Petals in the Ashes

The sequel to At the Sign of the Sugared Plum

by Mary Hooper

It is 1666: a year after Hannah, heroine of At the Sign of the Sugared Plum, first came to London and was forced to leave after the outbreak of plague. Now, Hannah is ready to return to the bustle of city life with her younger sister Anne, keen to re-open the Sugared Plum sweetmeats shop and to make up for lost time.

But fate has not finished with London - dreadful things have been prophesised for the city and as Hannah and Anne settle in, a terrible fire takes hold in Pudding Lane, with devastating consequences.

In this worthy sequel to the first installment of Hannah's story, Mary Hooper once again shows her mastery of the historical landscape.

Publisher: Bloomsbury Children's Books

Mary Hooper

Mary Hooper has been writing professionally for over 20 years. She started by writing short stories and serials for teenage and women's magazines when her children were small. Having done a few hundred, and thinking it would be good to see something more permanent on the shelves, she wrote and had published 15 teenage novels. Following this, she wrote another 15 novels or so for younger readers, all humorous. She is perhaps best known for her historical fiction, which captures the atmosphere of the past perfectly and mixes it with romance and adventure. At The Sign of the Sugared Plum was her first historical novel for Bloomsbury. She has since written seven more including Fallen Grace. Mary left school at 15 with no qualifications. She worked as a secretary for some years, then got married and had two children. She took an English degree at Reading University as a mature student and graduated in 1990. She now divides her time between writing more serious books for teenagers and funny stuff for ages seven to twelve.

Visit Mary's website

http://www.maryhooper.co.uk/

Mary Hooper Photo: Bloomsbury