Pandora: The instant no.1 Sunday Times bestseller

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I could keep going on but this book just had everything: it had the mystery, the atmosphere, the intrigue and just the right amount of romance. I enjoyed the history and myth telling, and the talk of “curses”. After the tragic death of her parents during an archaeological excavation, Dora Blake is now living with her uncle, Hezekiah, in her parents’ antiquities shop. But Hezekiah does not have the interest in antiquities her parents had and he is slowly destroying her parents’ once loved business. Dora is desperate to escape from her uncles’ care, and is hoping to turn her love of drawing and jewelry making into a career, giving her the independence she craves. When her uncle imports a Grecian vase, one so old that it predates time itself, Dora feels an immediate connection. While anyone else who touches it or means it harm is instantly cursed, Dora continues to be the only one to open it and she uses its Greek inscriptions and drawings as inspiration for her jewellery. But Hezekiah has darker plans for the vase, and even darker plans for Dora, and when Dora realizes the true importance of the urn, her life is put at greater risk. One thing I will say is that the author has left me with some interesting questions that I need answering! Even though I went into this novel hopeful, I have to confess that I didn’t have very high expectations. I have a serious weakness for anything inspired by Greek mythology, but I also can’t seem to help but judge said inspired stories a bit harshly, as well. And I’m just starting to get into historical fiction, which has always been a very hit-or-miss genre for me. But Pandora was recommended for fans of The Essex Serpent, which made me even more hopeful. My expectations were not only met, but exceeded. I can’t definitely see why it was compared to Sarah Perry’s work, and I can’t wait to get a physical copy to shelf next to The Essex Serpent. While not quite as philosophically profound, Pandora definitely scratched the same itch.

Prepare to lift the lid on a lush reimagination of the mythological Pandora….Susan Stokes-Chapman’s atmospheric debut, PANDORA, immerses the reader in the dangerous, mysterious world of ancient antiquities with prose that is elegant and teeming with visceral sensory detail. A marvelous debut—imaginative, ambitious, and begging to be savored." — Sarah Penner, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Apothecary That is just one example of how the writing is simply outstanding. The author's prose is a delight to behold, as sentences are weaved together with such beautiful refinement and lyricism, including lots of similes and personification. It is this more than anything that makes you want to keep reading, and for a debut author that is seriously impressive. As far as the ending goes, that was rather less polished. Some things happen fairly randomly and others were not clearly explained, giving a minor impression that the author was making some of it up as she went along. There were some good twists and revelations along the way, but one or two others did not feel quite right in the context of the story.When a highly anticipated Greek pithos is delivered to the shop, Dora wonders why her Uncles behaviour is so suspicious and wants to find out the mystery for herself. Dora enlists the help of Edward Lawrence, a bookbinder looking for acceptance into the Society of Antiquities, for help on information of the pithos. Dora sees the pithos as a chance to escape her life and restore her parents shop to its former glory.

