Historical fiction at its best, The Strange Adventures of H by Sarah Burton

This year has rekindled my love for historical fiction, so not only was I drawn to the The Strange Adventures of H by its gorgeous and striking cover, but because it sounded like the perfect historical fiction read.

REVIEW

This is H’s story which is almost written like it’s her memoir. H was orphaned very young and sent to live with her Aunt in London. Her life is a pretty happy one until her innocence is taken from her from someone she thought she could trust. That thrown in with the plague (timely much?) of the then 17th century, H finds herself out on the streets, penniless and destitute. Having to fend for herself, she is determined to survive and it sets the course of the events to come. Taking it all in her stride, all H wants is to get her freedom back, but with all the storms sent her way, can she get that independence back she so longs for.
I think what I most enjoyed about this was it felt like H was talking to you directly. She was telling us her story and I also liked how the author split her story into three parts – the three H’s - where she reaches a different stage of her life. I also instantly felt an affinity and a great sense of awe at her ability to take everything that is thrown at her in her stride. Her resilience was pretty inspiring when you see what horrors she has to go through, and she still manages to never truly loses her sense of ‘self’. 
I felt immersed in 17th century London whilst reading this. The details and the accuracy of the events that happened in that time period were written so well and they also managed to educate me as I wasn’t aware of the Shrove Tuesday Riots and the utter chaos and destruction they brought about. I also didn’t know that The Great Fire of London happened so soon after the plague. These were two major events that caused so much decimation in such a short space of time.
This was a wonderfully put together story that I easily lost myself in, having well and truly caught my attention from the first few pages. 
The Strange Adventures of H has got perfect historical fiction written all over it.

The Strange Adventures of H is out now

Part of The Strange Adventures of H blog tour