Oh! How I loved this book. But then, I loved _Code Name Verity_, so I was very excited to discover that Elizabeth Wein had written a "prequel" to that book featuring CNV's Julie as a teenager in her native Scotland. But while this book holds some extra treats for those who've read CNV, it is a standalone novel, and readers can most definitely enjoy it without having read CNV.

What I didn't know beforehand was that _The Pearl Thief_ would be a mystery, and such a good one! It's hard not to draw parallels with Nancy Drew: teen girl detective, roadster, excellent female chum (here in the character of Scottish Traveller Ellen McEwan). But it's an insult to Wein's complex plot, beautiful language, and rich characterization to leave it at that.

The year is 1938, and 15-year-old Julie is home for the summer from her Swiss boarding school. Only "home" doesn't seem much like home anymore: her beloved grandfather, the Earl of Strathfearn, has died, and his final illness left the family in deep debt. So, the estate has been sold to a private boys' school, which has the house and the grounds all torn up for renovations while Julie and her family pack up and prepare to move.

Julie's oldest brother, Sandy, an antiquarian, has been called in to catalog his grandfather's enormous collection of archaeological finds, family heirlooms, and other valuable pieces of what's called the Strathfearn Hoard. These are to be auctioned in the hope of putting a further dent in the debt.

Shortly after visiting the local library to see all of these items, Julie gets knocked in the head and comes to in the hospital three days later with only fragmentary memories of what happened to her. But in the meantime, the English scholar who was assisting with the catalog has also gone missing. All of this sets the mystery in motion.

Again, though, it does Wein's novel a disservice to suggest that it's a plot-driven potboiler. (Note: spoilers ahead!)

Beyond being a page-turner of a mystery, this is also a beautiful coming-of-age story: Not only is Julie investigating the mystery surrounding the Hoard this summer, Julie is also investigating the mystery of her emerging and complicated sexuality. For those who read _Code Name Verity_ and wondered whether Julie was gay or perhaps bisexual, you'll get some clues here. And there are also some other juicy Easter eggs for CNV fans, as we hear how naturally Julie comes by her nickname "Queenie"; we meet her French grandmother and find it more about the close relationship between Julie and her brother Jamie; and we get a preview of the wily intelligence that makes Julie such an excellent spy.

Even that, though, is just touching the surface: there's much here about the horrible treatment of Scottish Travellers as Julie gets to know the McEwans, whose family has been attached in one way or another with her own for hundreds of years. Wein's training as a folklorist really shines through here, as she handles the representation of this maligned group with sensitivity, historical accuracy, and even humor.

I could say more, but the best I can say is that this is one of those novels that I was sorry to finish, not only because it was so good, but also because I can never have the pleasure of reading it again for the first time. You know the kind of book I mean? This is one of those books.

15-year old Julia Beaufort-Stuart is on her way back home from boarding school a couple of days early, hoping to surprise her family and showcase her newfound womanhood and sophistication. But upon returning to her grandfather's estate, she is bludgeoned across the head and left for dead beside the river.

A friendly Traveler boy takes to her the hospital, and as Julia begins to slowly regain her memories, a murder mystery erupts around her childhood summer home that begins to embroil friends and family alike. It seems like Julia has the keys to the mystery, but she just can't remember. And, it seems like her grandfather's pearls are missing, but only she can remember they existed in the first place. Were they real, or just a childhood memory?

This prequel is pretty much nothing like I remember of Code Name Verity, which is probably a good thing since my heart was already aching when I learned this prequel of Julie was coming out.

Julie's character is like that Britney Spears song, "I'm just a girl, not yet a woman," or however it goes—and she very much bridges the gap of wanting to be seen and taken as a woman but still hanging on to the best parts of girlhood. The makings of Verity are definitely inside her, but undeveloped and unrefined. And she is very much the spoilt little rich girl, which at least she realizes in parts, and it gets pointed out to her time after time by her Traveler friend Ellen.

It's a lovely travel back in time to 1938 Scotland, showing the slow unraveling of an ancient noble estate due to debt and sickness, the treatment of the Gypsy-like Travelers who were so integral to Scottish society before the rise of the automobile but still treated like pariahs, and the sources of power (who has it, who doesn't, and whose word is believed over others). And there's the ancient history of Scotland and the mysteries of the peat, old pearl hunting techniques, and so many more historical goodies. Plus murder, mystery, blah blah blah who cares about all of that, tell me more about the various social injustices and inequalities of the time.

