A Novel with Thoughts and Ponderings

LADY LIGHTFINGERS

Author: Janet Woods ISBN: 9780727880567 10/2011 HISTORICAL Publisher: SEVERN HOUSE
Time Period: Victorian Era, 1850-1854

Lady Lightfingers by Janet Woods
Raised in the slums in 1850s London, Celia Laws is a rarity, an educated young woman whose creative skills have attracted notice.  But with family to care for, circumstances have driven her to pickpocketing.  In Celia’s harsh world, it’s a small step from picking pockets to prostitution.  When a young man offers her a fortune in return for spending a week with him, she takes the money and runs – to a spinster aunt in Dorset.

Aunt Harriet takes pity on her young relatives, and offers them a home and opportunities. But Celia’s conscience will not allow her to forget the money she stole, nor can she bring herself to spend it.  A chance encounter with Charles Curtis, the young lawyer she deceived – and eventually comes to admire – brings her face to face with her past and thrusts her into an uncertain future …

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS: Top Pick

Celia Jane Laws is only fifteen years-old, yet she’s had to shoulder so much through her young life, and that is what gives this young woman her strength. Life in the slums of London is not what she wants, and it’s not what she’s willing to accept; to that end, she will do almost anything it takes to pull herself and her family out of it.

The journey she takes is one of determination, and the combination of her skill and proficiency, which earns her the moniker of Lady Lightfingers, along with her quick wit, you’ll root her on and rejoice in her triumph.

Along the way, Ms. Woods introduces us to some characters that are unforgettable, like Alice Laws, Celia’s mother, who fights the good fight and, against all odds, teaches her daughter that morals are never to be abandoned.

Then there's Thomas Humbert, a man that out of the goodness of his heart, takes an interest in a bright and curious mind of a child-woman who lifts his watch, and is determined to help her reach her full potential.

James Kent, Thomas’ nephew, is a young man with great prospects of his own, and someone that is full of doubts in regards to the ‘beggar girl’ that his uncle is determined to help; he, likewise, is determined to make sure Thomas is not taken advantage of.

There's Johnny Archer, a boy with nothing to his name but a small cart who ‘attaches’ himself to Celia and grows on us while he does the same to her!

And last, but not least, we have Charles Curtis, a young and arrogant man that offers a madam of a whore house a substantial amount of money for Celia’s services, and sets into motion events that would teach him a thing or two about redemption, love, and sacrifice.

If you love authors such as Carla Kelly, Georgette Heyer, and that incomparable of them all, Jane Austen, you will love LADY LIGHTFINGERS. The romance of it more than makes up for the lack of sensuality and heat that you might be looking for, and I highly recommended this story of pure love.

Melanie Friedman

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