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UTM EDITIONS CANADA presents
BABYLON HILL
by L.G. Roy
Babylon Hill is historical fiction set in the Niagara regions and N W Pennsylvania in the 1870’s.
Synopsis
In a dark mind the hardness is there by itself. The Break O’Day Johnnies commit three crimes during the Fenian invasion of Canada in 1866. The consequences of these deeds set two members of the street gang against each other and play out to unexpected results on the mean streets of Buffalo’s Infected District and in the unruly towns of Pennsylvania’s turbulent oil fields. Babylon Hill follows Two Cent Tom Magill, one of the members, as he searches for truth and love with sporting house whore Angel Emmeline. Pursued by demons from his difficult past and never sure of the depth of her commitment can he find peace at last in the tenderloin of Gilded Age Manhattan?
Advisory
Strong Language/Violence/Explicit Sexuality
What readers are saying
David D. (Crystal Beach ON) “I thoroughly enjoyed the novel. The characters and incidents especially in the Canal Street section are very memorable. The descriptions remind me of James Michener.”
Ann J. (Cashel Ireland) “Beautiful and evocative. But a man’s book.”
Sean F. (Fort Erie ON) “I enjoyed reading your book. The characters, especially the minor ones, are very vibrant and the descriptions are almost Dickensian.”
Juliana P. (Montreal PQ) “I enjoyed the book immensely. The colourful characters set the scenes with vivid imagery.”
Stephen S. (Fredericton NB.) “Enjoying your book. Very dark and dense. Learning about unfamiliar history. Visual almost cinematic.”
Stephanie F. (Toronto ON) “Babylon Hill absolutely nails some of the key things a historical novel reader looks for: learning through immersion about a time and place different from our own
Tim B. (Buffalo NY) “I finished the Canal District section. Loved it! I have read several fictional histories of that neighborhood but yours is the best. I liked how you wove in the Christy’s Minstrels and the rampant prostitution and alcoholism in the neighborhood. It was a very accurate and realistic portrayal of the circumstances down there.”
About the Author
L. G. Roy is a freelance journalist, antique dealer and accredited fine art appraiser living in the Niagara Region.
Publication Data
Publisher: UTM Editions Canada Date: April 4, 2022
ISBN# 978-1-7774777-0-7 Format: Quarto paperback- 512 pages
Babylon Hill is available through AMAZON Kindle Direct and UTM Editions Canada
The Storyline
Babylon Hill contains both historical and fictional characters.
The Break O’Day Johnnies, a notorious teenage street gang commit murder, rape, and robbery during the Fenian invasion of Canada in June 1866. The murderer Thomas Two Cent Magill and his accomplice Stonehouse Jack escape to Buffalo with the retreating Fenians. Magill is arrested but will not be extradited to Canada to face his crimes. He sets out through the heinous Canal Street district to find the other Johnnies and his cut from the robbery. He meets Jimmy Elliott, a boxer who fought with the Fenians. Jimmy tells him the law is closing in.
Tom flees with Jimmy to Pithole, a city in the Pennsylvania oil fields. Magill, an illiterate, has paid to have a will forged and hopes to sell an oil lease on the dying soldier’s land in Tidioute. He becomes a boxer under Jimmy’s tutelage and waits for a prize match. Jimmy leaves Pithole one night under mysterious circumstance and Magill stands in for him at a challenge match. Tom defeats his opponent and receives as his prize the services of a Louisville actress turned courtesan named French Kate. Using the oil lease money Tom and Kate set up sporting houses in Pithole and then on Babylon Hill in Tidioute. The local Vigilance Committee drives them out and Magill breaks up with French Kate in Saratoga New York.
Tom returns to Pennsylvania and reconnects with Angel Emmeline Joyce a Buffalo dancer he loved once. They set up a floating sporting house in an Allegheny riverboat and soon become wealthy. Angel Em tires of Magill’s jealous anxiety and flees to New York City with their money. Magill follows but is unable to find her. He learns to read and write courtesy Adelaide Massey, the woman that the Johnnies raped in Buffalo but can find work only in seedy taverns and on the docks. He rediscovers Emmeline by chance. She works in the Manhattan theatres and lives with an abusive partner. Tom vows to free her. A fire during a performance of her new drama enables him to sort revealed secrets and realize his quest.
