LoveReading Says
Highly Commended for the Teenage Book Prize 2010. 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. Following the
advice of a kindly midwife, this is the only way that Grace can think
of to give something at least to the little baby who died at birth, and
to avoid the ignominy of a pauper's grave. 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, who are as capable of
running a lucrative funeral business as they are of defrauding a young
woman of her fortune. A stunning evocation of life in Victorian London,
with vivid and accurate depictions, ranging from the deprivation that
the truly poor suffered to the unthinking luxuries enjoyed by the rich:
all bound up with a pacy and thrilling plot, as Grace races to unravel
the fraud about to be perpetrated against her and her sister.
LoveReading
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Mary Hooper Press Reviews
'Her best and most accessible novel yet ... definitely a must read for 2010' - The Bookseller
'Nobody tells a story like Mary Hooper does. Her ability to make the lives of girls in times past come alive for the modern reader is a special skill. As well as her superb grasp of period settings, she revels in extraordinary and fascinating human stories that cry out to be told. Such lives could not be in better hands' - John McLay, Director, Bath Festival of Children's Literature
'A sensitive and tautly-plotted novel, intelligently told' - Daily Mail
'By any standards, an exceptional novel ... the gift for taking historical situations and making them emotionally engaging is far too rare ... after six historical novels, this one is Hooper's breakthrough and its characterisation, plotting and atmosphere are first-rate and deserve prizes ... Not since Philip Pullman's The Ruby in the Smoke has there been such a gorgeous evocation of Victorian life - or so satisfying a conclusion' - Amanda Craig, The Times
About Mary Hooper
Says of herself: I was born in Barnes, South West London, which became expensive and trendy as soon as I left it. I often – nostalgically and rather lazily – use Barnes as a setting for my books. If I speak of a river then I’m thinking of the Thames, and if it’s a park or common then I picture Barnes Common. I was able to utilise all these local points and bring in Mortlake and Richmond, too, when I was writing two books about Queen Elizabeth I’s magician, Dr Dee, who lived in Mortlake.
I wasn’t very clever at school, although I was always good at English. I failed my 11-plus exam, and then my 13-plus, and after this there wasn’t a lot of hope for me, so I didn’t get any qualifications or certificates. My last school report says, “Far too noisy and talkative” and I think this was because, being an only child, I just loved having someone around to talk to. I left school when I was fifteen (you could in those days) but it wasn’t until many years later than I did a part-time degree at Reading University and began to get officially educated.
I started working as a window dresser, but soon went into an office and – very valuable, this, for a writer – learned to type. One day I read a short story, thought that I could do better and sat down and wrote one. I sent it to Jackie, a teenage magazine, and much to my surprise sold it for £14. I was launched as a writer! I went on to write lots of short stories, and then serials, and eventually decided to write a book. At the time, there were hardly any books for teenagers, so I found getting published quite easy, but it’s very different now. I’ve written perhaps seventy or so books for children and young adults, most of them set in modern times, but as soon as I began writing historical novels I realised how much I loved doing this, and decided I didn’t want to write any more modern ones. No, not even any Megans!
I’m married to Richard and we live in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire. I’ve still got a VW Beetle, but have upgraded it to a cabriolet version, which will be lovely when the weather improves and I can put the top down (if I can remember how to do it). My children are very grown up, my son is a writer and works for New Scientist and my daughter works for Microsoft - and has recently presented me with a gorgeous first grandson, Mackenzie. I look after him on Wednesdays so don’t ever bother me then! My hobbies are reading (of course), pottering around the house, painting furniture and being nosy (which goes with being a writer).
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