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The Photographer

E S Blake

Genre: Historical fiction

1863. After losing his beloved wife in childbirth, photographer Charles Franklin turns his back on family portraiture and descends into the macabre Victorian world of post-mortem photography. However, when a coachman turns up at his door with a seven-year-old girl, Charles is given a second chance at life and redemption.

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1863. When tragedy strikes, photographer Charles Franklin turns his back on family portraiture and descends into the macabre Victorian world of post-mortem photography. Initially, Charles is repulsed by his new profession and the corpses that become his clients, but soon he finds an artistry within it that inspires him. Yet the work makes him a recluse, ostracised from the community. To them, he is the ‘death photographer’, someone to be feared and avoided.

However, when a coachman turns up at his door with a seven-year-old girl, Charles is given a second chance at life and redemption.

‘A truly beautiful and macabre read full of well-executed characters, fast-paced plot and real heart’ (Dan Bassett, Waterstones Senior Bookseller, featured on the BBC)