The Pick Pocket's Return (Pick Pocket #3) by Lindsey Hutchinson
Genre: Historical fiction, Sagas
Read: 15th March 2025
Published: 12th March 2025
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Abandoned, penniless and orphaned as young children, Bertram and Alice saved each other from a terrible fate.
For seven long years they have been kept apart, Bertram, BJ to his friends, learning how to survive and then thrive in the penal colonies of Australia, and Alice growing her prosperous chain of bakeries in the Black Country town of Wednesbury.
Now BJ’s sentence is nearly up and he has a choice to make. Queen Victoria’s England has changed since he’s been away and so has Alice. Should he leave behind the life he’s built and face the terrifying, months-long voyage back home?
The memory of the boy who saved her from starvation by teaching her how to pick pockets has sustained Alice for all these years and now he may be coming back to her. Can Alice and BJ finally get their happy ending or does fate have other plans for the pickpocket orphans?
The Queen of Black Country sagas is back with an unforgettable story of friendship and bravery, heartbreak and joy. Perfect for all fans of Katie Flynn, Val Wood and Lyn Andrews.
MY THOUGHTS:
Can she finally get her happy ending? Or does fate have other plans?
The third and, I assume, final book in the Pick Pocket's trilogy sees Alice and BJ's tale come to a close. I was sad to say goodbye to them as I had come to know and love them and all their friends.
Alice met BJ when he saved her from a terrible fate and took her under his wing. He taught her to pick pockets, to scavenge and to make the best of it on the streets of Wednesbury. They set up a camp of sorts on the heath where they ate and slept until fate ripped them apart when BJ was caught breaking into a house (though he never stole anything). Still, he was sentenced to seven years transportation to the penal colonies of Australia. And boy, was he in for a shock when he set foot on the dry and arid land. The heat was relentless and like nothing he had ever known.
Meanwhile Alice had been taken in by a couple who used to take pity on the air and feed them leftovers from their bakery. The Greens taught her everything they knew and gave her a home in which she felt safe and loved. But then fate came knocking once again and a fire tore through the bakery from which Alice escaped but the Greens were not so lucky.
Both had been dealt harsh hands in life but they rose above their circumstances and made the best of things. For BJ, that meant knuckling down an enduring the harsh Australian heat while for Alice, she continued to scavenge and pick pocket until she decided to open her own bakery. After all, the Greens taught her everything they knew. And her bakery thus became the talk of Wednesbury which enabled her to expand into a thriving chain of several bakeries. As for BJ, he was lucky with his sentence in that the cattle station (not ranch, as we don't call them that but stations) he was working on was a fair place to be. The owner, Mac, took BJ under his wing and over the seven years of his sentence there, he had risen to overseer and was well-liked and well-respected amongst the men. Mac looked on him as a son while for BJ, he was the father he never had. He had even learnt to read and write, receiving an education whilst there. Thus enabling him to write to Alice and read her letters to him.
Now the seven years are nearly up and both Alice and BJ are counting down the days till his release. But BJ has made a life for himself - will he want to return to England and give up the land he has come to love? And Alice, she so desperately wants to see BJ again, but will he want to return? Their lives have changed so much since they last saw one another...will they still recognise the other after all this time? They were barely 13 years old when they were separated and now they are adults with wealth in their own right. Now that their pick pocketing days are behind them, will they fall into their easy friendship once again? That is, assuming, BJ returns at all. Alice has no idea and lives with the hope that he will but fears the land he was sent to as punishment, the land he has come to love, will keep him there.
I assume that this is the end of the line for our pick pocketing friends, but I would love to know what's in for them beyond this. However, the ending is satisfactory enough as it stands should the story not continue. There were tears at the appropriate moments and as such an easy read that it is, I devoured it in one sitting last night.
Another enjoyable foray into the Black Country via Lindsey Hutchinson's pen and I enjoyed my stay there, as I generally do. Her books are nice quick easy reads which once you start, you don't want to put down but don't want to finish either. As always, I look forward to more by the author.
I would like to thank #LindseyHutchinson, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #ThePickPocketsReturn in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Lindsey lives in Shropshire with her husband and Labrador, loves to read and enjoys photography.
Social Media links:
Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
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