Historical Reads: The Instrumentalist & The Emerald Shawl

When I’m drawn to historical fiction, more often than not it features strong female characters pushing the envelope on what society expects of them. These recent historical reads, Harriet Constable’s bestselling The Instrumentalist, and Louise Douglas’ 2025 release, The Emerald Shawl, continue this trend. Find out more about each novel and read my reviews.

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The Instrumentalist by Harriet Constable

Time Period: Early 18th century (1704 onward), Venice

Story Setting: The Ospedale della Pietà orphanage and the wider city of Venice

Lead Character: Anna Maria, an orphaned girl with prodigious musical talent and fierce ambition

Story Conflict: As Anna Maria’s talent grows to rival — and threatens to surpass — her mentor’s, she must navigate his expectations and the precarious position of an orphan girl.

My Review

As someone who played in an orchestra in my younger years, and a reader who typically loves when authors interweave real historical identities and events into their fiction, I fully expected to adore The Instrumentalist. On paper, this was a novel written for me.

It is clear that Constable has done a lot of research into 18th-century Venice and this fiction sheds welcome light on the real overlooked girls of the Ospedale della Pietà — talented orphaned musicians whose contributions to some of history’s most celebrated compositions have gone largely unacknowledged. That alone makes The Instrumentalist worth reading.

But Constable’s execution of a fantastic premise just fell short of my high expectations. Her writing style never quite clicked for me. It looked literary, but didn’t take command of my senses and thoughts as top quality literary writing does.

Anna Maria’s chromesthesia — experiencing sound as colour — should have been a striking literary device, one capable of drawing readers deep into the sensory experience of performance. Instead, I felt Constable leaned on it as something of a shortcut, invoked frequently as though side-stepping the need to properly convey to the reader what it actually feels like to create music. For a novel so centred on musicianship, this was a disappointment for me.

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Of course I wanted Anna Maria to achieve her dreams against all odds. Who would not? But her single-minded, ambition to become Venice’s greatest violinist often comes at the cost of friendships, and that made her an increasingly difficult protagonist to like or empathise with. Her internal voice also not quite ringing true for a child of her age on occasion, probably did not help matters either. For me, some of The Instrumentalist‘s secondary characters left a deeper, more authentic impression.

In terms of Constable’s storytelling, I also found myself stepping back from the extent to which men are cast as villains. I understand and appreciate her intent to champion female resilience and talent in a world heavily stacked against them at the time, but the effect here felt heavy-handed.

All that said, this reading experience did provoke thought on how we can admire the genius of what someone creates, without necessarily admiring the person that embodies that genius.

The Instrumentalist had all the makings of a book I’d love, and there is much to admire in its ambition and historical grounding. But between a heroine that is often hard to like, and a rather one-note treatment of musical genius and its male characters, this novel fell short of the immersive, moving reading experience I was hoping for.

The Story 3 / 5 , The Writing 3 / 5

Reading Tip: Author Kate Forsyth integrates synaesthesia (chromesthesia is a subset condition) much more powerfully, and beautifully, into the narrative of her historical fiction novel The Beast’s Garden.

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The Emerald Shawl by Louise Douglas

Time Period: 1864, Victorian era

Setting: Bristol, England — its docks, newspaper room, boarding houses, and society circles

Lead Character: Nelly Brooks, a newspaper reporter only assigned to write ‘articles for women’ wanting to be allowed to do ‘real’ reporting.

Story Conflict: After witnessing the suspicious death of a woman that had entrusted her with a secret about a wealthy man’s wife, Nelly’s investigations draw her into danger among Bristol’s elite.

My Review

The Emerald Shawl is my first experience with Louise Douglas’ writing. I stumbled across this title while browsing the Prime Reading catalogue some time ago, and added it to my library purely based on its premise.

In highly accessible prose Douglas immerses readers in the swirling mist and unseen menace of 1864 Bristol’s docks. The gothic undertones lend the narrative a simmering, brooding quality.

This story’s beating heart is Nelly Brooks, a frustrated pioneering young female newspaper journalist assigned only ‘articles for women’ about decorating drawing rooms and the like. But she remains determined to break into real investigative reporting alongside her male colleagues. Nelly’s traumatic personal history lends real weight to her frustrations navigating both a murky Bristol underworld and a profession that refuses to take her seriously.

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The narrative pacing did feel a touch slow, some points a little laboured, in the opening chapters as Douglas lays out the story foundations. But the red herrings are well placed and in its latter half, The Emerald Shawl really finds its stride, as Nelly accepts the help of others, and the action and peril elevate as the mystery unravels.

In addition to the highly likeable Nelly, this tale is peppered with fearless, resilient women, detestable villains, and endearing supporting male characters. Authentic emotional moments sit comfortably alongside the excitement and danger without ever feeling mismatched, and Douglas provides readers a satisfying conclusion.

The Emerald Shawl could easily be the start of an entertaining series — I’d happily spend more time with Nelly Brooks if there are future instalments.

Story 4 / 5 ; The Writing 4 / 5

More compelling female leads in historical fiction: