1881 and London is sweltering in the hot summer heat. Kitty Peck is trying to make a go of running The Paradise, the huge empire of trade in the Docklands that she has inherited from her grandmother, Lady Ginger. However Kitty is struggling and haunted my memories of her trial to enter 'The Barons', a taste for opium is her only solace. The aftermath of the burning of The Gaudy haunts her and with only one hall operational Kitty is frustrated. However Kitty is being harassed, filthy pictures of her appear on walls around The Paradise and The Barons are intend on finding her brother. As her grandmother reaches the end of her life, there is still more about The Paradise that Kitty needs to learn.

Not having read the first two books in the series was quite a handicap for me in tackling this instalment. It is to Griffin's credit that she doesn't spend vast tracts of the novel rehashing the plots of the previous books and there was definitely enough information to enable me to pick up the gist of the story so far. The handicap was more that I was enjoying the story and the characters created and it made me want to start the series from the beginning. This is escapist popular fiction with a historical setting but it doesn't purport to be history, just a rollicking good tale set in a particular time and place. Kitty is a flawed heroine and the plot is as twisty as one could want.

I received this copy in return for my independent honest review.
This is the third in The Kitty Peck series of historical fiction. I haven't read the first two and therefore am reviewing this on its merits as a stand alone read.
In this book,Kitty Peck,a young adult has inherited a group of music halls in London from her grandmother. This is not as straightforward as it at first appears, and there are forces at work which she wasn't expecting.
I really enjoyed this book in its own right,however it has left me excited to read the first two in this series as I feel it will make this volume all the more interesting.
I loved the character of Kitty which is full of spirit and shows an underlying naivety which made me emotionally involved and wanting her to do well.
This is also unusual and unique which for me was its beauty. It keeps you engaged and wanting more.
The plot is complex and at times needs your full concentration to follow, it as it throws you off track with its twists and turns.
Be prepared this is quite dark in places, however for me important issues,including child prostitution are covered well, showing just how dark the criminal underworld was in those times.
My rating of 4* is due to the fact I believe this book would offer me so much more if read in order

Thanks Faber and Faber Ltd and netgalley for this ARC.

This is one of those series that gets me so excited! It's unique, bizarre, exciting, and in its own class.

Having inherited 'Paradise', a group of musical halls and other businesses from her fearsome grandmother Lady Ginger, eighteen year old Kitty Peck must now step up to take control of her empire and keep the other 'barons' of the London underworld from frightening her off. But she's up against some pretty ruthless men, who will stop at nothing to see her fail.

Kitty Peck and the Daughter of Sorrows is the third book in this series and I must confess to not having read the first two. However, sufficient background was given for me to follow the tale so far and also to want to read the rest of the series before the next book comes out. I became immersed in the sights and sounds of Kitty's seamy Victorian London and the people she encountered. Her brother Joey is still missing, hopefully hidden somewhere safe from men who seek to kill him and her best friend Lucca has gone to Italy to see his dying mother. Kitty feels very much alone but soon learns that Lady Ginger has allies willing to help her fight for her empire, but she must learn who to trust and who to fear. As well as being immersed in the darker side of the London underworld sweltering in a hot and steamy summer, this novel is redolent with secrets and menace as Kitty navigates her way through the traps set for her. An excellent atmospheric, almost gothic tale!

I read for as long as I could handle but I found the copy I received so difficult to keep reading on. I apologise but I have given up, a shame because it felt like a excellent novel.

I will admit to loving the Kitty Peck series, of which this is the third book, so I was so excited to get a copy of this to read and review.

For those new to the series (who I recommend don't start here as this series is intricately plotted and you definitely will want to read what has come before), Kitty is a Victorian music hall artist turned 'Baron', a member of a group of powerful people who control London's underworld. This caused me some reservations as I wondered where the author could take her character from here without her being tainted by the role she has had to assume. I needn't have worried - Kitty is as tough and likeable as ever as she negotiates the unpleasantness of Paradise, the ironic title given to her patch of London.

The plot of this book follows on from the previous two, in particular centring around Kitty's desire to protect those closest to her and unravel some more of the mystery surrounding her birthright.

The book itself rattles along at quite a pace, taking in some of the seamier side of Victorian London; it's quite grim in places as Griffin presents illness, death and decay in quite horrible detail at times, but this shouldn't put you off. She also presents a fascinating view of the city and its more colourful occupants, not least the music hall entertainers and Kitty's mysterious brother, Joey.

My only criticism was that the narrative lacked pace in the middle. It started well and picked up again for the exciting finale, but there was a section that was quite slow.

Still, none of what I've said should deter anyone from reading this intriguing and engaging mystery series. Just start from the beginning so you can really appreciate the twistiness of the plot and the relationships between the characters. I honestly can't wait for the next one!

