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Hooper, Mary
7 Reviews
(4)
YA
During WWI, fifteen-year-old Poppy leaves her job as a parlormaid at a UK estate in order to serve as a volunteer nursing assistant. Hardworking Poppy cares for her country's injured soldiers with diligence and optimism while entertaining some chaste romances. Her persistent guilelessness can be bland, but Poppy is a generally appealing Everygirl with a unique perspective on the historical period. Bib.
Reviewer: Jessica Tackett MacDonald
(4)
YA
Velvet's survival as a laundress in Victorian London is tenuous until she meets medium Madame Savoya. Velvet is entranced by Madame's ability to commune with the dead, but eventually scams (and dangers) become all too visible. Velvet's wide-reaching gullibility undermines her appeal as a protagonist, but Hooper excels at period detail. Informative historical notes are appended. Bib.
Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac
(3)
YA
Victorian London offers few opportunities for impoverished young women, even hardworking ones like Grace and her mentally disabled sister, Lily. Battered by one misfortune after another, Grace eventually finds work in a funeral home run by a grasping and unscrupulous family, and she nearly falls victim to one of their frauds. Remarkable period detail recalls Dickens, while the intrigue-stuffed plot beckons modern readers. Bib.
Reviewer: Megan Lynn Isaac
(2)
YA
In 1650 England, Anne Green was hanged. She didn't die, but gradually regained consciousness in her coffin. In alternate chapters, the events are told by medical student Robert Matthews and Anne herself. Hooper has created two distinct, authentic voices that flow in parallel stories, building to new awakenings and knowledge. A well-researched, riveting read. An author's note is appended. Bib.
Reviewer: Martha Walke
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
May, 2008
(4)
YA
In 1670, after her stepmother kicks her out, fifteen-year-old Eliza travels to London to find her father. She is jailed for stealing food, then rescued, forced to work, and rescued again; she saves the king and finally discovers her true identity. Though much of the story is far-fetched, Hooper effectively conveys the precariousness of life in seventeenth-century England.
Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman
(4)
4-6
Picking up where At the Sign of the Sugared Plum left off, Hannah and her older sister spend several months outside of London until the plague subsides. Hannah returns to London with her younger sister shortly before the Great Fire of 1666. Details of everyday life, along with the sometimes harrowing account of escaping the fire, carry the otherwise tepid historical novel along.
Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman
(4)
4-6
After moving to London to help her sister, Hannah runs into an old friend, falls for the apothecary's apprentice, and generally enjoys city life until the bubonic plague hits. Hannah is an engaging character, and the details of life in 1665 London are authentic. The novel's ending, in which Hannah and her sister escape London in disguise to rescue an orphaned infant, seems unfinished. Recipes. Glos.
Reviewer: Jeannine M. Chapman
7 reviews
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