TY - BOOK AU - Shenje,Kuchenga TI - The library thief SN - 9781408726846 (hbk.) : U1 - 823.92 23 PY - 2024/// CY - London PB - Sphere KW - Manchester (England) KW - Fiction KW - History KW - 19th century KW - Detective and mystery stories KW - Crime KW - ukslc KW - Crime & mystery fiction KW - thema KW - Historical mysteries KW - Historical fiction KW - Relating to LGBTQ+ people KW - Historical romance KW - Victorian Britain N2 - Florence is the keeper of a collection of rare books kept under lock and key. But when one of them is taken, it's not a priceless edition but the diary of her employer's dead wife . . .; The library is under lock and key. But its secrets can't be contained. After he brought her home from Jamaica as a baby, Florence's father had her hair hot-combed to make her look like the other girls. But as a young woman, Florence is not so easy to tame - and when she brings scandal to his door, the bookbinder throws her onto the streets of Manchester. Intercepting her father's latest commission, Florence talks her way into the remote, forbidding Rose Hall to restore its collection of rare books. Lord Francis Belfield's library is old and full of secrets - but none so intriguing as the whispers about his late wife. Then one night, the library is broken into. Strangely, all the priceless tomes remain untouched. Florence is puzzled, until she discovers a half-burned book in the fireplace. She realises with horror that someone has found and set fire to the secret diary of Lord Belfield's wife - which may hold the clue to her fate . . ER -