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Product Description
Product Description
In search of clues to the mystery of her father's death, 16-year-old Sally Lockhart ventures into the shadowy underworld of Victorian London. Pursued by villains at every turn, the intrepid Sally finally uncovers two dark mysteries--and realizes that she herself is the key to both.
"In Dickensian fashion, Pullman tells the story of 16-year-old Sally Lockhart, who becomes involved in a deadly web of events as she searches for a mysterious ruby. The novel is a page turner, peopled with despicable hags, forthright heroes, and children living on the underbelly of 19th-century London. The story's events are exciting, with involved plotting. Settings and characterizations are exquisitely drawn. The first entry in a planned trilogy."--(starred) Booklist. Reading level: 6.7.
From the Paperback edition. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
"In Dickensian fashion, Pullman tells the story of 16-year-old Sally Lockhart, who becomes involved in a deadly web of events as she searches for a mysterious ruby. The novel is a page turner, peopled with despicable hags, forthright heroes, and children living on the underbelly of 19th-century London. The story's events are exciting, with involved plotting. Settings and characterizations are exquisitely drawn. The first entry in a planned trilogy."--(starred) Booklist. Reading level: 6.7.
From the Paperback edition. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
41 of 42 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As seen on TV, but the book is so much better. It's a thrilling chase through the dark back streets of Victorian London, in the best traditions of Conan Doyle, but with Pullman's own very unconventional twists.
Our heroine is Sally Lockhart, and she is certainly not a conventional Victorian. Brought up by her father, she can ride and shoot and speak Hindustani, though her knowledge of French or needlework is sadly lacking. Her father's death has thrown her on the mercies of an unwelcoming relative, and realising that she will never be happy as a lady's companion, Sally takes her meagre inheritance for herself and runs away.
What she runs to, however, is a mystery. People seem strangely anxious to find her. Incomprehensible messages arrive for her, apparently from her dead father. Sally's own nightmares seem to reveal something about her past, but how can she willingly dig deeper into their horror?
Sally is a fantastic heroine, utterly (almost implausibly) unbound by the habits of the society in which she lives. With a bohemian surrounding cast, Jim the messenger boy, Frederick the handsome photographer cum detective and his actress sister Rosa, the terrified Adelaide and reliable Tumbler, Pullman paints a vivid picture that is never less than gripping.
Our heroine is Sally Lockhart, and she is certainly not a conventional Victorian. Brought up by her father, she can ride and shoot and speak Hindustani, though her knowledge of French or needlework is sadly lacking. Her father's death has thrown her on the mercies of an unwelcoming relative, and realising that she will never be happy as a lady's companion, Sally takes her meagre inheritance for herself and runs away.
What she runs to, however, is a mystery. People seem strangely anxious to find her. Incomprehensible messages arrive for her, apparently from her dead father. Sally's own nightmares seem to reveal something about her past, but how can she willingly dig deeper into their horror?
Sally is a fantastic heroine, utterly (almost implausibly) unbound by the habits of the society in which she lives. With a bohemian surrounding cast, Jim the messenger boy, Frederick the handsome photographer cum detective and his actress sister Rosa, the terrified Adelaide and reliable Tumbler, Pullman paints a vivid picture that is never less than gripping.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Phillip Pullman is the one and only author I know, who manages to be true to the ideals of the period he describes (the 1860s) and interesting to readers today at the same time!
The Sally Lockhart-books, sett in the 1860's and 70's, feature tragedy and romance in true Victorian style. But Sally herself is not typically Victorian. A good English girl of the 1860's was supposed to play the piano, do needle point and polite conversation. Sally rides horses, shoot, and does calculus and financial consulting!
In this first Sally Lockhart book, Sally arrives in England, after spending her childhood in India. But when she hears that her father has died in a shipwreck, she knows her life will never be the same again. The novel features more villains and more dangerous criminals than any Victorian penny-dreadfull!
History itself does not give a good novel. But this novel is great. And I reccomend it to any reader older than 12, and younger than their grandparents.
44 of 46 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read this on the back of reading the Dark Materials trilogy and after them I thought there could be no better, especially not the ruby in the smoke. Yet from the first page to the last I was completely wrong.
The new cast of characters are interesting, the fact that it is rather more realistic (apart from Will's world) than the his dark materials trilogy makes it all the better.The plot always makes a twist which you don't expect, many are unhappy but that what makes the book what it is. Its those qualities which means you cant put it down and that your constantly on the edge of your seat.
It's by far the best Pullman book I've read (i've yet to read the other three Sally Lockhart books) and it provides a good introduction to all the characters. Move over Harry Potter, Sally Lockhart's in town.
The new cast of characters are interesting, the fact that it is rather more realistic (apart from Will's world) than the his dark materials trilogy makes it all the better.The plot always makes a twist which you don't expect, many are unhappy but that what makes the book what it is. Its those qualities which means you cant put it down and that your constantly on the edge of your seat.
It's by far the best Pullman book I've read (i've yet to read the other three Sally Lockhart books) and it provides a good introduction to all the characters. Move over Harry Potter, Sally Lockhart's in town.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A terrific adventure!
This is the first Sally Lockhart story that I have read, and it probably won't be the last.
In the beginning, it was difficult for me to believe in the strength and... Read more
In the beginning, it was difficult for me to believe in the strength and... Read more
Published 11 hours ago by Lance Mitchell
cool!!!!!
I bought this book for my daughter. Here is what she had to say.
Really good and catching, never boring and always left you wanting to know more. Read more
Really good and catching, never boring and always left you wanting to know more. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Andrew Kennedy
good page turner
Good page turning Victorian thriller, though Sally Lockhart seems a rather unlikely figure. Mrs Holland is one of the most ghastly amoral villains in literature.
Published 17 months ago by John Hopper
Not a page turner
The dialogue was amusing at times and it was atmospheric but the story was cliched and tedious.
Published on 25 April 2010 by J. Thompson
Well written and action packed
My 11 year old daughter really enjoyed this. I read it too and found it well written and a great read.
Published on 12 Feb 2010 by Catrena Blanco
a really good read
I bought this book for my son to try and entice him to read a fiction story. He loves fiction stories in audio book form and will listen when I read to him, but when it comes to... Read more
Published on 27 Jan 2010 by Y. S. Emery
Her name was Sally Lockhart; and within fifteen minutes, she was going...
In The Ruby in the Smoke, Phillip Pullman combines three of my favorite things: young adult fiction, a good mystery and a Victorian era setting. Read more
Published on 6 Nov 2008 by Ruth King
Her name was Sally Lockhart; and within fifteen minutes, she was going...
In The Ruby in the Smoke, Phillip Pullman combines three of my favorite things: young adult fiction, a good mystery and a Victorian era setting. Read more
Published on 6 Nov 2008 by Ruth King
The first book i ever fell in love with
I am not a big book reader, far from it actually, but Ruby in the Smoke just had me cooped up indoors. Read more
Published on 20 May 2008 by Mr. A. Jenkin
Very good !
The Ruby and the smoke was a very exciting story there was lots of different things going on . When you start to read the story it was hard to stop reading it . Read more
Published on 20 Mar 2008 by Cwm Rhymni
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