The Pearl in the Attic

by Karen McCombie

When Scarlet's grandma goes into a retirement home, she must sort through her belongings in the cramped flat above a shop in Crouch End, north London. Here Scarlet comes across a real treasure: a novel that Gran wrote, imagining the life of a girl just like Scarlet, who once upon a time lived in the flat and worked in a cake shop downstairs. But as Scarlet reads about Ruby's life in Victorian London, she begins to realise this is no piece of fiction - Ruby was real! A real life, facing real danger - and a mystery that unravels to the present day.

Genres: Fiction, Childrens, Contemporary, Middle Grade, Mystery

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

Karen McCombie is a bestselling author of children's and young adult novels, and has had more than 90 books published. She is the author of the much-loved series 'Ally's World' (early 2000s) and her most recent books include the Carnegie-nominated historical adventure 'Little Bird Flies' (2019) and it's newly published partner novel 'Little Bird Lands' (2020, Nosy Crow Books), plus the 'St Grizzle's School' series for younger readers (Stripes). She has several books publishing in 2021.
Originally from Scotland, Karen lives in London with her husband, her teenage daughter and beautiful but bitey cat Dizzy.

Reviews

[Amy (Golden Books Girl) · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this novel, Karen McCombie tells the story of Scarlett as her estranged gran is taken into hospital and Scarlett and her mum begin to reconnect with her. Part of this is Scarlett and her new sort-of-cousin Zephyr discovering chapters of her gran`s novel about a girl named Ruby, which she soon realises isn’t actually fictional, and becoming desperate to unravel the story of the real Ruby. I really liked Scarlett`s point of view and her way of looking at life as she reminded me a little of Ally from McCombie`s bestselling Ally`s World books. It was also interesting to see extracts from Scarlett`s gran`s book and uncover more of Ruby`s life along with Scarlett, and the descriptive language used in these sections was just gorgeous (and in the initial scenes describing the bakery Ruby worked in, mouth-watering.). The book also touches on and sensitively handles a variety of family issues and dealing with a possible dementia diagnosis, and it had such a lovely feel good ending that I was left wholly satisfied with the story and with a smile on my face. 4/5

[Razan Yaqoub]

this book is really great. it talks about a girl who meets much of life surprises , which one of them happens to be the story her grandma wrote,which is also the title of the book "The Pearl In the Attic". recommended

[lydia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was debating to give this a 3 star but nah. I didn’t feel connected to the characters but I do give praise that it was a well thought out book and maybe younger me would of enjoyed it more than now.

[sgh · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book just never really lived up to expectations for me, I didn’t really understand the linking of the two stories and thought the modern narrative seemed a bit dated.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Pearl in the Attic is a chapter book for kids by Karen McCombie. The Amazon store description advices it for the reading ages of 9 to 12 years. The book begins with Scarlet and her mother finding out that Scarlet’s grandmother is sick; she has had a fall and is in hospital. When they go to get some personal items for the grandmother, from her flat, they find out things they never knew about her. Scarlet finds some pages of a story that her grandmother had written, and is eager to find more. The story within a story is about a girl, Ruby, who is sent to live with an uncle, and to work at his shop.

I borrowed a copy of this book from my public library’s BorrowBox catalogue. My first thought about it is that it is okay, but kind of bland. I am not the intended audience for it, so I guess it’s understandable why I didn’t enjoy it as much as others probably do. Though, I think it’s the type of book that a lot of people can relate to. Such as the way younger audiences can think about their own family, and think about the similarities and differences between each other. Or audiences might look at the book and think about how their own grandparent(s) might be slipping into dementia.

I think the plot main plot line has some interesting points. I appreciate that development of the way Scarlet refuses to believe in her grandmother’s dementia; not wanting it to be true. I think the author has done those points well, because it can be similar to the way people in real life refuse to believe that their relative(s) and/ or friend(s) are sick, or have problems. Scarlet later admits that she simply didn’t want it to be true. And, in that way, it’s like real life. Many of us don’t like the knowledge that friends or family members are sick. It’s upsetting news, and I think the author handled that plot line somewhat well.

While there were aspects of the storyline between Scarlet and her cousin, Zephyr, that I didn’t like, I think the author did it reasonably well. I could tell that Scarlet had somewhat of a jealousy for her cousin, and it was clear that she thought it uncomfortable/ awkward to be around him, at times. I appreciate that Scarlet then comes to get to know him, and understand him. It was good because I feel like it gives readers an understanding that the grass isn't always greener on the other side, and the author was able to show Scarlet that Zephyr's life has some dramas, too. Which I think is an important “lesson” for a lot of us. Many people see friends or family members who seem to be doing really well in life, but we might be mistaken because we don’t know of some of the dramas that might be happening in their lives. Though Scarlet has some jealousy towards Zephyr at first, there's a really good moment where she and he talk about their differences. Then they’re able to work together to find the last bits of the story, and to figure out what happened in the end.

