“VELVET,” by Mary Hooper, Bloomsbury USA Children’s, Nov. 13, 2012, hardcover, $16.99 (ages 12 and up)
Velvet is on her own. Her mother and father are both dead. But she’s doing OK. She has a job as a laundress in a Victorian steam laundry. The job is hard, but she gets paid and is making do.
Velvet dreams of a better life, but she’s never thought of achieving much more. That changes when her work at the laundry is notice by Madame Savoya, a famed medium. Not only does Madame like Velvet’s work, she wants the young laundress to work for her full time.
Madame is beautiful. She’s enigmatic. She can quiet a crowd with just a look. At first, she dazzles Velvet with her clairvoyant abilities, but as time passes, Velvet begins to realize there’s a lot more to Madame.
I really wanted to like “Velvet.” In fact, I started out really liking it. I found Velvet’s life as a laundress intriguing and the people she worked with were equally interesting.
But my feelings for the book changed as the young laundress entered Madame’s employ. It’s as if she entered Madame’s house and lost all her brain cells. Velvet is very naive and immature. The storyline doesn’t help things. Mary Hooper’s plot is predictable and her pacing drags. Honestly, I ended up bored.
