Published 10th November 2022 by Apollo, Head of Zeus.
From the cover of the book:
Neva Friezland is born into a world of trickery and illusion, where fortunes can be won and lost on the turn of a card.She is also born with an extraordinary gift. She can predict the weather. In Regency England, where the proper goal for a gentlewoman is marriage and only God knows the weather, this is dangerous. It is also potentially very lucrative.
In order to debate with the men of science and move about freely, Neva adopts a sophisticated male disguise. She foretells the weather from inside an automaton created by her brilliant clockmaker father.
But what will happen when the disguised Neva falls in love with a charismatic young man?
It can be very dangerous to be ahead of your time. Especially as a woman.
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Neva Friezland was born to parents who ran a travelling show, and from a very young age was familiar with a world in which trickery and illusion invited fortunes to be won or lost on a wager. But the luck of her parents ran out amid the chaotic aftermath of the Thames Frost Fair in 1789. If only they had listened to tiny Neva's warnings... For Neva has been born with a rare talent - an ability to predict the weather.
Adopted into an unconventional household where her intelligence and thirst for knowledge are encouraged, Neva learns the brutal lesson that for a woman to desire anything beyond marriage and motherhood in Regency England is to court censure and contempt. She longs to be able to put her innate talent to use, as her weather predicting skills could be potentially lucrative, but to admit her uncanny ability openly could be very dangerous.
In order to obtain the freedom she wants so badly, Neva adopts a male alter ego to go where women cannot, and do the things society deems unsuitable for a lady. She and her clockmaker father also employ a little trickery and illusion to find a way to allow Neva to use her talents through the conduit of an automaton called The Weather Woman. All is going well for them, until their success attracts the attention of some very unwelcome parties who want what they believe they are owed... and until Neva falls in love while disguised as a man.
It can be very dangerous to be ahead of your time, especially if you are a woman.
I was first introduced to the marvellous books of Sally Gardner some years ago through her Carnegie Medal winning historical fiction story I, Coriander, so I am overjoyed that she is now writing for an adult audience. I loved her winter fable The Snow Song and could not wait to immerse myself in her spell-binding writing once more with The Weather Woman.
Where do I even begin to tell you how amazing this book is? Once again, Gardner pours her considerable creative skills into a story that blends historical fact and enchanting fiction into a compelling tale that highlights injustice - this time, about a young woman with rare gifts that she must keep secret, for fear of being damned by suspicion and the strictures of the time in which she lives.
Neva's start in life is a hard one, but she is lucky to fall in with people who nurture her and recognise her intelligence and, in time, the uncanny abilities she possesses - and they love and cherish her enough to know that the things she can do must be kept hidden. Gardner uses the need for secrecy to fashion this tale into one which burgeons into an adventure encompassing everything I love about historical fiction, threading it with a delicious touch of magical realism, and using the themes of trickery and illusion to utmost perfection. And yet, this story also brings with it a gritty exploration of the social mores of the time, delving particularly into the attitude towards women, and the gulf between those who exercise power in all its many facets and those who are exploited by them. It is a winning combination.
There is so much atmosphere in this story that brings time and place alive, with the whisper of the other-worldly, and the way Gardner uses water as a character in itself alongside the many vivid human (and canine) players is wonderful - especially the way life revolves around the Thames. The pages are filled with wonder, mystery, romance, and derring-do; and subversive threads of gambling, rebellion, sex and sexuality (and intriguingly the negative effect of humanity on the environment) that carry you along on the gripping tide of twists and surprises that hold you fast and keep you guessing - and there is a nod to Shakespearean storytelling that made me smile.
Behold a myriad of themes around manipulation, control, and the dark side of human nature, especially when it comes to the treatment of women, that stir your emotions to simmering rage. I very much enjoyed how this story is used to explore how the power of women can be usurped by men, and there is something so poignant, and curiously metaphorical, in the way Neva hides her skills behind the illusion of an automaton. It was not easy to be a free-thinking woman in this era. However, this is also a story that thrums with love, both romantic and of family, contrasting the lives of those who get to enjoy the benefits of warmth and affection and those who do not, and this feeds into almost every aspect of this story - whether it be the dark machinations of those driven by greed and revenge, the need for human connection, or the consequences of both disappointments and successes.
This story kept me turning page after page as I wondered how Gardner would ultimately decide the fate of every single character - and I was not left wanting. There is a breath-taking climax to it all too, as she brings everything full circle to another Frost Fair in a way that is truly magnificent. One of my books of the year!
The Weather Woman is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.
Thank you to Head of Zeus for sending me a hardcover copy of this book in return fir an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the author:
Sally Gardner gained a first class degree at a leading London art college and became a successful theatre costume designer before illustrating and writing books.
Her debut novel I, Coriander won the Nestle Gold Award and she is also a Costa and Carnegie prize-winner.
Her books have been translated all over the world and have sold over two million copies.
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