31 Bond Street by
Ellen Horan
My rating:
5 of 5 stars
Book title: 31 Bond Street.
Author: Ellen Horan.
Year published: US release – March 30th 2010. UK release – May 27th 2010
Genre: Murder/Mystery.
Number of pages: 349, paperback edition.
Book Summary (Preferably from the jacket):
Who killed Dr Harvey Burdell?
When the brutally stabbed and nearly decapitated body of a society dentist is found in his town house at 31 Bond Street in lower Manhattan, this is the question that grips America for months. All the evidence points to his elegant and mysterious lodger and housekeeper, Emma Cunningham, who is immediately put under house arrest and soon charged with murder. A conviction is sure to catapult flamboyant district attorney Abraham Oakey Hall into the mayor’s seat. But one formidable obstacle stands in his way: the defence attorney Henry Clinton who risks his whole career to help prove the vulnerable widow’s innocence.
Set in New York, only four years before the outbreak of the American Civil war, and based on a true story, 31 Bond Street is both a gripping mystery and a richly-detailed re-creation of a lost age.
Characters:
Who are the main characters and what role do they play?
John – Houseboy, barely 12 years old, he worked for Dr. Harvey Burdell. He isn’t as much a main character than appears often throughout the book to help Henry Clinton.
Henry Clinton – Defence attorney to Emma.
Emma Cunningham – Dr. Harvey Burdell’s housekeeper, lodger, lover and main suspect to the murder of Dr. Burdell.
Abraham Oakey Hall – District attorney, wants to become the mayor of New York.
Dr. Harvey Burdell – The murder victim, he is also the local dentist of Bond Street and surrounding areas.
Do you like the characters?
In the first chapter we learn a little about John, it makes him seem younger, yet at the same time, a boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders as his mother is ill, I rather like him as he seems much like a dreamer.
Henry Clinton is a man which is strong headed and dives in to things deeply without much thought at first, but he gives everything his all which is something I like. He is strong willed and doesn’t let the slightly wobble through him of course.
At first glance, Dr. Harvey Burdell seems like an all honest man who serves the middle and higher class of people before we find out more about him, if he was a man in today’s world, he would be classed as a player and someone many people, would advise to stay away from.
Emma Cunningham, at first glance, she is a strict house mistress, she runs a tight ship of everything, including her daughters. But we get to learn more about her in other chapters and we learn a little more of her background and some of the reasons why she does certain things, I guess really, I, myself is on the borderline of liking Miss, Cunningham, but to other readers, they might like her.
Abraham Oakey Hall is a rather mysterious character, we don’t really find out much about him other than he wants to be mayor.
Settings:
Where is the story set too?:
31 Bond Street, Lower Manhattan, New York in 1857.
Plot:
How does it start?
We start off with the first chapter being from John’s view of things, we learn that he can see the wharves from his room and just a peek of the harbour. From the first chapter alone, we can tell that John has a clear interest in the ships and boats. We also learn that the serving maid was fired, leaving the cook, Hannah to do all the chores she normally did, the errand boy, John is the one to find the body of Dr. Harvey Burdell in the bedroom which was converted in to a dentist office for his patients. We are also introduced to Emma Cunningham, who is the house mistress and her two daughters, the oldest Augusta and the youngest daughter, Helen.
As it goes on, we find out more about how Emma and Dr. Harvey meet, their relationship and the knowledge of how she and her daughters come to live with him in his home in Bond Street. The book changes years, every few chapters, taking us back in time and forward again to present day.
The book consists of different twists and turns, throwing little things out which you least expect at the time of reading. There’s points within the book as well which makes you question whether or not Emma Cunningham was responsible for the murder of Dr. Harvey Burdell. Another character, Dr. Harvey’s carriage driver, Samuel, we know that he is a black man, surviving in the North during the time of slavery down in the south. We have a few chapters from his point of view, he has not been seen since the night that Dr. Harvey was murdered, he’s on the run and in one chapter we are close to having Samuel captured by those who want to send him in to slavery, something he does not want.
With the book split in to four parts, it’s a lot easier to read, it breaks the story up a little and we can follow with more ease than as if it wasn’t. There isn’t a lot of waiting around, the first part of the book is covering the murder and finding out the main characters, from the second part on, we start on with the trail of Emma Cunningham.
Despite being set back in 1857, the author has used simple words and structure for us to understand and to be able to keep up without getting lost. The author, Ellen Horan also captures the attention of the reader, making them want to carry on reading to find out, who really did kill the well known dentist without giving too much away, too quickly. During the trial, Horan has used simple terms for people who haven’t had knowledge of a lawyer inside of a courtroom.
Do you have a favourite part of the book?
I honestly can’t pick a favourite part of the book, I enjoyed the whole novel the same, there isn’t a single part that I didn’t not enjoy either. It captured my attention and I felt like I was right there in the book myself, sitting among the public during the trial, hiding in the rafters with Samuel while he was hiding.
Did the story have a moral(a message)?
In a way, there is a small moral to this book, one which could almost hold a hidden meaning: Never judge a book by the cover, it holds more depth than a quick glance could show.
Was the book written in a way that you as a reader could easily relate too?
I guess that in a way, there is a way to relate as a female myself, the story is revolved around a widow trying to get through life during the 1850’s, where a women didn’t have much freedom in a world built for men basically.
In the world today, women have free range to do what ever they would like to do, we can vote, we can marry for our own reasons instead of having to marry of to a rich man to make sure that our future is secured, as well as having children out of wedlock is not frowned upon like it was during the 1800’s and early 1900’s.
Are there photos or illustrations? If so, are they effective in enhancing the book’s message or story?
The only images within the book, is those on the pages of each part of the book. Small little images above the words of the next part, raging from images of a scenery or to that of a courtroom, or even a clipping from a newspaper.
Did you learn anything?
I personally, did when reading the book, through out the book, I had a character in mind, the person who had committed the murder of Dr. Harvey Burdell, but by the time I had finished the book and had found out the true murder, I had been shocked.
The actual murder had been the last person I had expected to be the killer, but after reading the book and understanding the reasons, it just shows that you can never be a hundred percent sure of who someone can be unless you read to the end.
You can never judge by the cover, or think you know what has happened already by only reading half the story.
Would you recommend this book?
I would highly recommend this book, anyone who enjoys books which are based on true stories and history would dive right in to the story and enjoy it. I enjoyed it greatly and it would be a book that I would pick up time after time again.
What type of reader would enjoy this book?
Anyone who enjoys any kind of murder/mystery kind of stories would enjoy 31 Bond Street. It’s filled with plenty of emotions and cliff hangers which make you want to keep turning the pages. So anyone who enjoys the thrill and the need to keep reading would find this book perfect for them.
View all my reviews
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
