From a Google Image Search – Barnes and Noble
At the heart of the novel The Housekeepers by Alex Hay, is a heist for the ages. The prime mover of this elaborate theft is the indomitable Mrs. King and her somewhat shady but loyal friends and family. Mrs. Bone may be not quite the thing in the eyes of polite society, but she has turned her small business into a big business and owns property all over the city of London. Her intuitive understanding of finance and human needs has made her a very rich woman. Lucky for Mrs. King, Mrs. Bones is a friend, and she loves a challenge.
It’s 1905, no high-tech assistance can be tapped to help this author with this massive operation that uses lower class ingenuity and connections to fight a class system that would never offer up justice through a biased legal system without some incontrovertible proof. There is a document which must be found before there can be any true justice. So far plenty of clandestine searching has not unearthed this single essential piece of evidence. Once Mrs. King is fired as the housekeeper at the Park Lane mansion further searching is stymied.
Mrs. King’s bold plan depends on finding talented people and spreading around the eventual proceeds of the theft. Mrs. Bone provides the upfront money, but not without misgivings. This extravagant heist is not about greed; it’s about revenge and family. Some other horrific clandestine business turns up as the heist progresses which gives the surprisingly straight-laced Mrs. Bone her own reasons to complete Mrs. King’s plan.
Are the details of the heist believable? Who cares. Suspend your disbelief and just enjoy this delightful British novel where the tables are turned in an age when upward mobility was nearly impossible, and the best of the lower class put one over on the worst of the upper class.
Since I listened to this book on Audible the accents the reader used for the various characters enhanced the fun and the satisfaction of the final victory but, as usual, made it difficult to know how to spell the characters names. Fortunately, most of the names were quite simple as befitted the lowly status of the characters, who were anything but lowly in character. Very enjoyable and a fine example of how “girl power” might have functioned in times that granted almost no rights to women.
So Many Books, Choose Wisely 