Scan barcode
A review by silverliningsandpages
Miss Marley: The Untold Story of Jacob Marley's Sister by Vanessa Lafaye
5.0
R E V I E W
🎄
Thank you to @hqstories for inviting me to take part in the book tour today for Miss Marley, which was published this week.
🎄
Miss Marley, by Vanessa Lafaye, is a prequel to A Christmas Carol, published 175 years after the original.
🎄
Clara and Jacob Marley have had a happy and privileged lifestyle until they suddenly find themselves orphaned and sent to the workhouse. They escape the harsh institution and are forced to scavenge on the dangerous streets. Each night the protective Jacob promises his sister that “tomorrow will be better”, so when an opportunity to escape destitution, he grasps it despite the dreadful price.
🎄
The siblings’ situation improves when they establish a money-lending business, the brainchild of Clara. And so Jacob is on a trajectory that leads to his infamous partnership with Ebenezer Scrooge. As he builds his wealthy empire and shuts out compassion, only Clara can save him from the terrible fate that lies ahead if he rejects love and kindness.
🎄
I loved this enchanting and festive novella, which is bursting with Dickensian sights and smells, and told through a perfect cast of characters and ghosts. The use of an intelligent and bold female protagonist is important, giving voice to the unfeatured stories of women in the classic. I was particularly moved to read that author Vanessa Lafaye tragically died from cancer earlier in the year, and the story was lovingly finished by her friend Rebecca Mascull. The point where one author left off (chapter 9) and the other picks up is completely seamless. This personal aspect to the book embodies all of Miss Marley’s bittersweet themes of love, hope and charity. It is “rich with the spiced and woodland scents of Christmas, past, present and yet to come”. I thoroughly recommend this book - it would make a perfect gift for the festive season.
Rating: 4.5 🌟
🎄
Thanks to Joe Thompson and @hqstories for the review copy and inviting me on the book tour.
🎄
🎄
Thank you to @hqstories for inviting me to take part in the book tour today for Miss Marley, which was published this week.
🎄
Miss Marley, by Vanessa Lafaye, is a prequel to A Christmas Carol, published 175 years after the original.
🎄
Clara and Jacob Marley have had a happy and privileged lifestyle until they suddenly find themselves orphaned and sent to the workhouse. They escape the harsh institution and are forced to scavenge on the dangerous streets. Each night the protective Jacob promises his sister that “tomorrow will be better”, so when an opportunity to escape destitution, he grasps it despite the dreadful price.
🎄
The siblings’ situation improves when they establish a money-lending business, the brainchild of Clara. And so Jacob is on a trajectory that leads to his infamous partnership with Ebenezer Scrooge. As he builds his wealthy empire and shuts out compassion, only Clara can save him from the terrible fate that lies ahead if he rejects love and kindness.
🎄
I loved this enchanting and festive novella, which is bursting with Dickensian sights and smells, and told through a perfect cast of characters and ghosts. The use of an intelligent and bold female protagonist is important, giving voice to the unfeatured stories of women in the classic. I was particularly moved to read that author Vanessa Lafaye tragically died from cancer earlier in the year, and the story was lovingly finished by her friend Rebecca Mascull. The point where one author left off (chapter 9) and the other picks up is completely seamless. This personal aspect to the book embodies all of Miss Marley’s bittersweet themes of love, hope and charity. It is “rich with the spiced and woodland scents of Christmas, past, present and yet to come”. I thoroughly recommend this book - it would make a perfect gift for the festive season.
Rating: 4.5 🌟
🎄
Thanks to Joe Thompson and @hqstories for the review copy and inviting me on the book tour.
🎄