I'm not certain if fans of Code Name Verity will enjoy it or will be able to adjust to the completely different character of Julie (um, she's 15 and acts like a protected 15-year old lady), but fans of historical fiction, particularly Scottish historical fiction, will definitely enjoy this YA read.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review.

If you loved Elizabeth Wein's "Code Name Verity," this prequel focusing on Julia Beaufort-Stuart is superb! IIf you haven't read CNV, this book is still surperb and I highly recommend CNV.) Set in 1930s Scotland, “fifteen-year-old [Julie] wakes up in a hospital not knowing how she was injured, and soon befriends Euan McEwen, the Scottish Traveller boy who found her, and later, when a body is discovered, she experiences the prejudices his family has endured and tries to keep them from being framed for the crime.” She’s come home to say good-bye to her grandfather’s estate, which will become a boy’s school and inserts herself into a search for a missing professor and the family’s pearl collection while becoming friends with the McEwens. Readers have the opportunity to meet Julie as she forms into the amazing woman we meet in “Code Name Verity.” I want more.

Review: The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Title: The Pearl Thief
Author: Elizabeth Wein
Genre: historical fiction, mystery
Series: Code Name Verity #.5
Pages: 336
Published: May 2 2017
Source: publishers via NetGalley
Rating: 3.25/5

Before Verity . . . there was Julie.

When fifteen-year-old Julia Beaufort-Stuart wakes up in the hospital, she knows the lazy summer break she’d imagined won’t be exactly like she anticipated. And once she returns to her grandfather’s estate, a bit banged up but alive, she begins to realize that her injury might not have been an accident. One of her family’s employees is missing, and he disappeared on the very same day she landed in the hospital.

Desperate to figure out what happened, she befriends Euan McEwen, the Scots Traveller boy who found her when she was injured, and his standoffish sister Ellen. As Julie grows closer to this family, she experiences some of the prejudices they’ve grown used to firsthand, a stark contrast to her own upbringing, and finds herself exploring thrilling new experiences that have nothing to do with a missing-person investigation.

Her memory of that day returns to her in pieces, and when a body is discovered, her new friends are caught in the crosshairs of long-held biases about Travellers. Julie must get to the bottom of the mystery in order to keep them from being framed for the crime.

In the prequel to Printz Honor Book Code Name Verity, this exhilarating coming-of-age story returns to a beloved character just before she learned to fly.


Lady Julia Lindsay MacKenzie Wallace Beaufort Stuart is a memorable character. Anyone who has read Elizabeth Wein's heartbreaking Code Name Verity from a few years back will likely never forget Queenie and "Fly the plane!" and her bravery in the face of inhuman evil. Now Elizabeth Wein has returned to Julie's story, but in a small-town plot set years before WWII and in her favorite home of Scotland. Though this new prequel is centered on a familiar face, it's a far different kind of story than the one in CNV or even Rose Under Fire. The Pearl Thief's scope is narrower; it fits more in the mystery/thriller genre than straight historical fiction and though it's character-driven for a large part of the novel, none of them capture the dynamism of Julie herself.

I liked The Pearl Thief enough to finish reading but there's no denying it largely lacks the emotional punch of Wein's other novels, especially the one also featuring Julie as a POV narrator. (This also succeeds in part purely because of leftover affection for those previous books.) This is the story of her coming of age in a lot of ways - emotionally, sexually, and socially. You can see early flashes of the woman she'll become when she partners with Maddie here; her fight for her Traveller friends and her drive to do what's right are as much a part of her at 16 as they are later on. With Ellen's challenging and Euan's support she grows and changes and challenges her own ideas. I truly loved Julie -- and seeing her become herself is one of the best parts of reading The Pearl Thief. Also: canonically bi Julie! Yes!

As much as I appreciate the expansion of Julie's character and history, part of the issue here is that the eventual outcomes for key people are already known (the risk of a prequel, tbh) which makes it hard to become emotionally invest AGAIN in the same character (fun to see a young, silly Jamie, though!). I can't wholly commit and invest in Julie's happiness and hope when I've read CNV and RUF already. Another issue is that the side characters that share focus don't get developed and defined to the same level as Julie. I liked Ellen and her total refusal to be easy-going or friendly, but Euan has little presence and no personality. The inclusion of Mary Kinnaird, a character with Treacher Collins syndrome is a first for me, though I liked less her status as a minor antagonist. The various romantic entanglements are not my favorite (I am all for Julie's kissing boys and girls but ffs don't kiss boys and girls who are SIBLINGS.) but appreciated the diversity.

