Hannah returns to her beloved London to re-open the sweetmeats shop with younger sister Anne. Londoners are reeling from the plague epidemic of the previous year, but Hannah and Anne are keen to start enjoying everything the bustling city has to offer. But this is 1666, and it has been prophesised that terrible things will happen, and on Pudding Lane, flames are raging through the bakery...England im Jahr 1666. Endlich ist die schreckliche Pestepedemie überstanden und Hannah kann mit ihrer Schwester Anna nach London zurückkehren, in ihren kleinen Zuckermacherladen. Hannah ist heilfroh, wieder in der großen, aufregenden Stadt mit den Theatern und Geschäften und den vielen interessanten Menschen zu sein. Doch am wichtigsten ist ihr natürlich, Tom wiederzusehen. Aber Tom ist spurlos verschwunden – es heißt, er sei der Pest zum Opfer gefallen. Und in London kündigt sich bereits die nächste Katastrophe an …Das Cover:Das Cover ist im deutschen genauso wie das englische. Vorne ist die Seitenansicht eines Mädchens abgebildet, welche Hannah darstellen soll. Durch die Sepiafärbung wird alles auf etwas alt gemacht, was gut passt, da die Geschichte 1666 spielt. Ich finde das Cover nicht herausragend aber auch nicht schlecht.Meine Meinung:Der zweite Teil geht da weiter wo der erste aufgehört hat. Dadurch kommt man schnell wieder in die Geschichte rein, auch wenn es eine lange Weile her ist, dass man den ersten Teil gelesen hat. Es dauert jedoch eine ganze Weile, bis Hannah wieder in London ist uns so fiebert man schon etwas sehr, ob sie nun ihren Tom wieder findet oder jemand neues kennenlernt. Da ich für die Romane von Mary Hooper schwärme, bis jetzt habe ich allerdings erst 3 gelesen..., war ich wirklich glücklich endlich den zweiten Teil von "Die Schwester der Zuckermacherin" lesen zu können. Es ist ein gutes Buch zum zeitvertreib und wenn man gerne nicht allzu schnulzige Liebesgeschichten mag und auch gerne Bücher die in einer anderen Zeit spielen liest, dann ist dieses Buch genau das richtige für einen. Ebenso wenn man gerne ein Buch auf englisch lesen möchte, und mit einfacher Lektüre anfangen will, ist dieses Buch gold wert, denn es ist in einfach zu verstehendem englisch geschrieben. Jane Austen zum Beispiel ist da schon viel schwieriger im Vergleich hierzu!Allerdings muss ich sagen, mir hat der 1. Band viel besser gefallen. Zeitweilig war mir ein wenig langweilig beim lesen dieses Buches.Alles in allem verteile ich 3 von 5 Sternen für dieses Buch :)
This book starts right up where At the Sign of the Sugared Plum left off. In that first book, the London plague of 1665 is covered, seen through the eyes of our narrator Hannah, Sarah’s younger and more naïve sister. Here, in 1666, the Great Fire of London is covered, and this time Hannah, still the narrator, is the more worldly and older sister to her younger sister Anne. They’re still the proprietors of their sweetmeats shop.I loved this one almost as much, maybe as much as the first book, and I’m delighted that there is plenty of opportunity for at least one more sequel.For me the fire didn’t have quite the punch of the plague, but it didn’t start in this book until way into the story, and it lasted less than a week vs. the much lengthier course of the plague. So, did anything momentous happen in the London area in 1667? Doesn’t matter. There are at least two domestic storylines in which I’d be interested; I don’t need high drama. The characters are interesting enough without it.I love how the two sisters cared so for their cat Kitty. I love the (very chaste) romance. I love the family and sister relationships. I love how the author makes London of this time come alive. The sights, scents, way of life at the time are all shown so well. There is a wonderful author’s note at the end where she gives some details about the fire, and the plague too and, as with the first book that had recipes for the sisters’ confections, here there are recipes for body and home products: Rose water, Pot Pourri, Herbal hair rinses, Scented water to bathe in, Pomander balls.Great fun for me was reading (in the story) about Pomander balls, sticking cloves in oranges and then wrapping them with netting/lace and ribbons. My mother and I used to make these when I was a child, and I continued the tradition for a number of years. However, we used the cloves themselves to prick the oranges; here (according the the “recipe”) knitting needles are used to first make holes in the citrus fruit where the cloves will go, and the process is a bit more complicated, but easily doable. All these products can be made. Teens or families, including families with middle school aged kids, can enjoy making all of these.Book 3 please. I want more of Hannah and all the other characters too.This book works fine as a standalone book but I think it will be better appreciated if the first book is read first.
What do You think about Petals In The Ashes (2006)?
Truly excellent historical fiction, just like Hooper's first book about Hannah, "At the Sign of the Sugared Plum." The story is engrossing, the characters are easy to relate to & like, & the fascinating & detailed historical setting keeps the pages turning. Hannah & older sister Sarah have managed to make it out of Plague-ridden London, winding up in Dorchester with the aunt of their orphaned charge. As soon as word reaches them that London is once again safe following the change of season & subsequent break in heat, the decide to stop by their parents' home & then continue on to London to re-open their sweet shop. Upon reaching home, however, Sarah meets someone & decides to stay a while, so Hannah goes to the store with younger sister Anne in tow. They're there long enough to get things going & then tragedy strikes again - this time in the form of the famous & completely devastating Fire of London. Will Hannah survive a second such calamity, & will she ever see her sweetheart again?
—Brett
gr 6-10 184pgs1666, London, England. Sisters Hannah and Sarah have survived the plague and now that the plague has left London, Hannah and her younger sister Anne must return to reopen the sweet shop and find out if their friends have also survived. Just as business starts to return to normal, a fire starts and quickly burns out of control....I felt like the first half of the book which deals with the aftermath of the plague should have been part of the first book, "At the Sign of the Sugared Plum". I would've liked it better if this book focused on the events leading up to and after the fire.
—Miss Amanda
In London in the year 1666, two sisters named Hannah and Anne, where back in London after hearing that the plague was gone and they were ready to re-open their sweetmeat shop.Few weeks after, something worse than plague hit London now known as The Great Fire of London. This book is best suitable for students grades 9-12 because the book has some difficult language that younger grade levels will not understand. I believe this book is valuable from an educational standpoint because the story goes to the extent of very vivid details of the disasters in London like plague and The Great Fire. The author was trying to show that Hannah never lost hope even though things were becomes very difficult for her and we need to be like her. The theme of this book is that two sister formally, Hannah and Sarah, fled London because of the plague, when returning, now with her younger sister Anne,Hannah is responsible for the shop and her sister through the hardships that came of the Great Fire.The point of the story was that the plague and fire in London really put the people at the time through very hard times and made them poor and homeless because of the vivid images Hooper wrote made me feel and see what the characters saw and felt. I really enjoyed Hannah overall because Hannah did a great job in not losing hope and being brave for Anne even though things were falling apart. Hannah really showed Sarah that she could handle things on her own. I disliked how Sarah stayed in Chertsey for Giles Copperly and left Hannah on her own with Anne and the shop. I also disliked the ending of the because it really shouldn't end with them just leaving the shop in ruins and maybe one day rebuild it.
—Jenny
