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Ma Polinski's Pockets
“Edinburgh is a great big black bastard of a city where there are ghosts of all kinds.”What are the secrets in Ma Polinski’s Pockets? To find out, Rachel must leave her comfortable life and take her best friend Nina on a journey through dark family history.Rachel White is shocked when she inherits £8 million pounds from a stranger. To unravel the mystery of this sudden legacy, she enlists her best friend, Nina. As the girls set out on a quest to unearth the truth, Rachel’s comfortable life in Edinburgh is turned upside down when she makes a dark discovery about her mother’s experiences during WWII. Will Rachel’s quest to find the truth set her family free?Praise for Sara Sheridan and other books are written by proven teenager writers and are fast moving, straightforward and appealing.’ – Inform‘in a genre where we usually find polemic, melodrama or worthy-but-predictable tragedy, Sheridan has written a proper, character-driven novel…a pessimistic exploration of how ordinary and even good people, once locked into a certain mind-set, can do blatantly evil things yet think them good and right... so well written you never notice the writing’– Glasgow Herald
210 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 2, 1999
9 people are currently reading
100 people want to read
About the author
Sara Sheridan
46 books431 followersBorn in Edinburgh. I'm a complete swot - love books always have! Currently obsessed with late Georgian/ early Victorian culture, the subject of several of my novels, and with 1950s Britain for my Mirabelle Bevan murder mystery series set across the UK - and even one in Paris. Occasionally write tie-in books for historical dramas on TV, children's picture books and short stories, mostly for charitable causes.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
July 23, 2015
Firstly the good - The plot was both interesting and, as far as I've read, an original perspective on the horrors of the past. For that I congratulate the author.
However, this book was riddled with both typos, omitted words, non-nonsensical sentences and the random additions of letters in the strangest places.
Reading through it, it did look like it had not been proofread. Some of the errors could easily be typos, with a wayward finger catching a neighbouring key during the hurried typing of a mind at work. Others, not so much.
This was a shame as I otherwise enjoyed the book. I hope that the errors in the manuscript are corrected so that others might enjoy this charming book to its fullest.
However, this book was riddled with both typos, omitted words, non-nonsensical sentences and the random additions of letters in the strangest places.
Reading through it, it did look like it had not been proofread. Some of the errors could easily be typos, with a wayward finger catching a neighbouring key during the hurried typing of a mind at work. Others, not so much.
This was a shame as I otherwise enjoyed the book. I hope that the errors in the manuscript are corrected so that others might enjoy this charming book to its fullest.
November 5, 2022
I liked this one by Sara Sheridan but wasn’t sure if it was a young adult book or not. It was a good story and quite fun and I liked the characters, but it just seemed a bit unreal somehow and a bit daft in places. Also there was quite a bit of drumming into the reader what was good or bad which is why I wondered if it was a young adult book really. Anyway it was okay and definitely want to read more of hers.
March 8, 2023
A very readable book - I could hardly put it down. This was down to the very engaging narrator with whom I enjoyed hanging out with. I was expecting a bigger twist to the mystery but it was still a powerful glimpse into the legacy of the Holocaust.
November 6, 2017
Rachel used to visit Ma Polinski with her father and be given biscuits from her pocket. Twenty years later, she suddenly changes Rachel's life forever.
March 20, 2025
The amount of typos is unbelievable? Whoever the editor/proofreader was deserved to get sacked! anyways
March 28, 2025
One of her earliest novels. Didn't go in the direction I expected. Bit of an odd fish, really.
June 21, 2012
I am not sure what I was expecting based on the title, but it sure wasn't the great story I have just read.
The introspective thought put into how a survivor feels and deals with the aftermath of the Holocaust. I have never given much thought to how it must be for the partner of a survivor if they themselves were never in that situation. Having to live with the memories and the haunting, despite never having lived through
them.
The story has us follow the daughter of such a survivor, who inherits from a person she barely knows. This in turn sends her on a search for answers.It shows us the strained relationship the main character has with her parents, their unwillingness to let her go and her need for independance.
The author manages to bring to light the fact that Holocaust denial is rife in our day and age.Unfortunately those that voice these lies are allowed freedom of speech. She allows give us an insight into how these traumatic events follow those that have experienced them and their family members, for many years.
It should never be forgotten.
I do agree that there are some minor typos and some factual research is incorrect. This didn't, for me at least, deter from the fact it was a good story.
The introspective thought put into how a survivor feels and deals with the aftermath of the Holocaust. I have never given much thought to how it must be for the partner of a survivor if they themselves were never in that situation. Having to live with the memories and the haunting, despite never having lived through
them.
The story has us follow the daughter of such a survivor, who inherits from a person she barely knows. This in turn sends her on a search for answers.It shows us the strained relationship the main character has with her parents, their unwillingness to let her go and her need for independance.
The author manages to bring to light the fact that Holocaust denial is rife in our day and age.Unfortunately those that voice these lies are allowed freedom of speech. She allows give us an insight into how these traumatic events follow those that have experienced them and their family members, for many years.
