herhandsmyhands, 7 months ago

@romancelandia

ICYMI: I read Vanessa Riley's Murder in Westminster, the first in Lady Worthing series; I rant a bit about trad publ editors.

#RacismInPublishing

https://herhandsmyhands.wordpress.com/2023/11/10/murder-in-westminster-by-vanessa-riley/

pretensesoup, 7 months ago

@herhandsmyhands

And immediately I want to know how controversial it was to be an abolitionist in the early 1800s, given that slavery was made illegal in the British Isles in 1807...I thought there had been increasing public support after 1781...but she had to keep the meeting secret...ugh, it's not really my era of specialization...

(I realize I have a problem. The review is good though! Very interesting points re the editing.)

@romancelandia

herhandsmyhands, 7 months ago

@pretensesoup The author addresses this in the text: after the dead of Pitt the Younger and the independence of Haiti, the whole world stopped abolitionist work--the fear was that too many free Blacks would do what Haitians had done and overthrow white colonizer powers.

The tide turned again, and soon, but in 1806, yes, there was backlash in the UK--the backlash in the US has never stopped.

@romancelandia

pretensesoup, 7 months ago

@herhandsmyhands
I actually read a lot of your reviews and enjoy them. I love thoughtful book reviews, even in genres I don't usually read.

@romancelandia