Foulsham (The Iremonger Trilogy #2) by Edward Carey

How did I get the book? Received from publisher in exchange for an honest review

Genre: Gothic / (Historical) Fantasy

Previously reviewed:
Heap House

Synopsis: Foulsham, London’s great filth repository, is bursting at the seams. The walls that keep the muck in are buckling, rubbish is spilling over the top, back into the city that it came from. In the Iremonger family offices, Grandfather Umbitt Iremonger broods: in his misery and fury at the people of London, he has found a way of making everyday objects assume human shape, and the real people into objects.

Abandoned in the depths of the Heaps, Lucy Pennant has been rescued by a terrifying creature, Binadit Iremonger, more animal than human. She is desperate and determined to find Clod. But unbeknownst to her, Clod has become a golden sovereign and ‘lost’. He is being passed as currency from hand to hand all around Foulsham, and yet everywhere people are searching for him, desperate to get hold of this dangerous Iremonger, who, it is believed, has the power to bring the mighty Umbitt down.

But all around the city, things, everyday things, are twitching into life…

200words (or less) review: The sequel to Heap House wasn’t as enthralling as Clod and Lucy’s first adventure. I’m still very much fascinated by the world Edward Carey has created and I love the artwork that comes with the book* but while I enjoyed Foulsham I didn’t love it.

Lucy is a button lost in the Heaps while Clod (now a golden sovereign) has been exchanged for food by his once bath plug James Henry Hayward. At this point I probably should say that the Heap House trilogy requires reading in order. I don’t think you could follow the story if you skipped book 1 but the first book is excellent – so you should really read it. 🙂

Once Clod and Lucy recover from being objects I liked the story a lot more. The narration returns to being split between the two main protagonists instead of multiple characters which I think was part of the reason I didn’t enjoy the beginning as much. As a reader I already have a connection with Lucy and Clod.

Foulsham sets up the final book in The Iremonger Trilogy yet still provides you with a complete and intricate story. I’m looking forward to reading the conclusion.

Recommend it?

Yes

* Visually these are the kind of books you instantly want to pick of a shelf in shop, they are beautifully made.