To read some colonial texts, one might believe there were no happily-ever-afters for people in Ahmad’s and Mira’s circumstances. But nobody’s story is ever entirely one of pain. It certainly wasn’t for Indians in nineteenth-century London. Across the city, they worked, lived, worshipped, and loved, all while navigating the obstacles that came from being a person of color in Victorian England.
Among them, Ahmad and Mira faced challenges that were as much internal as external. In India, during the long period of British East India Company rule, there were many Englishmen who fathered children with Indian women. Those children were left in a difficult predicament—not quite Indian and not quite English. When writing The Siren of Sussex, I chose to focus more on that internal struggle for identity and sense of self. It’s a struggle I’m personally familiar with.
Acknowledgments
Writing a book is a solitary task at the best of times. It’s doubly so during a global pandemic. The isolation has made me even more grateful to everyone who helped me along the way. Here’s a list of just a few of the people to whom I owe my heartfelt thanks:
To Deb, for feedback on the first chapter.
To Rachel, for encouraging me to give this process a chance.
To Flora, Dana, and Alissa, for beta reading the first draft.
To Jackie and Sandy, for help with translations.
To David and Christiane, for teaching me (and my horses) so much about dressage.
To my mom, who asked me, “How come the only people who look like you in your stories are the side characters?” prompting me to write something where Ahmad and Mira were front and center.
And to my dad, who supports my writing even though he’s never read one of my novels.
Extra special thanks are also owed to my literary agent, Sarah Hershman. To my amazing editor at Berkley, Sarah Blumenstock. And to Farjana Yasmin, for the beautiful cover.
Last but not least, I’d like to thank my animal family for providing so much emotional support while I researched and wrote. To Stella, Tavi, and Bijou. And to Centelleo—my Andalusian dressage horse—who passed away from colic two weeks after I turned in my manuscript. He was my friend and companion for nearly twenty years. I hope this story can be a memorial to the strength of our partnership and to how much I loved him and will always love him.
READERS GUIDE
The Siren of Sussex
Mimi Matthews
Discussion Questions
1. Evelyn and Ahmad are both a mixed-race couple and a cross-class couple. Once married, what challenges do you believe they’ll face because of their differences? Which of these challenges do you think will prove most difficult for them to overcome?
2. Evelyn uses her skills as a horsewoman to make her mark in the fashionable world. How else might a Victorian lady distinguish herself in fashionable society? How far could she go before she sacrificed her respectability?
3. Evelyn takes umbrage at being labeled a bluestocking, despite the fact that she exhibits many of a bluestocking’s stereotypical traits. Did labels like bluestocking help or hurt Victorian women in their quest for individuality and independence? Did it make them more or less likely to strive for what they truly wanted?
4. Ahmad began his dressmaking career by making gowns for the prostitutes at Mrs. Pritchard’s gentlemen’s establishment. Do you think this helped him become a better dressmaker? If so, how?
5. Both Evelyn and Ahmad use fashion as a means of self-expression. How did fashion help ladies of the Victorian era express their unique personalities? Do you think this form of expression was reserved for the rich?
6. Throughout the story, Ahmad is shown to have great respect for women. How much do you think being raised by his unwed aunt shaped his views? How did the tragedy of his mother’s death influence his conduct with Evelyn?
7. Ahmad mentions having to negotiate an uneasy peace with himself in order to live and work among English people. How does he use his dressmaking to symbolically reclaim the spoils of colonialism? Do you believe this is an effective strategy?
8. In order to secure her younger sisters’ future, Evelyn embarks on a London season. Is her quest to find a wealthy husband misguided? Would it have been better to let her sisters fend for themselves?
9. Spiritualism was all the rage in the Victorian era. What do you think fueled society’s passion for all things occult? How do you think fashionable people used séances and crystal gazing to further their own social agendas?
10. Ahmad makes the decision not to sue Lady Heatherton for her unpaid dressmaking bills. Was this decision truly the right one for his business or do you think he should have taken her to court?
11. Becky Rawlins does “piecework” (freelance sewing paid on a piece-by-piece basis) in her rented room above the rag and bone shop. Was this sort of work better or worse than working in the workroom of a fashionable shop, sewing for dressmakers like Madame Elise? Did it help women to gain a measure of independence or do you think it was exploitive?
12. In the Epilogue, it is revealed that Ahmad has been engaged to make mourning clothes for the Queen. Given England’s history with India, do you feel this is a moral conflict of interest? Should Ahmad have refrained from doing business with the Queen and her court?
Keep reading for a preview of
The Belle of Belgrave Square
Coming fall 2022 from Berkley Jove!
London, England
June 1862
Julia Wychwood was alone in Rotten Row, and that was exactly the way she liked it.
Well, not quite alone.
There was her groom, Luke Six. And there were some humbly clad men and women tarrying along the viewing rail. But otherwise . . .
Yes. Alone.
It was often the case at this time of morning—those early moments after break of dawn, when the air was misty cool and the rising sun was shining brightly to burn away the fog. Some ladies and gentlemen chose to ride at this time of day, but not many. Certainly not as many as during the fashionable hour. Then, all of society was out in force.
Which was precisely why Julia preferred riding in the morning. There were less stares and whispers. Less judgment.
With a squeeze of her leg, she urged Cossack into a canter. It was the big ebony gelding’s best gait—a steady, even stride, with a sway to it like a rocking chair. She relaxed into it. When cantering, Cossack required nothing more of her than that she maintain a light contact on the double reins. He did the rest, which left her ample time to daydream.
Or to fret.