Le roman exerce un véritable magnétisme ! La plume de Mary Hooper est élégante et décrit avec réalisme la société victorienne à travers ses us et coutumes, comme la pratique controversée de la voyance et la divination, qui était très à la mode à l'époque et attirait des personnalités comme l'écri...
Hannah returns to her beloved London to re-open the sweetmeats shop with younger sister Anne. Londoners are reeling from the plague epidemic of the previous year, but Hannah and Anne are keen to start enjoying everything the bustling city has to offer. But this is 1666, and it has been prophesise...
At the Sign of the Sugared Plum by Mary Hooper is a story of a young woman, Hannah, in an unusual setting: London in the time of the plague. She comes from her home in the country to London, to work with her sister Sarah in her confectionery shop. Unfortunately, Hannah arrives in London just as r...
Charts how Megan copes with both her new baby and her mum's new boyfriend.
I’d left my cloak in the ‘porch to make Miss Charity’s blue gown look the better (she would, I knew, be delighted when I told her that it was being worn for a wedding) and my hair was loose and dressed with ribbands. The chapel was a private one attached to a manor house at Barnes, quite close to...
‘I may stay just for tonight?’ ‘You’ve settled yourself into that space by the fire, so it looks as if you already are,’ she said tartly. ‘Besides, I could hardly turn you out of here naked as Eve, could I?’ I hugged a blanket around me. It was old, scratchy and like to be rich with fleas, but it...
Surely it can’t be you? You look such a fine lady!’‘Yes, it is me, Father! I’ve found you at last.’‘But what are you doing here in London, and so far from home?’‘I came to find you, Father. There’s a wrong that you must put right.’‘I will, of course I will. Oh, bless you, my child,’ said her fath...
I’d been back in London for five days and, though I’d contrived to be around the palace on several occasions, had not set eyes on Tomas in all that time, nor received any message from him. I did, however, expect to see him that day, for I was in St James’s Park with the Queen’s Players, and we we...
It was icy cold, and there was a strange aroma of salt and tar in the air which seemed to catch at the back of my throat. One of the guards hooked a lantern over a beam, said in a mocking voice, ‘I trust you’ll sleep well, ladies!’, and left us. We heard a crash as a bar c...
At the beginning of July, the watercress which came into London from the outlying farms was at its most abundant, meaning that a large bunch could be purchased for a ha’penny, doubling all their profits. After two weeks of this, therefore, they had their rent money put aside for a whole month, an...
I do think about you a lot and hope that you are keeping safe. I know one shouldn’t mention anything about the war for fear of our correspondence being read by the enemy, but I do wish I knew where you were. I would plot your position on a map and try and find out a little about the area, so that...