DEATH AND THE SISTERS

Redmond kicks off a new historical series by exploring the relationship between stepsisters Mary Godwin and Jane Clairmont.

The marriage of philosopher William Godwin, widower of feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft, to French/English translator Mary Jane de Vial Clairmont created a blended family like no other. Clairmont’s oldest son, Charles, is largely absent from Redmond’s story, leaving Godwin’s stepdaughter, Fanny Imlay; his daughter, Mary; and Clairmont’s daughter, Jane, to mind the family bookstore while their parents struggle to makes ends meet. Despite the daughters’ different temperaments, they’re united in their disdain for their feckless parents, whose pursuit of political enlightenment leaves them utterly incapable of providing for their large family, which includes not only the girls but Godwin and Clairmont’s young son, Willy. The daughters are also united in their fascination with the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, a frequent visitor at their meager dinner table. Redmond’s family saga is punctuated by a murder: Young poet Cecil Campbell is found stabbed to death in the bookstore, and Bow Street Runner Fitzwalter Abel is charged with finding his killer. But the real mystery is whether the Godwin girls will ever make peace with their straitened circumstances and each other. Readers familiar with the ultimate trajectory of the sisters’ relationship with Shelley may find this fictional look at its early years unsettling. But Redmond’s rendition of the dynamics of this most unconventional family is lively and colorful.

A promising series debut for historical mystery buffs.