Rosemary’s Book of the Week
The Sugar Palace by Fiona McIntosh.
Under the clamour of the Sydney Harbour Bridge being built nearby, Grace Fairweather is working in her father’s grocery shop in The Rocks when she begins making her own confectionery. Her colourful creations of toffees, lollies and chocolates soon become crowd favourites, and Grace begins to dream of one day opening her own sweetshop. When the roguish but irresistible Londoner Alfie Sweeting comes to work for the Fairweathers, his ambition for her success thrills her – so much so that she begins to question her engagement to Norman.
Perhaps the ‘safe’ option in life isn’t the right thing for her after all. Alfie encourages her to open not just a sweetshop, but a delightful destination for young and old – a sugar palace! With Grace’s natural business acumen and Alfie’s creative sales skills, it seems like they could be the perfect pairing – in work and in love – but when Alfie’s criminal past catches up with him, both their lives come under threat and Grace is forced to make the most difficult decision of all.
Moving between the colourful world of a carnival-like confectionery store and Sydney’s organised crime world of brothel madams, gambling dens and cocaine dealers, this is a thrilling romantic adventure that shows not everyone is to be trusted, and life isn’t always as sweet as it seems.
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