This week’s recommended reading is The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein.
Hi, Debbi Mack here, and I’m going to review The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein.
This is a really fantastic story. It’s a young adult crime story, and it takes place in Scotland. The protagonist’s name is Julia Beaufort-Stewart, and she is part of a very wealthy family who owns a castle and all these grounds and two castles, I think, a mansion and a yacht—no, well, I’m being facetious, but the point is they’re very wealthy and high up on the social scale.
And Julia is 15 years old. She gets involved in a case inadvertently of an apparent murder in which she’s knocked over the head and found by one of the … what they call tinkers. People who … they’re like gypsies. They’re Scottish travellers who basically live off the land and what they find on the land. And eventually she befriends the family that kind of came to her aid and rescued her.
And this story is just so beautiful and the protagonist is so likable. The story is rich with not only information about Scotland and the tinkers and the social strata of Scotland, but with wonderful insights into things like prejudice and class distinctions. But at the same time tells the most wonderful crime story that just pulled me in, and I highly recommend it. I really do. The Pearl Thief.
And now I want to read all of this woman’s books. This happens to me every time I read a really good book. I just want to read all the rest of that author’s books. Do you have the same problem? Anyway, I give it high marks. Talk to you later!