It should never be forgotten.
I do agree that there are some minor typos and some factual research is incorrect. This didn't, for me at least, deter from the fact it was a good story.
September 27, 2016
Ma Polinkski's Pockets by Sara Sheridan - good
Having enjoyed the Mirabelle Bevan series of books, I thought I'd back track and read some of the author's earlier work.
I suspect there is more than just a bit of the author's life and family in this book.
Rachel is the second child of the family, her father is a retired antique dealer, her mother a survivor of the Nazi death camps. Early on in her life she meets Ma Polinski whose pocket always seems to contain a sugared biscuit for a small child. She owns a labyrinthine antique shop on Edinburgh's Royal Mile and often deals with Rachel's father.
I don't want to give too much away, but having been overlooked to inherit the family business, Rachel becomes an archaeologist based in Glasgow. Happily involved in Museum work she is drawn back to Edinburgh after a strange bequest and finds herself digging deeper into her own family history and into Ma Polinkski's life and times.
A nice quick read and a good page turner.
Having enjoyed the Mirabelle Bevan series of books, I thought I'd back track and read some of the author's earlier work.
I suspect there is more than just a bit of the author's life and family in this book.
Rachel is the second child of the family, her father is a retired antique dealer, her mother a survivor of the Nazi death camps. Early on in her life she meets Ma Polinski whose pocket always seems to contain a sugared biscuit for a small child. She owns a labyrinthine antique shop on Edinburgh's Royal Mile and often deals with Rachel's father.
I don't want to give too much away, but having been overlooked to inherit the family business, Rachel becomes an archaeologist based in Glasgow. Happily involved in Museum work she is drawn back to Edinburgh after a strange bequest and finds herself digging deeper into her own family history and into Ma Polinkski's life and times.
A nice quick read and a good page turner.
May 26, 2016
Having read two of Sara Sheridan's historical novels, Secret Madarin and Secret of the Sands, and loved them I decided to try this more contemporary novel. I found it a little slow to start but was glad I perservered. The story follows a young girl's quest to discover why a women who knew her only as a child has bequeathed her a small fortune. It explores family relationships along the way, all of which are strongly tied to the story, but no spoilers. The investigation is interesting, albeit a little far fetched at times,but it is entertaining. All in all a very pleasant read.
August 11, 2016
An unexpected inheritance prompts Rachel to investigate her benefactor. She unearths shocking truths which shake her from her middle class, well-heeled, only-daughter cocoon and set her on a path to address wrongs in a small but significant way. An exhumation scene lends a slight air of implausibility but overall a pacy, well-researched read.
June 27, 2012
Interesting - but not as in depth as I would have liked. Probably worth a read - especially as a springboard to reading indepth books about the effects of the holocaust.
The main character is left millions in a will - so frustrating she does not enjoy it! Spending the same as when she had none - you want to shout at her to ENJOY!
The main character is left millions in a will - so frustrating she does not enjoy it! Spending the same as when she had none - you want to shout at her to ENJOY!
May 7, 2012
I found this novel very superficial and rather like a short story in a woman's magazine with it's highly implausible massive inheritance and it's corny, predictable romantic interest. It had good ratings and a promising plot but I found it deeply disappointing and utterly unmemorable.
June 6, 2012
A very basic chick lit
If it had been more than 99p I would have felt robbed.
Holocaust premise is v tenuous and not fully explored
Obvious love pairing
Very implausible plot line in the cemetery
And a "best friend" with no characterisation
Shame -- it sounded good
If it had been more than 99p I would have felt robbed.
Holocaust premise is v tenuous and not fully explored
Obvious love pairing
Very implausible plot line in the cemetery
And a "best friend" with no characterisation
Shame -- it sounded good
June 15, 2012
Having heard Sara talk at a literary lunch (she was great, by the way), I thought I would read this book of hers that has been sitting on my kindle for ages. I did like it, and the historical stuff was great, but I was just a bit disappointed, not sure why! I shall move on now to her new novel!
December 29, 2013
Really enjoyed this mystery. Coincidentally read it straight after Sycamore Row which also features an unexpected inheritance, so guessed where this was going to a certain extent. Thought this was way more engaging and a much better take than John Grisham's.
November 29, 2012
Rubbish !
August 26, 2017
This was a quick read and quite enjoyable but too far fetched and not gritty or real enough. Is it a YA? I keep buying those by accident.
September 27, 2013
A fairly easy read with some interesting twists and surprises. It did, however, feel a bit superficial, and with only a few exceptions stayed at one emotional level throughout.
April 13, 2014
disappointing read with unbelievable characters .
October 25, 2016
I really enjoyed this book - set in Edinburgh where I live and a great story. Some interesting stuff on intergeneational trauma and recovery. Good fun too but not a literary classic!
September 18, 2012
I couldn't get in to this at all.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews