Fallen Grace, by Mary Hooper

Fallen Grace, by Mary Hooper
Young Adult, 2010


from Fantasticfiction.co.uk:
Grace Parkes has just had to do a terrible thing. Having given birth to an illegitimate child, she has travelled to the famed Brookwood Cemetery to place her small infant's body in a rich lady's coffin. Following the advice of a kindly midwife, this is the only way that Grace can think of to give something at least to the little baby that died at birth, and to avoid the ignominy of a pauper's grave. Distraught and weeping, Grace meets two people at the cemetery: Mrs Unwin and James Solent. These two characters will have a profound affect upon Grace's life. But Grace doesn't know that yet. For now, she has to suppress her grief and get on with the business of living: scraping together enough pennies selling watercress for rent and food; looking after her older sister, who is incapable of caring for herself; thwarting the manipulative and conscience-free Unwin family who are as capable of running a lucrative funeral business as they are of defrauding a young woman of her fortune.

Raspberry:
Mary Hooper is a master at historical fiction, and Fallen Grace is no exception. She is historically accurate, and frequently uses bits of real life stories to pattern hers. But my favorite thing about Mary Hooper is her ability to take a rather edgy/scary topic (i.e. rape, murder, etc.) and handle it tastefully and respectfully, understanding both her audience and just how much information they need to proceed with the story.
Grace is a girl you can admire - her head is on her shoulders and she's a heroine to love, and the intricate plot is Dickens-like in its portrayal of good versus evil.

Graded an A-.