What is Steve Robinson reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Steve Robinson, author of The Penmaker's Wife.

His entry begins:

I’m currently reading a book by Margaret Atwood, because when writing the blurb for my latest book, The Penmaker’s Wife, my publisher described it as ‘Alias Grace meets Peaky Blinders in this tale of obsession, ambition and murder in Victorian England.’ I hadn’t read Alias Grace before, any more than I had watched Peaky Blinders, so I had to find out why the comparison had been made. I’m very much enjoying Atwood’s semi-factual story about the life of the young Irish immigrant, Grace Marks, as she gives her account of the events that led to her trial and conviction for murder in 1843. It’s clear to me now why...[read on]

About The Penmaker's Wife, from the publisher:

In Victorian England, a mother is on the run from her past—and the truth about what she did.

Birmingham, 1880. Angelica Chastain has fled from London with her young son, William. She promises him a better life, far away from the terrors they left behind.

Securing a job as a governess, Angelica captures the attention of wealthy widower Stanley Hampton. Soon they marry and the successful future Angelica envisaged for William starts to fall into place.

But the past will not let Angelica go. As the people in her husband’s circle, once captivated by her charm, begin to question her motives, it becomes clear that forgetting where she came from—and who she ran from—is impossible.

When tragedy threatens to expose her and destroy everything she’s built for herself and William, how far will she go to keep her secrets safe? And when does the love for one’s child tip over into dangerous obsession?

Alias Grace meets Peaky Blinders in this tale of obsession, ambition and murder in Victorian England.

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Writers Read: Steve Robinson.

--Marshal Zeringue