It's the early 19th century, the Napoleonic wars are still going on, abolition of slavery is still a hot topic, and John Church is a preacher with a message of loving and understanding other people. Outside his preaching, he becomes the unofficial solemniser of marriages at a molly house, and falls in love with Ned who moves with some of the radicals who come to John's chapel. And it all cannot end well. ( )

1809 and England is exhausted by war. The French are targeted and so are homosexuals, who are seen as beyond redemption. John Church is a radical preacher who runs a chapel in Southwark and preaches of love and freedom. Popular with the working men as well as the emancipators John makes a good living but hides a secret. He is a 'Molly' and when asks to perform same-sex weddings he gets involved even though he is breaking the law.
I really loved this book which surprised me as I was not a great fan of the previous book by Blackmore that I read! I really liked the fact that this is based on a true story and therefore gives a lot more insight into the underground world at the time. Moreover, Blakemore takes a lot of artistic licence and makes Church an unreliable narrator which heightens the story and allows for twists at the end. ( )

I read Blackmore’s previous novel The Dangerous Kingdom of Love back in 2021 so when I saw this review copy on NetGalley I was very exciting to see what new story was waiting for me.

Here Blackmore takes us to the early 1800s London and the life of John Church. An orphan, a preacher and a sodomite.

By day, Church preaches the transformative effect of radical love to all those who attend his service, but at night he crosses over the river to attend mollie houses on Vere street where drag queens sit alongside serving boys and aristocracy in a unique club where everyone is equalled. It is here that Church begins performing 'marriages' between men. First as a bit of a frivolous attraction requested by Mrs Cook who runs the mollie house and then for a more serious reason... for why shouldn't men be allowed to marry other men. Is this not the perfect example of the radical love he preaches in his sermons?

Into this story arrives Ned, part of a group of African activist abolitionists who attends his chapel and as their relationship develops Church falls obsessively in love with Ned and the worlds they might inhabit together.

This is a stunning historical fiction based on real people and legal cases from the time. The book kept me engaged the whole way through. I love the way Blackmore's uses first person narrative and speaks directly to the reader so we feel very much brought into the fold of John Churches' life while at the same time still managing to keep the story alive and interesting. But Blackmore doesn't shy away from the harder and crueller aspects of Churches’ life and the times he and the other characters are living through while also managing to connect it to present day attitudes and prejudices.

This is a masterclass in storytelling and how to make history relevant while not shying away from the actions of the past and their ongoing affects on our modern society.

Thank you so much to Hutch Heinemann and to NetGalley for sending me this ARC for an honest review. ( )