So, we’ve come to the final Simon Westow book and I started it with a heavy heart because, while I’m aware that this series had to end at some point, I’ll never be ready for these stories to end. Set in the 1820s, the Simon Westow series follows the life of a thief-taker who retrieves stolen items for money, chronicling the people and situations he comes across in 19th century industrial Leeds. This is the final book in a series of eight, although each book can be read alone.
I’ll always be invested in what happens to not just Simon, but to Jane, Sally, Rosie and Mrs Shields. One of Chris Nickson’s talents as a writer is to make the characters feel so real that you feel like you know them. They’re described so well, not just in a physical sense; although we do get a sense of what they looked like – he gives just enough detail of his characters and their clothing, even the inside of their houses, that we can picture them – but we also get to hear their inner thoughts and fears which, of course, often mirror our own.
Life in a changing Leeds
The main character in all of Nickson’s books is Leeds itself, and we’ve seen it change over the years. Old buildings are being replaced with new, old ways of working are being replaced with more modern industrial practices, and the old ways of policing are evolving. His descriptions are so vivid that the reader can almost smell the dung on the cobbles and the smoke from the factories. But in this book we venture out to the surrounding countryside too, which almost feels like Nickson is preparing us for a life that doesn’t involve Leeds.
A Rage of Souls begins in the Leeds of 1826, with Westow apprehending a local thief, Frederick Fox, for the theft of a bracelet. He later learns that Fox has received a mysterious last-minute pardon and is headed back to Leeds. As ever with Nickson’s books, this is only the start of something that is much more complex and, as bodies start turning up, Westow is under pressure to work out the connection.
After events in the previous book, Them Without Pain, where an attack left Westow fighting for his life, he’s even more reliant on his trusty assistants, Jane and Sally, as well as his wife Rosie, although he still needs to be the public face of the operation. That’s what was expected, and men had access to the places that criminals frequented (inns, etc) in a way that women didn’t. It’s this acknowledgement of the inequalities of the time, while also highlighting women’s strengths, that makes Nickson really refreshing to read.
End of an era and a career
We get a real sense of all of the main characters needing to move on, in the same way that Leeds itself is, and the weariness that Westow feels is increasingly obvious throughout the book. Things that he used to take in his stride are a real effort now and he has trouble sleeping. Yet he finds himself dozing off at odd moments throughout the day which makes him feel like an old man. His injured leg gives him constant pain and he relies more heavily on his stick. You can feel his frustration,with himself and with the people he has to deal with through his job, despite his many years in the role.
Escapism in literature then as now
There’s also a weariness to Jane. She finds herself becoming increasingly affected by the violence and poverty around her. The opening scene describes a horrific accident involving a young factory girl, and this incident stays with Jane, triggering memories of her own traumas. She finds escape from the real world in books; since being taught to read by Mrs Shields. She spends any precious spare time she gets reading books from the library. There are moments of light in the midst of the dark, unrelenting events of the book when she sits in the sunshine for a few moments and loses herself in books that open her world and tap into a surprising love of history. We really feel her reluctance to pull herself away from her books, and as readers we want to stay in that space for just a little bit longer too before we return to the realities of 1820s Leeds.
Sally, who now lives with Westow and Rosie and their boys, has lost some of her edge and cynicism. She’s still always one step ahead of Westow though and always has his back, knife in hand. And she still feels a huge responsibility for her little gang of street urchins, who are all fiercely loyal in return. As readers we start to see more to her, and for the first time we get a glimpse of a different future for her.
We see her delight when Simon asks her to drive a cart as they head out to Temple Newsam to follow a lead, even though she’s never driven one before. She claims it makes her ‘feel free’ and you can see how she feels – torn between the pull of the countryside of her early childhood, and her life now. Being out in the countryside feels like a little holiday for someone to whom the idea of a holiday is unknown, and she surprises herself by explaining the countryside way of counting to Simon as they overhear a shepherd counting sheep. After a shocking incident later in the book, we also see her wanting to learn to read, a sign that she’s also maybe thinking ahead to a life outside Leeds and her current circumstances.
The only character who doesn’t seem weary and jaded is Rosie, who has become increasingly involved now the boys are older, relishing the work and responsibility. She brings her own skill set to the little group and, as in the last book, we see that she’s not quite the meek housewife and mother we thought she was.
A wrapping up of life stories
We also see the other characters who have become familiar over the last eight books – such as Kate the pie-seller; Dodson, a wounded soldier from the Napoleonic wars; George Mudie the printer whose trade is dying thanks to modern equipment; and Davy Cassidy the blind fiddler (who plays a part in helping Jane gain some closure to her recurring dreams about the injured factory girl). We also have Mrs Shields, a fascinating character who gives us little glimpses into her past (hands up who also wants a little spin off book about her backstory…).
These characters are all part of Simon and Jane’s little network of support, often offering vital information from the streets, while also giving us little insights into the social issues of real people without preaching to us. I always come away from a Chris Nickson book feeling like I’ve learnt something, and wanting to know more.
It’s a great story, with the twists and turns we’ve come to expect from Chris Nickson, with added layers of insight into some really big issues. For example, he touches on different types of grief – from the raw grief of a parent who’s lost their son, to the complex grief for an abusive husband.
It’s always sad to say goodbye to a series, and a set of characters you’ve developed a fondness for, and often writers feel they have to tie everything up and send everyone off with a happy ending. But life isn’t like that and it feels like this series ends peacefully, giving us all time to process what we’ve learnt, and eagerly awaiting the next world that Nickson can create for us.
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