THE DEVIL'S ACRE - Book review

Matthew Plampin’s second novel, The Devil’s Acre (previously titled The Gun-maker’s Gift) was published in 2010 and concerns the establishment of a weapons factory in Pimlico on the banks of London’s River Thames in 1853; it was set up by the American gun-maker 'Colonel' Samuel Colt. At that time the building of the Palace of Westminster was not yet completed.

Londoner Edward Lowry is hired as Colt’s secretary and works alongside the firm’s English press agent Richards. Colt has brought in a handful of Americans to oversee the factory: they’re hiring locals, mainly from the slum section of the city, the Devil’s Acre and training them to work the machinery.

Lowry accompanies Colt around London, specifically the government offices, where the gun-maker hopes to obtain huge orders for his revolvers. It is not so simple, however, as Colt has competition in the form of a British gun-maker, Adams. Inevitably, politics and British preferment are involved. Yet Colt seems to have the private blessing of Lord Palmerston, who is plotting the downfall of the government. Spies and saboteurs from the Adams business add tension and violence to the mix of intrigue.

Complications arise for Lowry when he is attracted to Caroline, one of the women on the factory floor. The relationship does not begin smoothly, but gradually they embark on an affair – much to the disgust of her brother-in-law, Martin.

It transpires that Martin and several other men working in the factory are members of the Molly Maguires, an Irish secret society who are hell-bent on not only stealing a number of revolvers but also using them to assassinate a minister of the Crown.

Allegiances become strained, particularly as conflict in the Crimea looms large and Lowry begins to question the morality of weapons manufacture and sales.

The book is well-written, thrusting the reader into Victorian London – both its places of grandeur and squalor. ‘There was not much dust here as there was precious little of the lively movement required to provoke it. In its place, though, were flies, many thousands of them, plump as brandy-soaked raisins, that settled upon you if you paused for even a second, crawling for your tear ducts, your nostrils, the corners of your mouth. The smells were enough to stop the breath in your lungs, thick as fish-glue and repulsively over-ripe. Edward imagined that a multitude of deadly diseases were thronging into his body, gaining stronger purchase on his blood with every step he took.’ (p159)   

All of the characters – a mixture of real historical figures and fictional – are convincing and keep the story moving to its powerful epilogue.

Recommended.