pursuing perfection: the curious history of a victorian locksmith

Author : d.p.tempest

Genre : Historical

Review Extract from Review By: colette

"This is wonderful!

I have really enjoyed reading these chapters - you have got so much history in here - it is obvious that you love your subject - the author's enthusiasm is bursting out of the words and that is great to read. You have such a wonderful subject and time in history you are dealing with ...

There he could explore the dark oily pigeon holes of ingenious ironmongery: cupboard locks, padlocks, bible locks, pew locks, pulpit locks; chased locks in ormolu, gothic door hinges; locks for carriages and ships’ cabins and travellers’ trunks and carpet bags.

I love this wonderful, clinking list ...

The one thing I think you have to organise is George's story. When you have so much history going on - and its great - you have to make sure that you weave it into your main narrative. George's story should be the most important story and the history has to sit within it. At times, your writing read like a history essay - a very lively and entertaining one - but a history essay nevertheless ...

I think this novel has the potential to be absolutely brilliant BUT I think its going to be a lot of work. If it is a novel and not a historical essay - then the drama is George's world and the history can push and pull him dramatically.

Good luck with it - I really loved reading these chapters! "

Synopsis
It was vexation and chagrin which inspired George Price, a smalltime Black Country locksmith, to lift the lid on the secretive world oflocksmiths who tested each others' patience as well as their world famous robber resistant inventions - with fire, gunpowder, burglarious drills, slander and dirty tricks.
Enter any story title into the search function on the top right hand corner of the site to read the opening chapters.

It's one of the biggest stumbling blocks, especially as one camp will tell you that you don't give enough background information, while the other camp tells you that you give too much... and all with the same amount given.

No background information, just let the person live their lifes and all will unravel by itself. Only the darn first pages... that's the not-contemporary writer's cliffhanger. Keep writing.