array of animals. Lillian is immediately taken with the lion, Leonidas, while the owner of the menagerie, Edward Grady, is equally taken with her. He offers her a job at the emporium, which Lillian happily accepts, determined to improve the living conditions of the animals. Lillian cuts her hair short and takes to wearing trousers, feeling free for the first time in her life, and, to her great surprise, she attracts a suitor in John Button, the serious, thoughtful assistant to the veterinarian who treats Grady's animals. Lillian agrees to marry Button after extracting a promise from him that she can continue her work at Grady's Menagerie, but when tragedy strikes and Lillian finds solace in raising a baby chimpanzee, it puts a strain on their new marriage. Vibrantly capturing the hustle and bustle of the era, Brown's novel will appeal to animal lovers and historical fiction aficionados alike.
