The Pearl in the Attic

by Karen McCombie

★★★★

Review

This is a lovely historical fiction story which is based in the Edwardian period. The story flips between the present day where we follow the story of Scarlett, a girl who is brought back to London by her grandma’s poor health, and Edwardian London where Ruby finds herself in the care of an abusive family. 

While visiting her grandma in hospital, Scarlett is given a cryptic clue that leads her to the attic of her London flat. Here, she discovers the first chapter of her grandmother’s fictional story alongside a whole load of secrets. Desperate to know more, Scarlett hunts to finish the story and soon begins to question whether her grandmother’s story really is made up. 

I absolutely love stories set in the past and this book was a brilliant, short read that was fast paced and gripping. I loved the alternating timelines and how the two worlds were intertwined so nearly through each new chapter discovered. 

Although on the shorter side, this book takes you on an exciting, and at times heart-wrenching, adventure that is filled with love, friendship and the harsh reality of life for children in Edwardian London. I found myself growing to like the characters very quickly and admire how successfully Karen McCombie developed each one in such a short space of time. 

I would recommend this book to children or parents who enjoy when historical fiction meets the present day. There are a few references and hints to domestic abuse peppered throughout the story, but these are a vital part of the storyline and a realistic representation of life for some children and women during the Edwardian period. 

Dive Deeper

Key information 

Author: Karen McCombie 

Release Date: 1st June 2017

Book type: Chapter, 256 pages, paperback

Reader level: Growing reader (content 9+)

Overview

When Scarlet's grandma goes into a retirement home, she must sort through her belongings in the cramped flat above a shop in Crouch End, north London.

Here Scarlet comes across a real treasure: a novel that Gran wrote, imagining the life of a girl just like Scarlet, who once upon a time lived in the flat and worked in a cake shop downstairs.

But as Scarlet reads about Ruby's life in Victorian London, she begins to realise this is no piece of fiction - Ruby was real!

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