Because the book is rather slow-moving when it comes to pacing and setting up the mystery, the reveal of the actual pearl thief villain feels way too drawn-out. By the time it's shown on page, it lacks impact because there are very little other options for the story to go. Aside from those issues, I loved that the novel took pains to touch and address prejudice, abuse of power, and discrimination. The setting is vivid and detailed - Wein is an author adept at setting the stage. I just wished the secondary cast had the definition of Julie or that the central mystery plot was more engaging.

In THE PEARL THIEF, the prequel to the spectacular CODE NAME VERITY, Elizabeth Wein shares the story of pre-war Julie. Before she was Verity, a British spy caught by the Germans, she was Julia Beaufort-Stuart. After her grandfather passes, leaving the family in debt, they are forced to sell his estate. Julie returns home for one last summer and promptly finds herself with a bump on the head, a faulty memory, and a mystery to solve.

It's hard not the compare this story to the brilliance that is CODE NAME VERITY, but it's also a bit unfair because I loved it so very much. It was interesting to be in Julie's mind and see how her cunning and logical sense were developing before she became a spy. She clearly had a penchant for that kind of work. With that being said, it felt like a little bit of leap to see the Julie in this story becoming Verity in the other one.

On it's own, THE PEARL THIEF was an intriguing mystery with an absolutely enthralling setting. I loved the old estate and the descriptions of the Scottish countryside. The supporting cast of characters were rich and nuanced, which also helped the story come alive.

The Pearl Thief is the first Elizabeth Wein book I have read and it will not be my last. I really enjoyed how Wein’s storytelling realistically situates you in the main character’s mind, which is filled with so much passion, snark, love, innocence, and freedom. The plot of The Pearl Thief not only provides a tone of mystery and stealth, but I was also in awe of the limits that Wein pushed against in regards to the main character’s coming-of-age story.

As the main character in The Pearl Thief, Julie is one of my new favorite YA heroines. Wein’s writing immediately swifts you into the historical ambiance of an early 20th-century Scotland setting, told through Julie’s perspective, a teenage girl exploring her adolescence through a lens of fear, courage, curiosity, and change. Julie is a full on whirlwind; in the very beginning of the book, she makes a threat that if anyone ever arranges for her to be married, she would run away. HA, right then and there, I knew Julie was going to win my heart in this story. I loved how feisty, funny, and daring she is throughout the novel. If I lived in the late 1930s, I definitely would have tried to befriend her. In the end, I appreciated Julie as a character because she has so much strength, spunk, and will to educate herself and defy social norms.

Because of Julie’s liveliness and strict determination, this story is engaging and fast-paced. The Pearl Thief has a mysterious tone with a full investigation of a missing person and thefts. In addition to the stealthy tone, it was very refreshing to read a young adult character who is exploring her sexual fluidity, while also trying to understand the ills of the world. Julie is situated in a time where women were pushing the boundaries of the patriarchy, and she was also recognizing the terrible discriminatory labels, stereotypes, and assumptions that were unfairly placed on people due to their social status, religion, gender, race, and way of living. If you love reading historical novels with witty and quirky characters with a dash of sleuthing, The Pearl Thief is for you.

It never fails - I always absolutely adore Elizabeth Wein's writing!

This book seems in ways to skew younger than Code Name Verity but it's just as delightful. Wein has a way of building an entrancing, engaging world that draws me and makes me want to know more, and the characters seems to spring off of the page. Sometimes written accents can be cliche and annoying, but here I find myself trying to imagine what the people would have sounded like.

What can I say about this book, other than that it's completely charming. Julie is easy to slip into and identify with, spirited but with her own flaws (there's nothing worse than a character far too perfect). The other characters are fascinating as well, the plot kept me turning the page and the glimpses into past society, social etiquette and romance drew me in as well.

It doesn't quite have the depth that I've found in Wein's other books, but that's all right. It is unto itself and I enjoyed it for what it is, though some expecting the intensity of CNV may wish to look elsewhere. This is more of a fun, light hearted read, but personally I quite enjoyed it.

