Pandora

Listed in the Decorative Arts category on Art In Fiction, Pandora  (2023) by Susan Stokes-Chapman is her debut novel and a #1 Sunday Times bestseller. London, 1799: Dora Blake, an aspiring jewelry artist, lives with her odious uncle atop her late parents’ once-famed shop of antiquities. After a mysterious Greek vase is delivered, her uncle begins to act suspiciously, keeping the vase locked in the store’s basement, away from prying eyes—including Dora’s. Intrigued by her uncle’s peculiar behavior, Dora turns to young, ambitious antiquarian scholar Edward Lawrence who eagerly agrees to help. Edward believes the ancient vase is the key that will unlock his academic future; Dora sees it as a chance to establish her own name. But what Edward discovers about the vase has Dora questioning everything she has believed about her life, her family, and the world as she knows it. As Dora uncovers the truth, she comes to understand that some doors are locked and some mysteries are buried for a reason, while others are closer to the surface than they appear. “Lush, evocative and utterly irresistible.”—Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne Susan Stokes-Chapman is a writer based in North Wales. She grew up in the Georgian city of Lichfield, before spending four years in the town of Aberystwyth and graduating with a BA in Education and English Literature and an MA in Creative Writing. Pandora was previously shortlisted for the 2020 Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize and longlisted for the Bath Novel Award.  Buy Now from Amazon Buy Now from Bookshop