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Product Description
Product Description
Anne Perry’s Victorian Christmas novels have attracted as many faithful readers as her two New York Times bestselling series featuring investigators Thomas Pitt and William Monk. A Christmas Promise is the seventh in Perry’s holiday series, and it will surely bring joy to this special season.
Three days before Christmas, in the freezing slums of London’s East End, thirteen-year-old Gracie Phipps encounters Minnie Maude Mudway, who is only eight, alone, and determined to find her friend Charlie.
However Charlie is no ordinary companion: He is a donkey who belonged to Minnie Maude’s Uncle Alf. Gracie is shocked to learn that only the day before, someone brutally murdered Uncle Alf and made off with his rag-and-bones cart and the beloved beast who pulled it. Now, come hell or high water, Minnie Maude means to rescue Charlie–and Gracie decides to help. But the path that Uncle Alf had taken to his death was not his regular route, and in his cart were not just the usual bits of worn silver and china but also, the children are told, a dazzling golden box. What its contents may have been no one can say, for, like Charlie and the cart, it too has vanished.
Uncertain where their four-legged friend may be, the children are drawn into an adult world far beyond their innocent imaginings. And in a shop gleaming with beautiful objects, they recruit an unexpected ally: Mr. Balthasar, who warns them that the shining prize may be a Pandora’s box of evil.
Set in the Victorian world where Anne Perry reigns supreme, A Christmas Promise culminates in a radiant finale that will remain with you long after the final page is turned.
Three days before Christmas, in the freezing slums of London’s East End, thirteen-year-old Gracie Phipps encounters Minnie Maude Mudway, who is only eight, alone, and determined to find her friend Charlie.
However Charlie is no ordinary companion: He is a donkey who belonged to Minnie Maude’s Uncle Alf. Gracie is shocked to learn that only the day before, someone brutally murdered Uncle Alf and made off with his rag-and-bones cart and the beloved beast who pulled it. Now, come hell or high water, Minnie Maude means to rescue Charlie–and Gracie decides to help. But the path that Uncle Alf had taken to his death was not his regular route, and in his cart were not just the usual bits of worn silver and china but also, the children are told, a dazzling golden box. What its contents may have been no one can say, for, like Charlie and the cart, it too has vanished.
Uncertain where their four-legged friend may be, the children are drawn into an adult world far beyond their innocent imaginings. And in a shop gleaming with beautiful objects, they recruit an unexpected ally: Mr. Balthasar, who warns them that the shining prize may be a Pandora’s box of evil.
Set in the Victorian world where Anne Perry reigns supreme, A Christmas Promise culminates in a radiant finale that will remain with you long after the final page is turned.
About the Author
Anne Perry is the bestselling author of six earlier holiday novels–A Christmas Grace, A Christmas Journey, A Christmas Visitor, A Christmas Guest, A Christmas Secret, and A Christmas Beginning–as well as the William Monk series and the Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series set in Victorian England, and five World War I novels. Anne Perry lives in Scotland.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.1 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Christmas Tradition for me, Nov 15 2009
By S. Schwartz "romonko" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: A Christmas Promise: A Novel (Hardcover)
Reading Anne Perry's Christmas novelettes has become a Christmas tradition for me. This book is the seventh such book. For those that don't know, these stories are based on minor characters in the Thomas and Charlotte Pitt series or the William Monk series. This one is about Gracie, Thomas and Charlotte's maid. The story is set on the streets of London when Gracie was 13, before she came to the Pitts. Gracie is a street survivor, and she is asked to help an eight year old girl by the name of Minnie Maude Mudway to help her find her uncle's donkey that has been missing since her uncle was killed. It sounds simple enough to Gracie but she finds a whole underworld that she doesn't know exists and her and her little friend are in great danger. Of course this is set right around Christmas in keeping with the theme of these stories. This little book is endearing because Gracie is one of my favourite characters. Gracie shows determination and empathy for those who are even less fortunate than her. It's a heartwarming tale.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful present from Ms. Perry and Gracie, Dec 2 2009
By L. J. Roberts - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: A Christmas Promise: A Novel (Hardcover)
First Sentence: The week before Christmas, the smell and taste of it were in the air, a kind of excitement, an urgency about everything.A few days before Christmas, 13-year-old Gracie Phillips comes across 8 year-old Minnie Maude Mudway standing in the cold. Her uncle, a rag and bone man, was found dead in the street with his cart and Charlie, the mule, missing. Gracie starts out by promising to help her find Charlie, but goes on to help her find out who killed her uncle.
Anne Perry's Christmas books are wonderful gifts to her readers and always feature one of the secondary characters of her series. A young, pre-Pitt family, Gracie takes center stage yet even at this young age, you see her grit, determination and indomitable spirit. She is determined that she'll learn to read and improve her life, but doesn't let her lack of skill stop her. Yet I so agree with the wonderful, slightly mysterious, Mr. Balthasar when he states, "...Everyone should read. There is a whole magical world waiting for you, people to meet and places to go, flights of the mid and the heart you can't even imagine."
Speaking of places to go, the sense of time and place is one of the things I most admire in Ms. Perry's writing. You feel the cold wind and see the dirty alleys, but also the wreaths on the doors and the lights. The dialogue is written in dialect, which took me a bit to get on to, but I quickly forgot it was even there.
Lest you think this is a light Christmas story; it's not. This is not the London of drawing rooms, but of back alleys, the poor, desperate and hungry. There is fear and cruelty and a mystery with tension, suspense and a wonderful ending.
I look forward to seeing who Ms. Perry brings us next year.
A CHRISTMAS PROMISE (Hist Mys-Gracie Phipps-England-Victorian) - Ex
Perry, Anne - 7th Christmas book
Ballantine Books, 2009, US Hardcover - ISBN: 9780345510662
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Anne Perry Christmas gift - probably my favorite!, Nov 23 2009
By ellen "ellen in atlanta" - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: A Christmas Promise: A Novel (Hardcover)
Anne Perry is quite a lady and a prolific author. Her Christmas gifts to us are small novels that deal with a character from one of her Thomas and Charlotte Pitt or Hester and William Monk novels, and what impact they have in the story.I wrote Mrs. Perry and she sent me a Christmas card and I have it in the first of the series, and it is precious to me.
This year's book deals with Gracie Phillips, the spunky maid and friend of the Pitts. This deals with a time just before she meets the Pitts and starts a new life with them.
Gracie is thirteen and comes across an eight year old girl, Minnie Maude. Minnie is upset that her uncle, who is a pan handler, has been killed, and his cart and her beloved donkey, Charlie.
Feeling sorry for Minnie, Gracie joins her after her chores and cleaning job, find the donkey, and see who killed Minnie's uncle.
A wise man named Balthasar helps the girls unfurl the mystery and the girls have a gift for the Christ Child in the manger. Only they get the best gifts ever.
It is a short, but very sweet read that means so much for us Anne Perry fans.
Merry Christmas Mrs.Perry! Thanks for your gift to us!
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