⇒ PDF The Disgrace of Kitty Grey Mary Hooper 9781408827611 Books

The Disgrace of Kitty Grey Mary Hooper 9781408827611 Books

Download As PDF : The Disgrace of Kitty Grey Mary Hooper 9781408827611 Books

The Disgrace of Kitty Grey Mary Hooper 9781408827611 Books

Kitty Grey is happy with her life. She looks after five gorgeous milk cows, has plenty of free time and is in the start of a lovely romance with Will the Ferryman. But Will dreams of more than just living in Devonshire. He’s keen to go to London and earn his fortune so that he will be a man Kitty can be proud of.

When Kitty discovers Will is missing and all his belongings are gone too, she’s furious. When she gets given a chance to run an errand in London, Kitty is eager to go to the city and track Will down. But what greets her is nothing at all like she expected.

I had high hopes for The Disgrace of Kitty Grey. I’ve read some of Mary Hooper’s contemporary novels before but this is the first historical novel of hers that I read. It’s got a lot of charm. From the first few pages when Kitty gets asked to assist the young Misses in their quest to create a tableau vivant complete with live cows I knew it was going to be an entertaining novel. And it had some great points. I enjoyed the differences between modern life and the world Kitty lives in. There are some lovely contrasts of Kitty’s idyllic life in Devonshire and the world she experiences in the city of London.

Where this novel fell short for me was in the intensity of Kitty’s emotions. She has to face some tragic circumstances and throughout it all she never sheds a tear. I needed to feel more from Kitty in order to enjoy the story more. Another shortcoming of this novel was the incredible coincidences that occur – it made this story feel less realistic with just how impossible some of the situations were.

Beautifully researched, The Disgrace of Kitty Grey was a lovely book to read with a strong heroine but lacked a lot of emotion.


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The Disgrace of Kitty Grey Mary Hooper 9781408827611 Books Reviews

Kitty may not be rich but she is happy with her life, she works for a wealthy family as a dairymaid and although her hours are long she is well treated and has plenty of food to eat. She even has a sweetheart, local ferryman Will, who she adores and hopes to one day marry. Then Will disappears leaving Kitty to look after his four year old sister Betsy alone. Will didn't even say goodbye but Kitty knows he has family in London and wanted to go there to make his fortune so when the opportunity comes up she decides to go in search of him to reunite Betsy with her brother. What Kitty didn't realise was how big London is or just quite how harsh life can be there for a woman alone with a young child. Within minutes of their arrival all of their belongings are stolen and Kitty is forced to take desperate measures just to survive, ones that end with her arrested for stealing.

I'm a huge fan of Mary Hooper's writing, she has a way of bringing history to life and I think that's partly down to all the little details she adds to her stories - those little snippets from true stories that show how well researched her books are. I love the way she always introduces some less talked about aspects of history too, in Fallen Grace it was Victorian funeral traditions, in Velvet it was the horror of baby farms and in The Disgrace of Kitty Grey it was the treatment of female prisoners and the prison ships that were sent to colonise Australia along with some very interesting snippets about the life of a milkmaid.

Kitty is such a great character, she is quite innocent, especially when it comes to the ways of city life, but at the same time she has a great inner strength that is what pulls her through the difficult times. Nothing about London is what she was expecting it to be and it was a real struggle for her just to survive, she tries so hard to get a job and earn the money she needs to look after Betsy but circumstances keep going against her. It makes you really appreciate the justice and welfare systems we have in place now because it was practically impossible for single women to make an honest living in the past, especially one with a child because of the stigma of being an unmarried mother. The conditions in the prisons were just horrific for the poor, sentences for relatively small crimes were high and unless you had the money to bribe the guards for extra food or even a blanket then life was miserable. In contrast if you were rich then prison could have all the comforts of home right down to a four poster bed if you paid enough for the privilege!

There were a couple of coincidences in The Disgrace of Kitty Grey that were a little hard to believe but that didn't stop me thoroughly enjoying the story. Kitty was lucky enough to find some supportive friends who made life at Newgate prison a little more bearable for her and Betsy. I think anyone with even a slight interest in history is going to love any of Mary Hooper's books and this one is no exception. I can't wait to see what interesting topic she introduces next.
Kitty Grey is happy with her life. She looks after five gorgeous milk cows, has plenty of free time and is in the start of a lovely romance with Will the Ferryman. But Will dreams of more than just living in Devonshire. He’s keen to go to London and earn his fortune so that he will be a man Kitty can be proud of.

When Kitty discovers Will is missing and all his belongings are gone too, she’s furious. When she gets given a chance to run an errand in London, Kitty is eager to go to the city and track Will down. But what greets her is nothing at all like she expected.

I had high hopes for The Disgrace of Kitty Grey. I’ve read some of Mary Hooper’s contemporary novels before but this is the first historical novel of hers that I read. It’s got a lot of charm. From the first few pages when Kitty gets asked to assist the young Misses in their quest to create a tableau vivant complete with live cows I knew it was going to be an entertaining novel. And it had some great points. I enjoyed the differences between modern life and the world Kitty lives in. There are some lovely contrasts of Kitty’s idyllic life in Devonshire and the world she experiences in the city of London.

Where this novel fell short for me was in the intensity of Kitty’s emotions. She has to face some tragic circumstances and throughout it all she never sheds a tear. I needed to feel more from Kitty in order to enjoy the story more. Another shortcoming of this novel was the incredible coincidences that occur – it made this story feel less realistic with just how impossible some of the situations were.

Beautifully researched, The Disgrace of Kitty Grey was a lovely book to read with a strong heroine but lacked a lot of emotion.