The Maharani’s Pearls – The Book
It’s almost cheating calling The Maharani’s Pearls a book. Technically, it’s the 6.5 book in the Bess Crawford series by Charles Todd. Though chronologically it’s a story out of time. It takes place during Bess’s childhood in India. It’s cheating calling it a book though because it’s only 95 pages, maybe a short story? At 99 cents though on Kindle, and free at the public library, an inexpensive distraction.
In The Maharani’s Pearl’s, curious, young Bess, gets into a bit of trouble as she sneaks off to a fortune teller in the market. It’s not long before her Nanny says trusted Simon Bradford to retrieve Bess in time to have tea with the visiting Maharani. It’s not long before chaos ensues.
The Maharani’s Pearls – My Thoughts
I didn’t realize when I first started to read The Maharani’s Pearls that it was a short story. So imagine my surprise when I’m ten or fifteen minutes into the story and I’m 30% done. That said, I did enjoy a brief glimpse into Bess’s childhood. Though I wish it was more in depth and perhaps not as … canned. You really don’t gain any insight into Bess other than to realize she was always headstrong, observant and perhaps nosy from a young age.
Having read it it, I don’t think it adds anything to the overall thread of the stories. I’m also not sure as to why it was numbered as 6.5 other than its publication date. Basically, you’re not gaining anything by reading it and you really don’t lose anything reading it either. On the Goodreads scale, I’d probably give it somewhere between two and three stars (It was okay and I liked it).