Kensington, 1899.
Cosima Unfortunate has spent all her life at the Home for Unfortunate Girls – a school where any disabled children, or children deemed different, are sent, whether their families want it or not. It is there that she meets her friends – Pearl, Mary and Diya – and they start to practise mini-heists involving the theft of cakes, biscuits and other sweet goodies.
But when Cos finds out that Lord Francis Fitzroy, the explorer behind the Empire Exhibition, is planning to adopt them, she and her friends plot the biggest heist of their life. Instead of fondant fancies, they’re going to steal the legendary Star Diamond of India. As they start preparing for the day, Cosima finds herself drawing ever closer to discovering the one secret she’s always wanted to know – the truth about her parents…
Meet Laura Noakes!
Laura Noakes is a disabled writer and historian from Bedfordshire. She has written articles for Disability in Kidlit and Kettle Mag and her poetry has been published in Scrittura magazine. She was awarded her doctorate in legal history in 2021, and works at the best-named museum in Scotland, The Devil’s Porridge. She lives in beautiful Cumbria with her husband Connor, and her mischievous cat, Scout.