“I signed my soul away for the Paradise that day.”



The desperate tragedy that tugged us toward the end of the previous installment in Kitty’s tale seeps into her world from the outset and drags us into the mire of an unbearably smoggy summer, into the depths of opium dens and across the stage where lime-lights and greasepaint adorn a world Kitty knows so well. A world that has, to Kitty, become little more than a den of iniquity and brutality.


The amazing thing about so many series is you become so accustomed to their world a new installment makes your heart race. Also, as you adapt to the world and the characters, you forget amazing fictional friendships. In the Kitty Peck series ( gushing here ), I have discovered that my heart thrums a little the first time I see the word fannella: Lucca’s pet name for Kitty! Revisiting these characters and spending time in Kitty’s London laced with visceral and grotesque undercurrents and weighted under the sticky summer sun was a delight. The best books transplant you so deeply that when you look up from their pages you aren’t sure where you are. Kitty does that—gets a hook into you and pulls tightly.

Kitty Peck and the Daughter of Sorrow is the third installment in a series I wish would go on- and -on- forever—and- ever -amen and it drops right into the murky lair of an opium-tinged underworld. Now, Lady Linnet, Kitty has risen from music hall seamstress to a position of dark power and mars on her conscience stick to her with the ascent.

As always, there are secrets entwining her brother, Joey ( who was approached with great detail in Kitty Peck and The Child of Ill Fortune) and Lady Ginger, a scary Havishamesque maternal figure who would be at home in the Lannister court in Game of Thrones, all surrounding Kitty’s coming of age story as the curtain is peeled back and her shocking past revealed.


To speak to the intricate plot details would do this review a disservice. You really need to read the books in order to appreciate the complicated web Griffin tightens around Kitty and her allies. In this book, Kitty’s to-die-for connection with Lucca and her budding feelings for journalist Sam Collins are the bright lights in Kitty’s darkening world and a delight to the reader. While Lucca spends a lot of time off-page ( miss you, Lucca!), Kitty and Sam’s conversations crackle and pop with chemistry. Their words buzz. Another ally is Peggy, expecting a child while navigating a new world without Dan, whose death Kitty knows more than she should about.


Kitty has always been a complex character who colours between the worlds of dark and light. Resourceful and intelligent beyond her years, she uses exceptional agency to work the world around her as befits her desire to find her brother and, in this case, to reconcile the deeds of her conscience as she stepped into her new role with the Kitty she most wants to be. What I found especially memorable about this installment, is how much of a coming-of-age story it is. Kitty grows and develops amidst a festering underworld of criminal activity, violence and disgrace--- and this is most apparent in the slight changes in her alluring narrative. This is a more confident Kitty, a hardened Kitty --though never bereft of the spirit and light that pulls us onward as we fall into her voice. Griffin shows her writing chops by allowing us to see the cracks in the veneer of Kitty’s confidence, while never allowing her self-awareness and strength to falter.

I highly recommend starting this series from the beginning and I highly recommend savouring the tang of its unique voice. Describing Griffin to people, I sometimes think of Sarah Waters meets Catherine Webb for lunch with Michael Faber after a pre-drink with George RR Martin.


As in the previous two installments, Griffin has created a tangible world thanks to Kitty’s pitch-perfect narration, expert research and descriptions that buzz off the page. While the plot is intricate, terrifying and undercut with suspense, it is a character-driven tale populated with colourfully dimensional characters.

There is also ( tearing up here) an amazing moment of sacrifice between the two men in Kitty’s life, Lucca and Sam. If you didn’t already love these characters to the point of distraction, The Daughter of Sorrow will pull you over the edge.


( and the END omg the END! I die, Horatio! The end was just this lovely little jolt of adrenaline that got Kitty's heart racing so madly I swear I appropriated some of its beat. The author's note informs us that Kitty's world will be brighter and I sure hope so because I NEED these characters in my life and I need more of this fresh, exuberant, wrap-around-you-so-tightly narrative voice)



A few lines:
Of Sam: “There were grooves at the corners of his mouth worn there by smiling, not temper.”


“Colour was a luxury here.”

“I could smell disappointment rolling off him, in the way you get a tang of old liquor off a lusher.”


“I believe that death, when it comes, will be a kindness.”


“When my dress stuck so close to my flesh, it was like the cotton had been coated in honey.”


With allllll the thanks in the world to Faber and to Kate Griffin for the opportunity to review

A enjoyable and intriguing read!
I loved the character of Kitty and she was a pleasure to learn about and to follow around. I liked the twists and turns surrounding this mystery and can see this being a book I regularly recommend to my reader friends.
Thanks so much to netgalley and Faber and Faber for granting my wish!

Excellent book! Great characters and a brilliant storyline. I would highly recommend this book.