The Pearl Thief
Elizabeth Wein


Buy This Book
Code Name: Verity is one of the most memorable YA novels I have ever read. A breathtaking story about a young Scottish woman taken prisoner for being a spy in Nazi Germany, it was heart wrenching, enlightening, beautiful, and lyrical. The Pearl Thief is the prequel to that tale, a look at Julia before she became Verity.

It was meant to be a great lark. Lady Julia Beaufort-Stuart, fifteen years of age and feeling quite grown up, books her own trip to Strathfearn House. The maternal ancestral estate is being sold off to pay debts and she will be helping her grandmother, mother and whichever brothers show up pack the last of the belongings, readying some for auction and others to be moved to Craig Castle, where her parents live. It will be a great surprise to everyone to have her appear two days early, arriving by means of her own ingenuity and gumption.

Of course the surprise turns out to be on her. Not only is her luggage lost during the trip but no one is at home when she arrives. She helps herself to a bath and some left-about clean clothes. Then, determined to get a good start on her summer holiday, she heads out to the banks of the River Fearn to lie on some rocks and get some sun. Her next moment of awareness is to awaken to a pounding headache in a hospital.

Her friend, Mary, the town librarian is sitting beside her and is overjoyed when Julia awakens. Julia has been in hospital for two days with a nasty lump on the back of her head. No one in the family had been expecting her, so when she wasn’t home they hadn’t looked for her till the planned arrival date. The hospital staff hadn’t realized who she was and since Julia had been brought in by tinkers (Scottish gypsies) who found her on a river path they had assumed she was one of them. When Mary goes to call the family to let them know Julia is awake, Julia receives her first real lesson in class privilege. The nurse not only refuses to get her a cup of water because she won’t wait on “the likes of you”, she proceeds to chase off the tinkers who come to check on Julia a few minutes later and do give her a drink. She is intensely relieved when her own family shows up and alerts everyone to just who they are dealing with. After that she isn’t expected to go thirsty for hours on end!

A few more days of rest and recuperation see Julia proceeding home to once again launch her summer vacation but it is to be a very strange holiday indeed. Her fascination with the tinker family that saved her leads to her making some new friends who change her perspective on life. The builders turning the ancestral home into a boys’ school destroy some beloved treasures – and unearth others. Most importantly, her memory of what lead to her being hospitalized with a lump on her head comes back in bits and pieces, slowly revealing a secret Strathfearn House has kept for many years.

There is a period in every young person’s life when they turn onto the path they will take into adulthood. This is the story of how Julia spent a summer becoming the person who would eventually turn into Verity. Before our eyes she will choose being daring over being wise, being brave over being cautious, being clever over being smart, being heroic above all else and solidifying her ideal that charm covers a multitude of sins. She’ll develop crushes – on Ellen, the queenly tinker girl slightly older than she is, and on Frank Dunbar, the man in charge of turning Strathfearn from a family home into a school. And of course, she will solve a great mystery.

The author does a superb job of character continuity here. Fans of Verity will see her beginnings in the sometimes vapid, always resilient Julia. It’s clear exactly how and why one turns into the other.

The author also does wonderful work in creating a story that stands well completely on its own. Fans of Code Name: Verity will enjoy spending time with their indefatigable heroine once more but new readers needn’t fear spoilers or that they won’t be able to follow along; this book is its own complete tale.

The story did have some very minor flaws in execution – an easily guessed villain and the pacing being off at times caused the tale to lag a bit. I also felt the scenes with Ellen were a bit forced, as though the author knew the two girls weren’t natural friends and couldn’t quite work out how to put them together.

Some of the content might be considered a bit too adult for younger YA readers. There is a well done but rather horrifying scene where a grown man essentially forces himself on Julia, even after she pleads with him to stop. It doesn’t amount to full rape but it is physical sexual assault. What makes it most difficult to read are Julia’s pleas and explanations which are completely ignored by her assailant. Fortunately, justice is served in this instance. Julia exchanges numerous kisses with other girls, most notably several passionate ones with Ellen while they’re lying in a bed together. The affair of her mother’s lady’s maid is mentioned, as is the violent altercation said ladies maid has with her lover. I think each instance is handled appropriately for the type of novel this is.

The Pearl Thief provides some interesting background information on a beloved character as well as being a good story in its own right. Interesting and well-written, I would recommend it to any fans of novels about the WWII time period.

