The Peach Thief

“An apple got Adam and Eve thrown out of paradise. In Linda Joan Smith’s glowing debut novel, a peach shows a 13-year-old girl the way in.” The New York Times Book Review

“Nuanced, richly atmospheric, and exquisitely written.”
Kirkus, starred review

“Delicious.” BookPage, starred review

A “vivid story of struggle and loss spearheaded by hope…”
Booklist, starred review

“Smith’s debut serves up a historical fiction tale not to be missed. A first purchase for all libraries.”
School Library Journal, starred review

The night that workhouse orphan Scilla Brown dares to climb the Earl of Havermore’s garden wall, she wants only to steal a peach—the best thing she’s tasted in her hard, hungry life. But when she’s caught by the earl’s head gardener and mistaken for a boy, she grabs on to something more: a temporary job scrubbing flowerpots. If she can just keep up her deception, she’ll have a soft bed and food beyond her wildest dreams . . . maybe even peaches. She soon falls in with Phin, a garden apprentice who sneaks her into the steamy, fruit-filled greenhouses, calls her “Brownie,” and makes her skin prickle. At the same time, the gruff head gardener himself is teaching lowly Scilla to make things grow, and she’s cultivating hope with every seed she plants. But as the seasons unfurl, her loyalties become divided, and her secret grows harder to keep. How far will she go to have a home at last?

Set in 1850s Lancashire, England, The Peach Thief explores longing, belonging, and the courage it takes to find your place—and bloom.