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Real truth behind demon barber of Fleet Street; books ANONYMOUS Sweeney Todd or The String Of Pearls (Wordsworth Editions, pounds 2.99).(Features)

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From: Sunday Mercury (Birmingham, England)
Date: 20080120
Author:

Byline: by Lorne Jackson

SWEENEY Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street, was known for his exuberant way with a razor.

A close shave with this fictional fiend usually turned into a close shave with death.

In other words, he was a notorious hack.

The same could be said about the man behind the legend.

Edward Lloyd published the String Of Pearls, the 1847 tale where Sweeney first appears as a protagonist.

This was the era of Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins and the Brontes.

But Todd wasn't created to stand a chance of literary immortality.

Lloyd - ...

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