THE PEARL THIEF by Elizabeth Wein is described as a prequel to her award-winning Code Name Verity since Julia (Julie) Beaufort-Stuart is featured in both. However, THE PEARL THIEF can certainly be read as a stand-alone (if somewhat confusing) mystery. This time, Wein has set the book during the summer of 1938, prior to the war, and in Scotland at the family's estate which is being sold to pay debts. Fifteen year-old Julie returns early from school on the Continent, is attacked, found and later taken to hospital by some local Travellers. She loses her memory of that time – except for a vague recollection of seeing Dr. Houseman, the scholar in charge of cataloging the family possessions for auction. He is soon reported missing and assumed dead. That's a mystery to add to the questions of why and by whom Julie was attacked; another puzzle is the apparent disappearance of several pearls which Julie recalls playing with as a child. Secret kisses between Julie and both boys and girls add a layer of angst and experimentation. And yet another theme is the varied reactions (from overt hostility to wary suspicion to welcoming friendship) to the Travellers, particularly teens Eaun and Ellen McEwen. Did I say this story was complex and confusing at points? Like Wein's other books, THE PEARL THIEF will both make readers think carefully in order to solve these unknowns AND prompt empathy for others (in this case, the often misunderstood Travellers - more background on them is included in an author's note). THE PEARL THIEF received universal starred reviews, including from School Library Journal and Voya.

I was surprised and a smidge trepidatious to learn that this was a prequel to the much-beloved Code Name Verity, but this works surprisingly well as a stand-alone, as an entry to the loosely connected Code Name Verity series, or as a treat for those who've already read and loved Verity.

In this book, we meet 15-year-old Julie, who goes on to become the heroine of Code Name Verity. But in these more innocent pre-war years, Julie's concerns are focused on her family estate in Scotland, where her family is being ousted due to her deceased grandfather's severe debt. The estate is being converted to a boys' school, and over Julie's summer break from boarding school she and her family are tasked with clearing out generations' worth of her family's things while sharing the house with a slew of workmen. Almost immediately Julie is hit on the head, and she wakes up two days later amid some very dramatic and mysterious goings-on involving pearls, a love affair, her grandfather's collection of historical artifacts, a missing person, and a family of local Travellers. Theories, accusations, and prejudices abound as the town bumbles toward solving this tangled mystery.

I saw another reviewer refer to this as an Agatha Christie-esque house mystery, and I'd agree with that. While Code Name Verity was brutal and brilliant and heart-wrenching, this is a much quieter story from a more innocent time in Julie's life that provides more room for character exploration. I really enjoyed getting to know Julie before she became Verity, without the distancing lens of Verity's unreliable narration. Her daring, confident, and prideful character is shown in development here, and Wein did a great job of writing Julie in the middle of her journey toward the more worldly spy we come to know later.

I especially liked the exploration of Julie's sexuality, something that was a bit ambiguous in Code Name Verity due to the nature of that book's framing mechanism. (Everyone who said Julie was obviously queer: You are vindicated!) Julie herself is still exploring in this book, but she does so with a sort of "I am who I am and the world will bow before me regardless" arrogance that I had to smile at. Julie is not one to berate herself for her feelings, whatever they may be, and that was a nice change of pace from many of the LGBT characters who appear in historical YA.

This is a very well-written country mystery for young adults that works as well as a stand-alone as it does an exploration into the earlier life of a beloved character. If you haven't yet read Code Name Verity, you could easily start here, and in fact I would recommend it. I'm actually thinking about rereading Code Name Verity now that I have more insight into Julie's character and history--I think it would change my reading experience of that book for the better.

This is the direct prequel to Code Name Verity (they share one of the characters) as well as being a sorta prequel to Rose Under Fire too. I've read all of Wein's books and although I don't usually love Historical fiction, I've mostly liked these from her.

It has a sorta bisexualish/pan sorta lead character, and all the secondary characters are very unique and some of them, like Ellen I really liked (shh, even if Julie didn't always).

If you have read Code Name Verity it's also cool to see where this book and that book connect. Heh, Queenie...

I will say though that it was a little slow here and there, and honestly, if I hadn't already read all the other books in the sort of series I'm not sure that I would have read this book. I like my books to have purposeful movement not just in character development, but in plot too, and just too much of this book sorta chilled out on a hammock until the very last part.

Still, I do believe that I will go back and skim over at least Rose Under Fire and Code Name Verity. See what other connections I can make after reading this new entry in the series. Fun.

