Slashed Beauties
Slashed Beauties by A. Rushby was so hard to stop listening to. The dual narrators, Alys in the current timeline and Eleanor in 18th century London, are distinct but both are sympathetic, funny, and compelling.
The first thing you'll see when googling this book is "Gothic feminist body horror" - and it is that, but it's also romantic and witchy and about love and loss and found family.
Alys is an antiques dealer who, at the beginning of the novel, has found the final of three wax anatomical Venuses she has been searching for with the intent of destroying them. It is said the models come to life to exact revenge by killing men who do harm to them.
When we meet Eleanor in 1760s London, we learn that the Anatomical Venuses were modeled after sex workers and were ultra-realistic wax figures used to teach anatomy to medical students. Eleanor, who was living a Cinderella life with her stepfamily after her father's death, was abandoned in London within days of running away with her lover and was "rescued" by a beautiful woman called Elizabeth, a sex worker attempting to open her own high class brothel. She immediately becomes drawn to Emily, another sex worker in Elizabeth's employ, and we recognize the three names, Elizabeth, Eleanor, and Emily as the names of the three wax models that Alys had tracked down.
We start picking up from Alys' narration that something is not normal with her or with the wax figures, and I could not stop reading until I figured it out and even then had to keep reading to see how everything turned out.
I listened to the audiobook which was well produced and perfectly narrated by Elizabeth Klett. This novel got emotional at points, and she perfectly portrayed that without being overly dramatic which I don't often hear in audiobooks.
I borrowed the audiobook and ebook from my library using Libby, which is a great way to support public libraries. If you decide to buy, support your favorite indie bookstore (and me) by using my link to order the audiobook from https://libro.fm/referral?rf_code=lfm60355 OR if you prefer using your eyes to read, support your favorite indie (and give us both 20% off if it’s your first purchase) by using my link at https://refer.bookshop.org/candidanorwood.
