‘The Dazzle of the Light’ by Georgina Clarke

Published by Verve,
17 November 2022. 
ISBN: 978-0-85730-830-6 (PB)

Two women, from opposite ends of the social spectrum, in an era when male and female roles were far more clearly defined than they are in these more enlightened times. But they have something in common: both are determined to make a success of their lives on their own terms. 

Harriet was born into money, and is expected to marry well and be a support to her husband. But she has a talent for writing, and wants to use it; she has secured a job on the local newspaper, and aches to progress beyond light-hearted pieces about the latest fashion in hats and hemlines.

Ruby is a thief – one of the Forty Thieves, in fact, a gang of women who specialize in shoplifting from the kind of upmarket department store frequented by Harriet and her friends. Ruby’s greatest ambition is to become the leader of the gang, Queen of the Forties.

Both believe they are streetwise and worldly – but neither is quite as sharp or perceptive as she thinks. Harriet spots Ruby as she lifts expensive merchandise; she writes a piece about her for the newspaper without considering the consequences. From then on, their lives are connected in an unlikely way, and both women’s fates are sealed.  

This is an unusual crime novel in that it isn’t about murder. There’s plenty of crime, but the focus is mainly on the characters, who are many, varied and so sharply drawn that you’d know them if you saw them in the street. Harriet is intelligent, observant and resolute in her desire for a proper future for herself – but a little more naȉve than she thinks. Her fiancé Ralph is clever and urbane, a coming man in the world of politics. Ruby is shrewd and street-smart, and knows how to get what she wants – but she also has a soft centre, and is a little too cocky for her own good.

A wealth of supporting characters people the very different worlds the two women occupy, and those worlds are drawn with equal skill and detail. The surface glamour and elegance of early 1920s London is there in all its glory, along with the much grubbier underbelly of Soho and south of the river; and the portrayal of that narrow band of territory where the two worlds meet is best of all.

The Dazzle of the Light is an accomplished piece of fiction on many levels: it’s a well plotted will-they-won’t-they mystery; a meticulously researched historical novel; the coming-of age story of two young women very much of their time. These strands are woven into a page-turning tale which  will keep you reading and make you want to return to it.
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Reviewer: Lynne Patrick

Georgina Clarke was born in Wolverhampton, has degrees from Oxford, Cambridge and London. She has always been passionate about stories and history. The Lizzie Hardwicke novels give her the opportunity to bring to life her love of the eighteenth century and her determination that a strong, intelligent and unconventional woman should get to solve the crimes - rather than be cast in the role of the sidekick. Georgina now lives in Worcester with her husband.

Lynne Patrick has been a writer ever since she could pick up a pen, and has enjoyed success with short stories, reviews and feature journalism, but never, alas, with a novel. She crossed to the dark side to become a publisher for a few years and is proud to have launched several careers which are now burgeoning. She lives in Oxfordshire in a house groaning with books, about half of them crime fiction.