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Mr. Timothy

Louis Bayard

2003400 pagesabout 6–9 hours
2003
first published
  • 2006HarperCollins · ENGISBN 9780061153679
  • 2003Sound Library · ENGISBN 9780792731535
  • 2003Sound Library · ENGISBN 9780792731054
  • 2003Sound LibraryISBN 9780792731061
  • 2004Harper Perennial · 416 pages · ENGISBN 9780060534226
  • 2004John Murray · 400 pagesISBN 9780719567018

It's the Christmas season, and Mr. Timothy Cratchit, not the pious child the world thought he was, has just buried his father. He's also struggling to bury his past as a cripple and shed his financial ties to his benevolent "Uncle" Ebenezer by losing himself in the thick of London's underbelly. He boards at a brothel in exchange for teaching the mistress how to read and spends his nights dredging the Thames for dead bodies and the treasures in their pockets.Timothy's life takes a sharp turn when he discovers the bodies of two dead girls, each seared with the same cruel brand on the upper arm. The sight of their horror-struck faces compels Timothy to become the protector of another young girl, Philomela, from the fate the others suffered at the hands of a dangerous and powerful man.A different kind of Christmas story, this breathless flight through the teeming markets, shadowy passageways, and rolling brown fog of 1860s London would do Dickens proud for its surprising twists and turns, and its extraordinary heart.

How it feels

AtmosphereNoir

How it reads

Plot intensityEventful

When and where

ThemesJustice
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