Book Review
Title: Confessions of the Fox by Jordy Rosenberg
Genre: Historical, Satire, Romance, LGBT
Rating: 4 Stars
The opening to Confessions of the Fox was interesting as we see Jack Sheppard being taken to the gallows to die for his crimes but we then jump back to when Jack was a child known as P. P is female it seems and is sold into slavery for ten years by her mother in the early 1710’s. P was tirelessly for these period of time to earn her freedom although throughout this period she refers to herself as Jack using male pronouns and even hates wearing female clothing or even moving in a feminine way making me think that P/Jack might be transgender. We are also introduced to Bess, a young woman fleeing her life for London where she becomes a prostitute in order to make money which she isn’t opposed to and even makes fun of her first client for knowing nothing about female pleasure. Jack and Bess’ stories are entwined as Bess is seen as the lover of Jack Sheppard but we are going to find out. Obviously, this is being told in the past tense with footnotes as this confession was found by Dr. Voth who is examining the confessions prior to publication.
We follow P through her servitude until one day she ends up seeing Bess and instantly falls for her. At this point P has thought much about her identity but takes steps to appear more masculine by binding. That night, P sneaks out to meet Bess in a pub but as Bess sees her as a boy she introduces herself as Jack Sheppard. After this we watch Jack grow more confident in his identity and being taking steps to becoming the master thief we are going to come to know him as. He also begins building a relationship with Bess but he quickly finds himself in prison and he has to get himself out of this situation when he is still feeling a lot of self-doubt about his identity and abilities. In the present we follow Doctor Voth as they uncover the secrets the manuscript is holding. Doctor Voth is also transgender and dealing with a lot of issues of social pressure from work and in their social life with dating. I really liked both timelines but I preferred to be following Jack as that was more interesting for me personally, especially given the fact we learn a lot about the culture and language used in London at this time.
Dr. Voth has also been contacted by people interested in the manuscript but they aren’t giving it up for money as they know it is worth more than that. Jack manages to escape from a part of the prison that no one has ever escaped from alive before meaning rumours are flying around London about him and he seems to not know how to deal with it. We are see Jack meets Aurie who is another thief that Jack develops a partnership with and this explains his thoughts about Aurie and Bess at the gallows as they seems to be the only person Jack is close with. Jack also begins a sexual relationship with Bess although she is at first stunned by the fact that Jack won’t let her undress him but eventually Jack does open up to her. It isn’t clearly stated whether Jack is transgender or intersex but it is clear that Jack doesn’t fit into the ordinary gender roles of the time. The relationship between Jack and Bess is one that Bess wants to keep separate from her work although neither seem to have an issue with the other’s profession as she feels differently about Jack and is very accepting of them. The footnotes don’t really add much during this other than to show what Doctor Voth is going through as they try to develop a relationship with Ursula which isn’t working out and that they are facing trouble at work which might be due to the manuscript or something else but I wasn’t feeling at this time that they were adding anything to story, in fact, I personally found them to be distracting from Jack’s story.
As the plague hits London we follow Jack as he learns about Chimera through Bess, Chimera or more specifically sexual chimera as a way of explaining intersex people at the time which is what I believe Jack is. Jack ends up speaking to one of Bess’ former client who is a doctor for surgery to remove his breasts. The entire scene of the surgery was hilarious from Bess and Jack drinking for entirely different reasons, to the doctor fainting and Bess taking over the operation because she has read all of the doctor’s work and Jack’s thoughts throughout the whole process are brilliant. The footnotes also take a comedic turn during this part of the novel as we witness Doctor Voth is forced to work with the pharmaceutical company/publisher in order to get funding as the manuscript is technically owned by the University that Voth works for. During these interaction we do get some comedic interactions between Voth and their boss who insists on making comments in all caps but I am eager to see how Jack ends up at the gallows given where he is right now.
As the threat of plague rises in London more restrictions are placed on the people living there especially those that are seen as unsavoury by the gentry, people like Bess and Jack. Jack isn’t able to do much at the moment as he is recovering from the surgery he had only to learn that he killed the doctor when they were interrupted during the surgery which he didn’t intend. However, as a consequence of this Jack is much happier in himself since his body now reflects the person he has always felt he has been and he and Bess talk about some jobs they can do after he is better. The first job involves robbing the lighthouse as there are a few plague ships in the Thames under quarantine and the cargo is being held there but the job doesn’t go as planned for Jack and this made worse when they realise he robbed Wild, the Thief-Catcher General. Jack and Bess debate over what to do but with the mounting pressures of society they realise they have to leave so they won’t be putting others at risk. The footnotes also add a little during this time as the pharmaceutical company is putting pressure on Doctor Voth for the missing pages but they don’t have them or not that we know and have gone on strike until they receive their payment which means we get the sarcastic comments we have come to enjoy again rather than the other ones but they still don’t add much to the story. Given how Jack’s story is going right now it seems we are building to the events that send him to the gallows. Bess also shares her personal history with Jack which is something they’ve kept to themselves up until now but they feel intimate enough to reveal them now.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, Jack learns of the community of pirates led by Okoh, an escape slave. These pirates created an elixir allowing the user to exceed their biological limits and this brings some of Rosenberg’s fantasy elements to life. Voth also indulges in fantasy as they join the radical librarians who live in The Stretches which contains thousands of altered texts like the manuscript we are reading. Rosenberg seems to be a master of demonstrating how the reimagining of history is actually a very sensual and intimate thing which is mirrored in Voth’s commentary throughout the novel. Overall, Confessions of the Fox brings a new perspective to history and the recapturing of history as Voth mentions in the closing footnotes of the novel. It was a really interesting read and was a great entry to transgender fiction and I hope to read more of Rosenberg in the future as Confessions is a debut novel.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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