A review by archytas
Blockbuster!: Fergus Hume & the Mystery of a Hansom Cab by Lucy Sussex

informative mysterious reflective slow-paced

3.5

Sussex uses the story of Fergus Hume and Hansom Cab as a window in pre-depression Melbourne, effectively weaving the stories of Hume and his collaborators into a broader portrait of the city's theatrical and literary colonial society. The result is a surprisingly affecting narrative, with stand-out chapters looking at the probability that Hansom Cab was financed with swindled money, and the possibility that Hume was part of the gay demi-monde. In addition to Marvellous (swindling) Melbourne, Dunedin also gets a starring turn, with an intriguing look at both the city and the insane asylums Hume spend much of his youth amidst. Sussex never makes this earnest - she is firmly, like her subject, in the business of entertainment, but she anchors her speculations with the evidence that led her there.