I got this ARC through Netgalley on behalf of Disney Book Group/Disney-Hyperion.

Originally posted on Forever Young Adult on 2017 May 2.

Family involved in divesting estate has mystery concerning pearls that not everyone remembers.

I got this from NetGalley to review. I was incredibly excited to see a new book by Wein. This is supposed to be the prequel to Code Name Verity. The book ended up being okay but not great. The story itself was fairly boring and was kind of a drag to get through.

In general I don’t have a ton to say about this book. It was mostly just kind of blah. The writing flows well enough and I did enjoy some of the historical elements to the story. However, the whole mystery behind who attacks Julia at the beginning and the mystery behind the pearls just never really felt all that urgent or engaging.

I think my favorite part about this book was Wein's afterward about the history behind the story at the end.

Overall this was a pretty boring story compared to Wein’s other books. I would definitely recommend reading Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire over this book. If you are a huge Julia fan you might want to check this out to get Julia’s background. I honestly think this would have been better done as a novella than a full length novel.

Set in 1938 Scotland, Wein takes the reader back in time with eloquent writing and enough imagery to turn my kindle pages into the lush green hills and rivers in the novel. I had never read anything by Wein before, so I was pleasantly surprised by her gorgeous writing style and the complexity of each of her characters. I loved Julie and her spunky attitude and I look forward to reading the other books in this series.

Wein not only introduces the reader to a bit of a murder mystery, but she also opens up a conversation about sexuality, prejudices, and stereotypes. I honestly was not expecting this book to be as complex as it was, but I throughly enjoyed it. The characters were fun, witty, and charming, and the pace of the novel was quick and to the point. The only thing I had difficulty with was the Scottish dialect. The words were so different from what we use in the States, so at times I felt like I was missing important information because I didn't really understand the words.

All in all, The Pearl Thief was a fun and fast paced read that I will be recommending all summer long. It held my attention from start to finish, and it made me really want to read more books in the series. I loved the murder mystery portion of the novel as well as getting to know Julie and her back story. She will definitely be a character that sticks with me for a while! Thank you Disney-Hyperion and Rockstar Book Tours for providing me with a copy of the novel.

The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein
For fans of Code Name Verity, The Pearl Thief will feel like visiting with an old friend. The Pearl Thief takes us back to the summer of 1938, well before the events of Code Name Verity. That summer, Julia Beaufort-Stuart goes back her maternal grandparent's ancestral home Strathfearn for one last time to help her grandmother finish moving out of the house that had been sold and is being converted into a boarding school.

Julie arrives earlier than expected and is enjoying exploring her family's grounds and the village, seeing just how much is changing under construction and visiting her grandfather's collection of artifacts in the local library (but what happened to the pearls she remembers being part of the collection?). When she stops by the river and falls asleep, she doesn't expect to wake up several days later in the hospital with a concussion. She also didn't expect to have been rescued by a brother and sister from the Traveler family staying on her family lands or to return to Strathfearn to learn the same day she was injured that one of her family's employees, the one in charge of cataloging her grandfather's collection, has disappeared.

In the young woman who makes fierce friends with the young Travelers who found her and took her to the hospital and searches for answers to the mystery of the missing historian, there are clear signs of the young woman who is so captivating in Code Name Verity. And it is a welcome chance to see her, and a couple other familiar faces, again.

The Pearl Thief does not rely on having read Code Name Verity. The atmosphere of the time and place is captured so well and was a fascinating glimpse into Scotland just before World War II broke out. The friendship between Julie, her brother Jamie, and the Travelers that their summer adventures unfolded with warm familiarity.

*I was given an eARC of this book by the publisher through NetGalley, but all thoughts about the book are my own.

Julia wakes up in a hospital and knows this will be a summer break like no other. Upon learning a bit more surrounding her injury she comes to believe it wasn't a accident at all. This turns into a whopper of a mystery that no gang of kids could ever solve or could they? Anyways it is a action packed, suspenseful, and one heck of a wild ride that Julia takes you on, all the while showing you her Scotland. As a prequel to Code Name Verity, you learn where Julie starts to learn her spying skills.

I really love all of Elizabeth Wein's books, if history had been this interesting and fun in school I might have done much better, and definitely gotten better grades. These are not girly books but at the same time I love that her main characters never looses site of who they are or what they want, just awesome strong female main characters that everybody will fall in love with and cheer for.

