When I was compiling my list for the 2019 Cloak
and Dagger Challenge, I missed off a number of books including
Elizabeth Wein’s The Pearl Thief. As
Wein’s Code Name Verity was my top
read in 2018, I was looking forward to reading this prequel.
Well listening to what was my first Audible novel, though not my first audio
book.
I’m now listening
to another Elizabeth Wein novel – Black Dove, White Raven – but back to the
review of my sixth read for the Challenge
The Pearl Thief
(Code Name
Verity 0.5)
by
Elizabeth
E. Wein
Before Verity . .
. there was Julie.
When fifteen-year-old Julia Beaufort-Stuart wakes up in the hospital, she knows
the lazy summer break she’d imagined won’t be exactly like she anticipated. And
once she returns to her grandfather’s estate, a bit banged up but alive, she
begins to realize that her injury might not have been an accident. One of her
family’s employees is missing, and he disappeared on the very same day she
landed in the hospital.
Desperate to figure out what happened, she befriends Euan McEwen, the Scots
Traveller boy who found her when she was injured, and his standoffish sister
Ellen. As Julie grows closer to this family, she experiences some of the
prejudices they’ve grown used to firsthand, a stark contrast to her own
upbringing, and finds herself exploring thrilling new experiences that have
nothing to do with a missing-person investigation.
Her memory of that day returns to her in pieces, and when a body is discovered,
her new friends are caught in the crosshairs of long-held biases about
Travellers. Julie must get to the bottom of the mystery in order to keep them
from being framed for the crime.
In the prequel to Printz Honor Book Code Name Verity, this
exhilarating coming-of-age story returns to a beloved character just before she
learned to fly.
Review 5 stars
After I was bowled over by the brilliance of Elizabeth Wein’s
Code Name Verity, I enjoyed
re-connecting with the memorable Julia Beaufort-Stuart – albeit when she was
fifteen.
This is a different genre – a mystery and coming-of-age story that my wife and I listened to engrossed. This was our first Audible book and the narration by actress Maggie Service was excellent, bringing to life the characters.
The mystery begins when Julia wakes up in hospital and
realises that her injury might not have been an accident. Desperate to figure
out what happened, she befriends Euan McEwen, the Scots Traveller boy who found
her when she was injured, and his standoffish sister Ellen. As Julie grows
closer to this family, she experiences some of the prejudices they’ve grown
used to first-hand, a stark contrast to her own upbringing, and finds herself
exploring thrilling new experiences.
Wein artfully weaves pearl gathering in the river and a
missing-person investigation into Julia’s evolving relationships. Facts are slipped
into scenes in subtle ways, and the author even adds a useful addendum about
Pearls and Travellers at the very end. Wein always strikes me as a writer that
does her research and knows how to knit it into a tale – as she does here.
The characters were distinctive and grew over time, not just
as their layers were unpeeled but also by their interactions. For instance, the
complex relationship between Julia and Ellen grows from social divide to mutual
understanding and deep friendship. Others grow from their shells or achieve deserved
recognition in a similar way.
The Scottish setting echoed my own time there, especially
along stretches of riverbank. And some of the prejudices were familiar from the
class world I know.
By the end, the mysteries – yes, there I far more than one-
have been solved in unexpected ways. For me, some seeds had been sown that foreshadowed
Code Name Verity – subtle and
poignant.
An excellent listen – and another memorable character.
Story – five stars
Setting/World-building
– five stars
Characters – five
stars
Authenticity –
five stars
Structure – five
stars
Narration – five
stars
Editing – five
stars
Writing Wings 