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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.
Goodreads | Storygraph | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Bookshop
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.
