She Rises: A Novel

by Kate Worsley

Overview

It is 1740 and Louise Fletcher, a young dairymaid on an Essex farm, has been warned of the lure of the sea for as long as she can remember-after all, it stole away her father and brother. But when she is offered work in the bustling naval port of Harwich serving a wealthy captain's daughter, she leaps at the chance to see more of the world. There she meets Rebecca, her haughty yet magnetic mistress.

Intertwined with Louise's story is that of fifteen-year-old Luke, who is beaten and press-ganged, sent to sea against his will on the warship Essex in the service of His Majesty's Navy. He must learn fast and choose his friends well if he is to survive the brutal hardships of a sailor's life and its many dangers, both up high in the rigging and in the dark belowdecks.

She Rises brings to vivid life both land and sea in Georgian England, but explores a thoroughly modern and complex love story. Bold, brilliant, and utterly original, this debut novel is an accomplished and gripping search for identity and survival.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620400982
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	06/18/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	403,663
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Kate Worsley was born in Preston, Lancashire, and studied English at University College London. She has worked as a journalist, a massage practitioner, and a spotlight operator, and has an M.A. in creative writing (novels) from City University London. She now lives on the Essex coast. She Rises is her first novel.
Kate Worsley was born in Preston, Lancashire, and studied English at University College London. She has worked variously as a journalist, a massage practitioner and follow-spot operator, and has an MA in Creative Writing (Novels) from City University London. She Rises, her first novel, was published to critical acclaim and won the HWA Debut Crown for New Historical Fiction. She now lives on the Essex coast.

Editorial Reviews

Life would not have held much promise for anyone unlucky enough to be born of lowly means in the early 1700s. Such is the case for Louise Fletcher, working with her mother on an Essex dairy farm after her father and brother, Luke, went to sea and were never heard from again. When Louise is asked to go into service as a lady's maid to Rebecca, the newly engaged daughter of a prosperous ship captain, Louise accepts the post in the hope of improving her lot and possibly learning the fate of her brother. The story then shifts back and forth from Louise and her headstrong, capricious mistress to Luke, who has been pressed into naval service aboard the Essex, bound for the West Indies. In Louise's tale, loyalty deepens to devotion after Rebecca contracts smallpox and Louise's ministrations save her life. Luke's story is one of high adventure, filled with dangerous work and violent men. VERDICT Patrick O'Brien meets Sarah Waters in a deeply satisfying and surprising novel that is part swashbuckling sea adventure and part sizzling romance. Highly recommended.—Barbara Love, Kingston Frontenac P.L., Ontario

Library Journal

…at its heart, Worsley's is a generous novel, concerned with the vulnerability of human life (female life in particular) and the cost of freedom to characters so thoroughly beset by cruelty and limitation.

The New York Times Book Review - Ayana Mathis

Worsley’s first novel is a choppy affair. Set in 1740, it features dual first-person narratives from the points of view of Luke and Louise Fletcher. At 15, Luke is press-ganged (i.e. forcibly drafted) into the Britain’s Royal Navy and vows to do anything to find his way back to his love. His sister Louise, who is raised from a young age to believe that the sea lures men from their families, moves to a small village on the coast to become a lady’s maid to Rebecca Handley, a lovely and headstrong young woman. Of the two stories, Luke’s adventure is the more interesting and perilous. His narrative vividly captures the danger, sights, and sounds—not to mention the smells—of 18th-century shipboard life. Rebecca’s near-death bout of smallpox and the women’s subsequent intimate relationship is fraught with danger of a different sort—that of ruinous public exposure. While the chapter-by-chapter alternation of protagonists makes for a rocky reading experience, it eventually pays off with a satisfyingly unexpected, if not wholly plausible, late development. Worsley deserves kudos for her bold approach to the familiar naval adventure genre. Agent: Veronique Baxter, David Higham Associates (U.K.). (June)

Publishers Weekly

“At its heart, Worsley's is a generous novel, concerned with the vulnerability of human life (female life in particular) and the cost of freedom to characters so thoroughly beset by cruelty and limitation.” —New York Times Book Review

“An immensely enjoyable novel, full of energy, intelligence and delicious turns of phrase. I can't wait to see more of her fiction.” —Sarah Waters

“Worsley deftly handles the intricate and contrasting plot lines, balancing action and adventure with a wrenching love story and finally bringing them together in a surprising, dramatic ending. This first novel certainly recalls Dickens' seedy characters but also evokes . . . the addictive adventures of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin series.” —Booklist (starred review)

“Richly atmospheric …this unusual, seductive period tale of love and transformation creates its own memorable world.” —Kirkus Reviews

“[A] bold approach to the familiar naval adventure genre.” —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

In a notably ambitious British debut, an 18th-century English dairymaid leaves home to enter a world of secrecy, survival and forbidden love. It's young Louise Fletcher's good character and willingness that rescue her from a life of rural drudgery and transform her into a lady's maid. Employed by Capt. Handley to tend his pretty second daughter, Rebecca, who is about to make a good marriage, Louise moves to the port town of Harwich, where she quickly falls under willful Rebecca's spell, even risking her life to save her mistress when she falls ill with smallpox. Both women survive, but Rebecca loses her looks and her marriage prospects. Then the two women become lovers. Louise's story alternates, chapter by chapter, with that of her brother Luke, who was "pressed"--forced--into the English Navy for a brutal life of fighting, flogging, hard work and danger, from which he eventually makes a violent escape. Worsley's richly atmospheric twin tales capture the flavor of the era, especially the limited options for women, and the passion of illicit love. After an impressive late plot swerve, she reunites her lovers, but their future is bittersweet and pervaded by the call of the sea. Despite excessive length and some overly ornate period language, this unusual, seductive period tale of love and transformation creates its own memorable world.

Kirkus Reviews