Fallen Grace ~ Mary Hooper

Grace Parkes has just had to do a terrible thing. Having given birth to an illegitimate child, she has travelled to the famed Brookwood Cemetery to place her small infant's body in a rich lady's coffin. Distraught and weeping, Grace meets two people at the cemetery: Mrs Emmeline Unwin and Mr James Solent. These two characters will have a profound affect upon Grace's life. But Grace doesn't know that yet. For now, she has to suppress her grief and get on with the business of living: scraping together enough pennies selling watercress for rent and food; looking after her older sister, who is incapable of caring for herself; thwarting the manipulative and conscience-free Unwin family. Grace races to unravel the fraud about to be perpetrated against her and her sister.

Love, love, LOVE this book since the first time I read it. It only took me a few hours to finish, I was so wrapped up in the plot. I had read may books by Mary Hooper before; At the House of the Magician, At the Sign of the Sugared Plum, Velvet and many more and, as with the others, this didn't disappoint. Hooper has expertly woven in the facts with fiction to create an absolutely wonderful book which had me hooked right to the end.  I liked the character of Grace, how grounded and practical and strong she was, and as a girl of only 15 (I think) she is wise beyond her years as well as being determined yet vulnerable. These characteristics make you root for her from the start and you really want to see her get all that she deserves and more. I highly recommend this book and I hope you love it as much as I did.

As always, please leave comments suggesting how I could improve my reviews or which books I should read next xXx

Just letting you know, I will try, but might not be able to post until next Thursday because I am going away over the holidays and won't have access to a computer. So if not before, see you again Thursday for either a Beauty Edit or a book review xXx