I think there's a really good ending to it; it turns out well. I kind of wish there had been more chapters to the Nana story, though. It's just a basic few chapters, and I would have liked to read more of it. Also, I felt like there were a lot of characters throughout the story that didn’t seem very relevant; some were glossed over and not really introduced well.

Overall, I think it was a reasonably well done book. While I didn’t love it, I think the author did a good job on a lot of the aspects of storytelling. There were some good moments of character development, as well as developing the plots of the book (and the story within a story). I think this author is one I’ll definitely come back to in future. I think a lot of kids would like this book.

[Eve L-A Witherington · Rating 4 out of 5]

After her nana has a fall resulting in broken bones and possibly a dementia diagnosis too, Scarlet and her mum visit her nana's London flat and discover everything she'd told them is true and not made up especially The Pearl In The Attic she wanted Scarlet to find which turns out to be a novel written with each chapter hidden and a trail for Scarlet to figure out.



While staying at her nana's they also get two more guests in the form of a new cousin and uncle she didn't even know about!



Scarlet soon pieces together that where her nan lives in the flat with below shop is the setting of the story where Ruby works and discovers Pearl in her nana's story but also gives her the idea of using the shop to create a special place to sell the vintage things her nana has collected.



I loved this story, for the mystery, the surprising family and the fact that Scarlet realises family is important and never forget each other no matter what may come between them. The story her nana writes is inspired by chance and coincidence which further proves inspiration is all around, a lesson to us all!

[Amelia · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an absolutely extraordinary book....

I am quite a fan of Karen McCombie's books (particularly her "St Grizzles School For Girls" series which was hilarious, and her "Angels" trilogy) so I decided to borrow "The Pearl In The Attic" as I was intrigued by the book's blurb.

I enjoyed reading about Scarlet: she is such a very *real* teenager. I enjoyed reading about Scarlet and her cousin Zephyr, and the two of them searching for the clues their Nana had hidden and her mysterious story.

Each chapter brought mystery and intrigue! It was very interesting to read about Ruby and Pearl too, and their lives back in Edwardian London. (And how it contrast to the main story)

Reading about Nana's amazing house and her special story was such a treat. This is one book I will remember forever.

[grand gei~ · Rating 5 out of 5]

A 👏 M 👏 A 👏 Z 👏 I 👏 N 👏 G
I came into this book with low expectations, and was wowed. I got reared up at the end, and had an extremely pleasant feeling at the end.

This is more of the younger ya books, be the style of writing is amazing.

[Evelyn Hulme · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend you read this book because it is suitable for all ages who are into mystery and has loads of revellers and it is a very cleverly written

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book for teens reflecting on such current problems as broken families and dementia, while also giving insight into past problems in the treatment of orphan and poor children.

[C.H. Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another middle-grade read for a personal research project. A really cool story. Loved it!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up as a YA book which it isn’t really. But it’s well written and the story was good if a little far fetched at times.

[Moonlight · Rating 3 out of 5]

I jolted back when I read the pearl was not a jewel but instead a girl which made the story more interesting. Also from the text onwards, my perspective changed towards an exciting view of the novel. Forward on I was concerned about Ruby's plan and skeptical if it would work, regarding Ruby's plan my few doubts I had in mind were; won't Auther find/recognize how she looked (of course this was just a possibility), or if perhaps he doesn't recognize her isn't there also a possibility that she is found in the attic, etc. Well, I guess they were smart women so they probably found out a way. the obvious part of the story was Colonel Cody was going to allow one of the girls to join them or both, and also that Scarlet and her half-cousin will get along in the end, however, the rest onwards was quite an 'on the edge' feeling. My favorite part of this novel was when they went on an adventure to find the eighth chapter as well as finding tom and listening to his connection with aunt Gertrude, also the part where the 'gem girl's tea shop was in the same place where Scarlet's cousin stayed. The text where ruby and Pearl ran away from the bakery truly made me concerned for them and what is will come for them next. (I cant wait to read more books!)

[Nav (she/her) 🌧 · Rating 3 out of 5]

TW - Domestic violence (Ruby's chapters)

Positives:
- The writing is simple and easy to follow which makes the book easy to get through.
- It was easy to tell the difference between both stories.
- The domestic violence scenes were hard to read but really well written.
- I liked the chapter hunt idea and it was interesting to see where they were hidden.
- I liked the friendship between Ruby and her cousin and it was nice to see something positive in Ruby's life.
- I always love reading about the circus in books so I really enjoyed the circus scenes with Ruby and her cousin.
- I haven't seen dementia covered much at all in books so that was good to see and it was well done too.
- I don't think the book could have had a better ending, it really resolved everything.

Negatives:
- The story isn't too memorable for me and I don't think I will remember or think about it for a long time after reading this book.

[Emily Stevenson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute