Welcome to my Spotlight post for this wonderfully, frosty tale. Read on for the blurb, my review and information about the creators of this story.
The enticing blurb!
“An amazing and captivating, curl-up-on-the-sofa debut about a magical frost fair and the lasting power of friendship.
It’s a cold winter during the Great Frost of 1683. Thomasina and Anne are the best of friends, one running her father’s sweet shop and the other the apprentice at the family apothecary – together they sell their goods on the frozen River Thames. When a family tragedy turns Thomasina’s world upside down, she is drawn to a mysterious conjuror and the enchanted frost fair.
But soon the world of Father Winter threatens to claim everything she holds dear. Will they be able to solve the magical mysteries that surround them . . . ?”
My Review
What an enchanting debut novel! Absolutely hooked me from the first sad pages, through a dangerous adventure and into hope for the future of Thomasina, the main character.
I felt every emotion reading this story of a young girl who suffers from unimaginable grief over the all consuming desire to have her brother back. Seeing her parents become shells of themselves and their lives take turns they could never have imagined, Thomasina tries to remain strong for them all but she makes a trade that could be the end of her.
Unimaginable events will lead Thomasina through her grief, into a much needed friendship and business, and into finding healing for her broken family.
I loved the friendship between Anne and Thomasina, their ideas and dreams for the future becoming a force keeping them together through the dangers of their world.
Thrilling, exciting, dangerous and filled with a hope stretching across generations, this is one to watch!
Love conquers all is a true statement of this tale!
About the Author and Illustrator
Natasha Hastings started developing The Miraculous Sweetmakers: The Frost Fair while studying history at Cambridge University, where she focused on gender and mental illness. While exploring these topics, she became determined to have the lives of working women, as well as their experiences of mental illness in this period, form the heartbeat of her debut book, The Frost Fair.
Alex T. Smith is an award winning illustrator and creator of the well loved Claude books, as well as many other popular titles. He graduated with 1st class honours degree in Illustration and has been putting this to good use in children’s publishing.
Check out the reviews posted to date as part of the blog tour!
https://elliemaiblogs.co.uk/the-miraculous-sweetmakers-the-frost-fair-by-natasha-hastings/
My Shelves Are Full 