The Belgravia Phantom Reading Kit

The Belgravia Phantom

The Belgravia Phantom is the first book in the Quill and Page Victorian Mysteries by Ellis Blackwood. The amateur sleuths are seamstress Kate Quill, former valet Frederick Page, and a found family of East End misfits in Victorian era London who must prove that Kate did not scare Lady Pemberton to death with a phantom.

See reader reviews and a spoiler-free reading guide to The Belgravia Phantom.

The Belgravia Phantom Reader Questions

Use these reader questions for a book club discussion, or buddy read chat. If you aren’t in a book club, you can still use these questions to reflect on the book after you’ve read it.

• The Quill & Page Mysteries feature an ensemble cast. Which was your favorite Quill - and why?

• Who was your favorite supporting character, and why?

• What three words would you use to describe life in the East End of Victorian London?

• And in Belgravia?

• Would you rather live in Victorian or contemporary London?

• Ever attended a séance or a psychic evening? How did you find the experience? If not, would you like to?

• What are your thoughts on psychics?

• Would you like Mrs. McGinty as your landlady?

• The Quills lived during the birth of London's underground railway system. Kate takes her first-ever "tube" journey. People were genuinely terrified of the unknown. When were you last scared?

• Ned ate a spider and found it "leggy". What's the strangest thing you've eaten?

• How would you cope with an outdoor privy?

• Which scene in The Belgravia Phantom did you find the most memorable?

• Would you like to see Kate and Frederick get together by the end of the series? Do you think they will? If not, why not?

• Upstairs or downstairs - service life or rarefied? (Probably an easy one, but bear in mind, the life of a Victorian lady was incredibly regimented: having been taught how to sit upright and sew, they would be married off to a rich suitor, likely beyond their control.)

• Did you spot Lady Pemberton's killer before the reveal? If not, who did you suspect?

Fun Activities

• Put the names of Belgravia Phantom characters into a hat. Pick one out each and play that character at an imaginary dinner party. Don't forget to include the sinister pawnbrowker, Mr Fogg.

• Victorian names can be pretty unusual. Use this Victorian name generator to explore a few. Pick a name and imagine how they might have spoken.

• Eat like a Victorian! Plan afternoon tea, perhaps, making something from this vast selection of authentic recipes from VictorianVoices.net.

• Dress up for it, perhaps. Victorian ladies were trussed within an inch of their lives; gents, merely trapped in starched collars. In 1885, when the Quill & Page Mysteries are set, the outrageously large bustle was in fashion. A wire frame that extended behind, it effectively required the wearer to perch on the very edge of their seat. Try it, if you're comfortable doing so.

• Roleplay a Victorian gentleman trying to woo a Victorian lady.

Victorian Quiz

Answers at the bottom of the page.

1. In which year did Queen Victoria come to the throne?

• A) 1819

• B) 1837

• C) 1855

2. What was the name of Queen Victoria’s husband?

• A) Prince Albert

• B) Prince George

• C) Prince Edward

3. The Great Exhibition of 1851 was held in which famous building?

• A) Alexandra Palace

• B) The Crystal Palace

• C) The Royal Albert Hall

4. Who wrote Oliver Twist?

• A) Thomas Hardy

• B) William Makepeace Thackeray

• C) Charles Dickens

5. What name was given to the unidentified killer behind the Whitechapel murders of 1888?

• A) Spring-heeled Jack

• B) Sweeney Todd

• C) Jack the Ripper

6. What was the Penny Black, first issued in 1840?

• A) A postage stamp

• B) A coin

• C) A newspaper

7. Which nurse became known as "The Lady with the Lamp" during the Crimean War?

• A) Florence Nightingale

• B) Mary Seacole

• C) Edith Cavell

8. After the "Great Stink" of 1858, who designed London's new sewer system?

• A) Isambard Kingdom Brunel

• B) Joseph Bazalgette

• C) George Stephenson

9. In which story did Sherlock Holmes first appear?

• A) The Sign of Four

• B) A Study in Scarlet

• C) The Hound of the Baskervilles

10. How many children did Queen Victoria have?

• A) Five

• B) Seven

• C) Nine