Pandora by Susan Stokes-Chapman

I think I am a little like the magpie on the front of this book because I was attracted by the pretty gold design on the front cover when I was in the library choosing my books. The sticker on the front announcing that this was an 'Instant number one best seller' also helped with my choice and I'm glad to say that the story inside did not disappoint.

I had been looking for something a bit different, but as it turned out, this book is set in the same century as the book Winchelsea that I read last week, although there is a very different tone to the writing. Winchelsea was about smugglers and pirates and Pandora has a focus on antiquities and the myth of Pandora's Box.

I enjoyed the style of writing as it was easy to read and the storyline was told along a fairly straight time-line with references to the past only taking the form of memories. Sometimes that is much easier to get along with as it can be quite frustrating if you come to the end of an exciting chapter and the author takes you back fifty years to another character altogether.

Pandora is the heroine of the tale and she is an orphan living with her uncle in a run-down shop in London selling antiquities. It had once been a wonderful shop filled with historical artifacts sourced from the remains of ancient civilisations by her parents, but since they were both killed in an accident on an archaeological dig, her uncle has begun trading in forgeries and the shop is likely to close.

Her uncle is determined to make money by dishonest means, and although Pandora has noticed the forgeries on the shelves, she has no idea of the lengths her uncle has been going to in order to make himself more money to spend on the luxuries he craves. It is only when a giant Pithos vase is delivered to their basement that the truth begins to come out, and Pandora realises she could be hung for the crime of trading in stolen goods, and her uncle has put both their lives in danger.

The story is well put together with lots of little details that later become important to the outcome of the plot. There are facts for Pandora to uncover to get to the truth surrounding her uncle's secretive dealings and how everything that is happening might relate back to her parents. Well worth reading.

Comments

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