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Is your worst enemy the one looking back at you from the mirror?
Fifteen year old Isabella Rockwell’s bones ache with homesickness. But home is eight thousand miles away in northern India, and Isabella is imprisoned in the bitter winter of nineteenth century London. Sent to England after her father goes missing in a violent battle, Isabella runs away from a life of drudgery and hardship. Rescued from death by a gang of street urchins, Isabella finds the shelter and love she so desperately craves. As an accomplished trickster, she starts to save for her passage home with the money she makes from swindling the rich.
After a moment of heroism which surprises even herself, Isabella wakes in Kensington Palace. This is an opportunity too good to miss. If she can steal one of the glowing, priceless paintings, she and her gang will have enough to keep out searing cold and gnawing hunger for the rest of their lives.
If Isabella plays her cards right.
What she hasn’t reckoned with is her growing fondness for the Princess Alixandrina Victoria Hanover, a kind and lonely girl her own age, and heir to the British throne. Despite the richness of her surroundings, Alix’s life is harsh and without love.
When someone tries to poison Isabella, Isabella realises it is Alix’s life which is under threat. At first Isabella suspects Prince Ernest, a hardened general, and next in line to the throne. Or is it John Conroy, a powerful schemer, in love with Alix’s beautiful spendthrift mother, and desperate to get his hands on Alix’s inheritance? Either way, Isabella’s feelings of responsibility for Alix and her loyalty to the gang who saved her life, are tearing her apart.
Instead of taking advantage of Alix, will Isabella puts her own needs aside and cast herself into mortal danger to save her friend? Only the harsh lessons of Isabella’s past can help her decide if she should leave Alix to her fate – a fate tied up with Isabella’s own.
A fate which will have consequences far beyond those she could ever have imagined.
“Parry’s descriptions are as varied as they are rich, from the scents of Abhaya’s Indian healing herbs to the sounds of London’s bustling streets and the opulence in the British royalty. A sizeable cast of beautifully developed, memorable characters makes solving the mystery even more deliciously puzzling, and readers will be guessing to the surprising end.
Imaginative and touching; like India, a sparkling jewel in the crown.”
Kirkus Reviews, January 2013.
“I absolutely adored this! Bursting with beautiful writing and insanely lovable characters, Isabella Rockwell’s War is perfect for anyone who enjoys historical middle grade! I desperately want to read more from this author.”
Samantha Randolph, I Heart YA Fiction Blogspot.com.
“Isabella Rockwell’s War offers an enticing blend of an historical novel, nineteenth century England, strong-willed heroines, and/or real life fairy tales.”
Indie Reader, July 2014.
Previously published as Isabella Rockwell’s War, this edition of Winter’s Bite includes editorial revisions.
Please scroll upward and click on the ‘Look Inside’ feature on the top left hand side of the page to read an extract.
