I love historical fiction and Greek mythology so Pandora instantly appealed to me.
Pandora is Susan Stokes-Chapman’s debut novel, published in 2022. I’ll be honest, I fell in the love with the cover. What a beautiful book!
I loved how it promised to combine Ancient Greece, the 18th century and a mystery and I couldn’t wait to read it.
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Plot
In London, 1799, Dora Blake is working and living with her uncle in what used to be her parents’ famed and respected shop of antiquities. However, her relationship with her uncle is strained to say the least and what she really wants is to be an independent woman and artist, selling her jewellery designs.
When a mysterious Greek vase is delivered to the shop, Dora is intrigued by her uncle’s suspicious behaviour and his attempts to hide the object. When Dora meets Edward Lawrence, a young antiquarian scholar, he agrees to help Dora reveal the vase’s secrets. Edward sees the ancient vase as the key to unlocking his academic future while Dora sees it as a chance to restore the shop to its former glory, and to escape her nefarious uncle.
However the vase isn’t what it seems and what they discover has Dora questioning everything about her life, her family, and the world as she knows it.
Pandora Book Review
I really enjoyed this book. It effortlessly combines the Ancient Greek myth of Pandora’s jar (not box!) with an intriguing mystery set in Georgian England.
It’s an atmospheric novel and I was gripped from the first page. It has a real sense of foreboding and the rich, descriptive prose creates a hugely immersive read. It’s quite dark in places which I actually quite like in a novel such as this. The conspiracies, deceits and betrayals meant that it wasn’t just a gripping family drama but also a story full of danger, mystery, romance and intrigue.
The author drops hints throughout the novel and while there was no huge twist at the end, I really enjoyed the story. I particularly enjoyed the rather ambiguous ending when it came to the identity of the mysterious man Edward met who urged him to speak to Dora.
The villain was rather a pantomime character, with no redeeming features but I found Dora to be a likeable and well-rounded character. I particularly enjoyed her relationship with Edward as they worked together.
I will definitely be looking out for more books by Susan Stokes-Chapman.
What should I read after Pandora?
If you enjoyed Pandora, I’d definitely recommend reading Susan Stokes-Chapman’s second novel, The Shadow Key.
If you’d like to read more books set during the 18th century, I’d recommed also reading The Square of Sevens by Laura Shepherd Robinson and That Bonesetter Woman by Frances Quinn. If you enjoyed the Greek Mythology aspect to the book, I’d recommend Circe by Madeline Miller and Stone Blind by Natalie Haynes.