Arabella Stewart is a pert and wealthy little girl. Her parents encounter a child begging one day on the street and hand her a penny.  THE LUCKY PENNY as it turns out for both children. Flora Lee only knows the back streets of London, but the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral are a regular spot for the poor. Flora’s aunt Gert Fox sees the pretty girl has caught the attention of Arabella and offers to sell the six-year-old orphan girl to the toffs. This of course would be illegal, but it doesn’t stop her from trying.

The kindly Stewarts, who made their money from trade and have no other children, take Flora as a companion for Arabella, and the two girls become great friends.  Their lives and fates entwine, with various men of good and bad character taking an interest, and the question of Flora’s status uppermost in the young woman’s mind. She’s not a servant, nor has she any income or means to earn.

I found this a tale like the classic My Fair Lady, in which a flower seller from the East End gains an education and manners to mingle with society. THE LUCKY PENNY, in keeping with Dilly Court’s other novels, has characters who are not nobility, but middle class, which in 1868 was up and coming due to tea clippers and the start of the steamship trade providing goods, spices and investments. The upper class largely depended on land for income, but merchant shipping made fortunes quickly – and sometimes lost them. While Arabella’s parents have aspirations for their daughter, who can expect a good marriage, they are happy to share their good luck and status with an unknown. The story is set in the countryside and the city.

Another theme from this story is whether nature wins over nurture. Is the family Flora never really knew going to affect her decisions and potential? Or will the governess's lessons, handed-down fine dresses, and soft beds determine her character? What kind of man would she wish to marry, if any? Several real-life women in Flora’s position ended their days as governesses, paid companions or respectable work such as dressmaking. The author Monica Dickens, a debutante, found the only work she was fitted for was a cook and general maid.

Flora’s intriguing story mingles with other series by Dilly Court, bringing in familiar characters and settings. THE LUCKY PENNY is lively and engaging, a clean story suitable for older YA readers and adults. The times were changing in London, and lives were changing wholesale too.