Above the Bay of Angels by Rhys Bowen
Genre: Historical fiction
Read: 24th May 2020
(publication date: 11th February 2020)
★★★★ 4.5 stars
Historical fiction is one of my favourite genres into which I can completely lose myself to the story and the era. The added bonus was the featured presence of Queen Victoria who wasn't just monarch at the time but played a role within the story itself. It lent such a unique perspective, featuring many historical aspects that were both true in fact and well researched.
Isabella Waverly had been raised to be a lady. Her father was of aristocratic blood with an uncle who was an Earl but was left somewhat bitter at having been passed over as heir. He had spent much time in India but his wife did not care for the climate and so he resigned his position with the Bengal Lancers and moved back to England where he gained employment at the newly opened Savoy hotel. Moving in circles of nobility, Bella's father still saw himself as an aristocrat and kept up the appearance of such thus falling victim to the demon drink and losing is job. When Bella's mother died and her father squandering just about everything they had, he then found her employment with a somewhat vulgar couple of "new money".
So at 15, Bella was forced into servitude with the Tilleys when she would have much rathered continued her education. But her father insisted she needed to support her younger sister Louisa until he was able to find employment. But of course, he never did. And five years after Bella began a life of servitude, their father died leaving the girls with nothing. However, Louisa who was now 17, had been courting a young man whose parents owned a chain of butcher shops and they were engaged to be married. Bella thought her sister was marrying beneath herself as both girls had been raised to be ladies.
Although she no longer had to support her sister, she still needed to support herself which left her in the the employ of the ghastly Tilleys. She had begun as a lowly housemaid but over time had shown an interest in the preparation of food, asking the cook how each dish was made. Cook then insisted that she needed an assistant and insisted that it be Bella. It was a step up from a housemaid and she found she had a keen interest and a deft touch with cooking. However, the lady of the house, Mrs Tilley, lived off Bella's story, priding herself in the fact that although she had been of aristocratic birth Bella had was left an orphan and she thought it her duty to take her in. Completely untrue and embellished with every telling but it left her bound to the household forever as Mrs Tilley refused to let her leave for if she ever chose to she would refuse to give her a reference.
By pure chance one day, Bella is enjoying her afternoon off in London when she witnesses an horrific accident in which a young woman is tragically killed. Bella rushes forward thinking only to help, when the young woman thrusts a letter into Bella's hands before dying. The letter, it appears, was an offer of employment as an under cook at Buckingham Palace. Reflecting on her father's words to her a child to "seize the day" and take your chance where you find it, Bella decides to take the opportunity to replace the woman. Her new name - Helen Barton.
Her new position as under cook in Queen Victoria's kitchen begins as somewhat daunting with a long line of male cooks, each specialising in their own skills, as well as kitchenhands and under cooks and apprentices. Bella finds herself just one of three women as she is handed the task of food preparation with the kindly Mrs Simms but soon starts to specialise as a pastry cook. When an accident with the French pastry chef with a flair for the dramatics occurs, Bella finds herself having to prepare Her Majesty's afternoon tea. Remembering the scones the cook at her last job made, she replicated the recipe and sent them to Her Majesty with lashings of jam and cream. When word reached them that the Queen wanted a word with the cook who made the scones, Bella feared she had done something wrong. But she was shocked to learn that the Queen thoroughly enjoyed them and insisted that she make them for her every afternoon.
Bella was enjoying her new position at the Palace, although found herself in a difficult position when the Prince of Wales, known for his lecherous ways with pretty young women, propositioned her outside Her Majesty's sitting room. In an effort to escape his wandering hands, Bella found herself with the opportunity to rid herself of another pressing problem she had recently found herself with.
It seems Helen Barton had a brother and one afternoon he had come knocking with the demand to see his sister. Bella knew at once that Helen's brother would know immediately that she was not who she claimed to be, and it appeared that he already knew his sister was dead and was interested to see who this Helen Barton was. And he had a request of her...or he would reveal her deceit. He wanted a position within the royal household. So there she was, in the clutches of the Prince of Wales when she mentioned that her brother was looking for a position and would he take him on. Satisfied that the weasily Ronnie Barton was now out of her life, Bella resumed her duties in the royal kitchen.
In the new year as winter passed, Bella is lucky enough to accompany the royal household to Nice for the duration of autumn where the weather is far warmer than England. Bella falls in love with the town and its blue waters, the markets and soon finds herself learning the art of some French delicacies. Soon she meets Giles Waverly, discovering immediately that he is a distant cousin, and while she told him she was with the royal household he incorrectly assumed she was a lady in waiting. Bella finds herself enjoying his company and is aware that he is attracted to her but he does not know her true identity or her position.
Then after an evening out, all of the royal cooks but Bella find themselves ill with food poisoning and she is left with the task of running the entire royal kitchen, and cooking for the royal household, on her own. With the help of head chef of the hotel in which the Queen's party is staying, Bella's efforts are a complete success. That is, until one of the royal party dies suddenly after eating a meal prepared and cooked by Bella herself.
Soon Bella finds herself accused of murder and with the risk of her true identity being discovered, finds that it is up to her to clear her name...and that of Helen Barton.
A cleverly woven tale mixing fact with fiction,
ABOVE THE BAY OF ANGELS is a delightful yet gentle easy read set in the late Victorian era. I enjoyed my time with Bella although I found myself at odds with her deception, wondering how she was going to make a name for herself as a chef...if it wasn't even her name!
With a touch of blackmail and death by poisoning,
ABOVE THE BAY OF ANGELS is set late in Queen Victoria's reign as monarch as the Queen herself is depicted as a small rotund woman regaled in black garb and accompanied for the most part by her Indian companion, Adbul Karim.
I thoroughly enjoyed the character of Queen Victoria most notably in her interactions with Bella. Although these particular instances would not in actual fact be plausible (between the Queen of England and an under cook), the use of poetic licence in this engaging tale makes it wonderful read. It does not have to be plausible to be enjoyable. And enjoy it, I did....except for the ending. When she all but promises herself to one man then on the next page betrothes herself to another!
A wonderfully delightful tale that is a enjoyable easy read,
ABOVE THE BAY OF ANGELS is a delight for any historical fiction fan.
I would like to thank
#RhysBowen,
#NetGalley and
#LakeUnionPublishing for an ARC of
#AboveTheBayOfAngels in exchange for an honest review.
