Vulcana is a fictional telling of the real story of Victorian ‘strongwoman’ Kate Williams (born 1874), starting when she runs away from home at 16 to travel with the love her life, William Roberts. They perform in music halls as Atlas and Vulcana -the climax of their act is that Kate can lift William over her head. She and William present themselves to the public as brother and sister as they travel the world because William is already married, and William’s wife brings up Kate’s children with her own. Kate is driven by love: for William, for her children, for performing, and for life, and Rebecca’s gorgeous, immersive writing fits perfectly this brave, unconventional woman and her amazing story.
Rebecca F. John was born in Llanelli. Her first novel, The Haunting of Henry Twist (Serpent’s Tail, 2017) was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award. She won the PEN International New Voices Award 2015. In 2017 she was on the Hay Festival’s ‘The Hay 30’ list. Her stories have been broadcast on Radio 4. She lives in Swansea with her dogs. Her previous book for Honno, Fannie, was published in January 2022 and was Waterstones Book of the Month for Wales and the BCW Book of the Month.
My thoughts: based on her true story of a Victorian strong woman, Kate Williams, whose stage name was Vulcana, this is a fascinating and interesting book. Fleshing out the limited details of Kate’s life, bringing her back to attention, she’s a feminist pioneer – wanting women to cast off their restrictive corsets and take regular exercise.
She travels the world with her lover and business partner – William Roberts, aka Atlas, leaving their four children with William’s wife Alice in Abergavenny. They exist in a strange triad, the women have great affection for one another, and also have their travelling family – the other strong men and women with whom they tread the boards in exhibitions of strength.
She’s friends with Queen of the music halls – Marie Lloyd and is the first person to report Dr Crippen to the police after his wife, also a performer, disappears. These brief glimpses of other notable names and events ground the story in reality, while adding imagined details of Kate’s inner life.
What emerges is a portrait of a truly extraordinary woman, who left her quiet Welsh village to travel the world and do incredible things. I am glad I read this book and learnt about Vulcana, Kate Williams.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