I mean, it's not Code Name Verity but it is still Elizabeth Wein, so... I really liked getting to know Julie better in this story and seeing a bit of how she came to be the character I loved previously. The mystery seemed very secondary to the development of her character and her figuring out who she wants to be. I didn't know anything about Travellers or their culture prior to this. Definitely worthwhile for Wein fans.

Thanks to the publisher for a digital advance reader's copy, provided via NetGalley.

Impetuous Julia Beaumont-Stuart is home for the summer holidays. Life is changing in Scottish Highlands she calls home: the family estate has been sold to settle debts and the family treasures, including river pearls will soon be auctioned off. Soon after her arrival, Julia wakes up in the hospital: she was found unconscious near the river by a family of Travellers (Scottish gypsies). One of the family employees goes missing on the same day as the attack. Fifteen year Julia becomes enthralled by the mysterious that emerge: her attack, the missing man, an ancient boat, her fascination with the Traveller family and her attraction to a man who is cataloging the family collections.

Wein captures the spirit of pre-war Scotland and gives us a sense of the character who will play a major part in her novel Code Name Verity.

US cover
The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein is a prequel to her much-renowed Code Name Verity. Hence it is also set in the same universe of plausible World War II events as Rose Under Fire and Black Dove, White Raven, all of which I have read and enjoyed. None of those books are required reading before picking up The Pearl Thief, but I can attest to increased sentimentality while reading The Pearl Thief after having read Code Name Verity. I teared up almost every time roses were mentioned (and they were the same roses). 🥀

When fifteen-year-old Julia Beaufort-Stuart wakes up in the hospital, she knows the lazy summer break she’d imagined won’t be exactly like she anticipated. And once she returns to her grandfather’s estate, a bit banged up but alive, she begins to realize that her injury might not have been an accident. One of her family’s employees is missing, and he disappeared on the very same day she landed in the hospital.

Desperate to figure out what happened, she befriends Euan McEwen, the Scots Traveller boy who found her when she was injured, and his standoffish sister Ellen. As Julie grows closer to this family, she experiences some of the prejudices they’ve grown used to firsthand, a stark contrast to her own upbringing, and finds herself exploring thrilling new experiences that have nothing to do with a missing-person investigation.

Her memory of that day returns to her in pieces, and when a body is discovered, her new friends are caught in the crosshairs of long-held biases about Travellers. Julie must get to the bottom of the mystery in order to keep them from being framed for the crime.


UK cover
Before I started reading, I had misremembered names (and the last line of the blurb didn't help) and was expecting The Pearl Thief to be about the other protagonist in Code Name Verity, Maddie. I was not emotionally prepared for it when I realised that, of course, Julie was the Scottish one, with the French grandmother and great aunt who had been sent to boarding school in Geneva. That said, if you haven't read Code Name Verity and the shadow of the future isn't hanging over Julie for you, then The Pearl Thief is a fun, coming-of-age, historical YA novel set in the 1930s with a surprisingly bisexual protagonist. Surely worth a read just for that.

The story is told from Julie's point of view, more or less in the tone of a diary, but with pretty normal prose formatting and dialogue. Other major characters are Julie's closest brother Jamie (who readers of Code Name Verity may remember) and a couple of her Scottish Traveller friends. The latter two provide a launching point for a key aspect of historical life explored in the book, namely the discrimination faced by Travellers from otherwise perfectly nice and reasonable people. Julie is a bit of a sheltered outsider who, over the course of the book's adventures and misadventures, experiences and gains a greater appreciation for the differences between her privileged life and the lives of the nomadic Travellers she befriends.

The overarching plot links the above ideas with a few mysteries and other historical details, as well as Scottish river pearls. For the most part, the events of the book aren't too dire (it's not all sunshine and roses — oh, the roses! — but the main point of comparison is World War II) although there are some tense moments. There are also injustices which can hardly be said to be cheerful. But overall this was a fun and enjoyable read that I had difficulty putting down. I highly recommend it to fans of historical YA and of Wein's other books (especially Code Name Verity). In many ways The Pearl Thief made me want to reread Code Name Verity, but it's probably just as well that I own it as a paperback residing on another continent since I don't quite need the heartbreak right now.

5 / 5 stars

First published: May 2017, Bloomsbury UK / Disney-Hyperion US
Series: Code Name Verity universe, first book so far chronologically, fourth to be published
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley