Review - The Empire (The Empire, #1) by Michael Ball

 

 

Title: The Empire (The Empire, #1)

Author: Michael Ball

Pages: 400

Publisher: Zaffre

Release Date: 13th October 2022

 

Blurb from Goodreads:

 Welcome to The Empire Theatre.

'It's the jewel of the north, The Empire. Lord Lassiter bought it for his second wife, Lady Lillian and she supervised every detail of the restoration. There's not a finer theatre in the country'.

But The Empire is not just a theatre. From music hall to vaudeville, from revue to grand musical spectacular, it holds a special place in the nation's heart. For its audience, for its actors and singers, for the stagehands, the front-of-house staff, for its backers and its debtors - and above all for its owners - it truly is a palace of dreams.

And for young Jack Treadwell, struggling to adapt to civilian life after the horrors of the trenches, it's a lifeline. When he receives a letter out of the blue inviting him to work at The Empire, he leaps at the chance. After all, it's owned by the family of his former commanding officer, Edmund Lassiter.

But as Jack soon discovers, it is not just the actors who are donning a disguise. With whispers of a cover-up, a scandal and sibling rivalry, tensions rise, along with the curtain. For there is treachery at the heart of The Empire and a dark secret waiting in the wings. Can Jack discover the truth before it is too late, and the theatre that means so much to them all goes dark?

Following the lives and loves of the Lassiter and Treadwell families, from the aftermath of the Great War and the Roaring Twenties to the dark days of the Second World War and the Blitz, Michael Ball's debut fiction series charts the story of the high notes and the low notes of British musical theatre in all its glamour, greasepaint and glory.

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My Review:

*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks to Bonnier Books UK and NetGalley*

 

The Empire Theatre is owned by the recently widowed Lady Lassiter. Leaving for America to mourn, the running of the theatre is left to the staff, some of whom do not wish to see the theatre do well. There are even people in the town that plot to take the Empire for themselves.
When Jack Treadwell turns up at the Empire following the suggestion of his deceased mother, he finds himself flung into a new and exciting life working at the theatre.
At the Empire, Jack makes friendships and works to save the theatre. All the while, secrets and plotting threaten to ruin everything the staff are working for.

As a fan of the author, I was intrigued to see what their debut novel would be like and it did end up surprising me.
There were a lot of characters introduced at once, which I did find a little confusing. Jack Treadwell was possibly the character that had the most runtime so to speak. He was a war veteran who had recently returned back to the UK after being in France. I liked his relationships with the other characters.
Whilst I didn't particularly have a favourite character, I did like that there was a variety of different characters with different backgrounds and motives. However, some of them did seem a bit two dimensional.
One of my favourite dynamics in the book ended up being between Joe and Agnes, which I hadn't expected at the beginning.
The setting of the 1920s was interesting, and the time period affected the story line.
The plot was enjoyable and held my attention throughout. There were several events that surprised me, and more layers to the novel than I expected. However, I was never gripped or sucked into the plot.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read.