The Fair Fight

April 27, 2015
In this period novel, Freeman introduces readers to two diametrically opposite Englishwomen of the early 19th century. First is Ruth Downs, who is born and raised with her sister, Dora, in a brothel in Bristol called "the convent."Deemed not attractive enough to serve the brothel's clientele, Ruth accidentally stumbles upon a career as a bare-knuckle boxer fighting men for money. Her patron, Granville Dryer, is also Dora's regular client. The second woman is the well-born but pox-scarred Charlotte Sinclair, who marries Dryer to get away from her debauched brother, Perry. She finds life as a married woman boring, but one day, while attending the St. James's Fair, she is transfixed by the sight of Ruth in the ring. When Dryer decides to promote Ruth's boxer husband, Tom Webber, this brings Charlotte into contact with Ruth, who secretly teaches Charlotte how to box and becomes her sparring partner. But Tom's bad showing in London changes the game for all involved. Freeman cleverly uses Ruth and Charlotte to show how 19th-century women, no matter their circumstances, had few choices in their lives. Her evocation of the seedier aspects of Georgian England is persuasive, even for readers who don't know a cove from a cull. But the narrative fails to follow through on the promise of its premise, and the melodramatic pile-up of domestic and romantic entanglements overwhelms the more exciting story of what happens inside the prize ring.

This is a story of female pugilists, bloodshed, brutal poverty, and monied ruthlessness in 1790s Bristol. Steve West portrays the upper-class men: Granville Dryer, patron of pugilists; Perry Sinclair, a wastrel who marries his sister, Charlotte, off to Dryer; and George Bowden, the sorriest of the lot. Fiona Hardingham uses a broad accent to portray Ruth, a lowborn bare-knuckle pugilist sponsored by Dryer. Justine Eyre portrays Charlotte's parts with a smoky voice and crisp accents. Ruth slugs it out with men and women in the ring, and, shockingly, teaches Charlotte to throw a strong punch. Hardingham, Eyre, and West join forces to enthrall, repel, and horrify listeners. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine