Guest Review: A Parcel of Rogues by Pamela Belle

A Parcel of Rogues begins with Sam, a middle-aged businessman from Oxford, rather lost in London as he searches for his runaway daughter Mary. It is 1715, and James Stuart, the “Old Pretender,” is gathering supporters to overthrow the Hanoverian King George I. For a while we stay with Sam and a new acquaintance, Mr. Dark, as they follow leads toward Mary. They are joined by a beautiful young woman of dubious virtue, Polly Paradice.

Then, rather surprisingly, Sam and Mary recede from the plot as the rebellion gathers strength and Polly becomes the center of the book. She is a well-drawn character, flawed but appealing, who has had a series of lovers in order to survive. In contrast to many historical novels, our sympathies here are with the Hanover regime and not the Jacobites (er, “perfidious Frenchies”). Sam and Mary reappear toward the end, but Gin, a street urchin Polly takes in, wins the prize for Best Supporting Character.

Pamela Belle has written many successful novels, including the beloved Wintercombe; this one is hard to slot -- not a family saga, not a fantasy, not the usual historical mystery, as we know quite soon who the bad guys are and what they are up to. She presents a rather gritty picture of London and some of its less elegant citizens. No balls and drawing rooms here – in fact, one of the most striking sequences is set in Newgate Prison. But fear not, there is a love story!

http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/newgate.html

There is also violence and suspense, but in between we see Polly planning a venture to ensure her independence. It may be the author spends a little too much time in describing Polly’s inner thoughts and feelings, becoming somewhat repetitious, but we do identify with her and I’m sure many readers will picture themselves wandering into the Paradise Coffee Shop.

Publication: Kindle, 2004
Genre: Historical Fiction
Setting: 18th-century London
Source: Personal copy

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Thank you to Stephanie Martin for the review!