Our team has many years of experience levelling ‘real’ books — when we talk about ‘real’ books, we mean books that have not been developed specifically for a reading scheme and have been written for the pure enjoyment of reading. Reading scheme books are written to exacting levels but the value of ascribing book bands to books written freely by exciting authors to absorb and captivate readers has been appreciated by our schools for 15 years. Meanwhile, Edward Lawrence is a bookbinder with a passion for material culture, determined to overcome his less than privileged upbringing to gain acceptance into the prestigious Society for Antiquaries. In a coffee house one afternoon, he is approached by a mysterious old man who directs him to Blake's Emporium to speak to Dora, explaining that she might be able to help him in his endeavours. When I read about jewelry design in the first chapter, I immediately thought that there should be female solidarity towards the end. In such books, the heroine's ally suddenly becomes the most unpleasant female person. So, this will also happen: Uncle's lover, the maid Lottie, who has been treating her for twelve years, suddenly becomes inflamed with friendly feelings. And one duchess there, literally from the first hour of acquaintance, will become on a short leg with our cutie. all readers will progress at different speeds and may have spurts at varying times How do you Book Band real books? Children progress through the banded colours as they gain confidence, and because of the breadth of choice available in each colour band, they should be able to find books that appeal to them at each stage. This allows teachers to provide the opportunity for children to read for pleasure even at an early stage in their reading journey. Many schools will offer decodable phonics books in the early stages and move onto book bands when children's reading is more fluent. Ongoing reading assessments will establish which level children are reading at and whether they need to move up to the next level to maintain the right level of challenge.Each month we receive sample copies and manuscripts from all the leading children’s publishers to review. We read all of the books that we find suitable for our collections and level the texts. It is only by reading the books that we can be sure that the text level is consistent and that the content is appropriate for a school library. It is at this point that we would weed out any books that include language that is inappropriate for the classroom; which contain themes or scenes that children reading at this age may have difficulty with; or which do not significantly meet our ideal criteria for primary school reading books. We are looking for books which are not only at the right text level but which also promote reading for pleasure, use language well or introduce interesting vocabulary and ensure that as many different styles, text types, themes and genre are included in each collection as possible to broaden children’s reading. Dora discovers that her uncle is hiding a mysterious Greek vase in the basement of the shop & sets out to find out why he is keeping it a secret. The vase appears to have many hidden secrets & it’s discovery by Dora leads her to unravel more about her past & what happened to her parents. She also captured the class system and the different varied characters of London in a realistic way- you could easily imagine the setting and the people. Indeed, Cornelius is an entertaining character to read and it was a shame that he did not receive a happy ending. He is sharp-witted and in front of an oblivious Edward, never makes any attempt to hide his jealousy towards Dora, creating many of book's lighter moments. Lady Latimer was also highly memorable; haughty in the extreme and with an enormous sense of entitlement, yet not without the occasional hint of generosity.

Pandora” is a historical fiction gem, the debut novel by author Susan Stokes-Chapman. Set in London in 1799, Chapman’s novel manages to merge Greek mythology and Georgian England in a creative and realistic way. The story is told from three POV’s; Dora, Edward (a historian with a passion for antiquities and Dora’s love interest) and Hezekiah himself. I loved how Chapman brought all three characters alternatively into the limelight, as it served to deepen the plot and character development.Then the pithos comes into play, and I am desperate to see this in a film. The descriptions in the book just scream 'stunning' and I am certain my imagination comes nowhere near its beauty.

There’s a small part of me that was uncomfortable reading about the colonial aspects of plundering and acquisition even though that was historically correct. I hate element of British history, our museums are still full of antiquities that are not ‘ours’. Some secondary schools are now using book bands to support and monitor progress for students who require additional support in their reading. What are the Book Band Colours? It is primarily a historical fiction, but with rather enticing elements of Greek mythology that give it that little bit of extra intrigue. These transpire to be more akin to magical realism than fantasy and along with the double meaning of the title, bring a lot of promise that something mesmerising awaits at the end. There is certainly lots to enjoy, only the mythology merely exists within the narrative rather than being the thing around which it is based. This was a superb debut, easy to read and not overtly historical-heavy. Dora the explorer (look someone had to say it) made for great reading and I’d jump on another release from this author. Fast forward and books bands these days are the most common system used by schools and by educational publishers of reading books, thus giving teachers a means of assessing children’s progress in reading in the absence of National Curriculum levels since 2014. As a result of the move away from NC levels, the book bands originally outlined by the UK Reading Recovery National Network and its authors for KS1 only, have extended to meet demands by a great many schools for further levels including up to the end of KS2. Thus providing an opportunity for assessment and progression right through the primary years.Overall: I loved the historical setting, the intriguing mystery, lovely romance, riveting pacing! One of the greatest historical functions I’ve read lately! Dora is a character made more interesting by her family history, but is likeable and over the course of the book develops a strong level of independence. That, and the growing success of her jewellery designs, make you really start to root for her as she emerges from her uncle's oppression. The fact she has a pet magpie also adds that little bit of quirkiness.