In 1790 the evil Lestat (Tom Cruise), a 200-year old vampire, decides he wants a buddy and chooses Louis (Brad Pitt). However, despite Louis' desire for death after his young wife's demise, Lestat hasn't banked on Louis being so guilt-ridden when it comes to sucking blood from humans. So whilst Lestat continues to feast upon human flesh, Louis sticks to rats and chickens. That is, until he meets the young Claudia (Kirstan Dunst). Two hundred years later, Louis tells his story to a young reporter (Christian Slater).

Whitechapel, 1888. Grace Hammer and her children live comfortably in Bell Lane, their home a little oasis in the squalor of London s East End. They make their living picking the pockets of wealthy strangers foolish enough to venture there. But Grace s history is about to catch up with her. Out in the countryside Mr. Blunt rocks in his chair, vowing furious retribution. He has never forgotten his scarlet treasure, or the coquettish young woman who stole it from him. Fast-paced, racy, and reminiscent of Charles Dickens s Oliver Twist, Grace Hammer depicts nineteenth-century London amid corruption and a plague of poverty, peopled by orphans, harlots, and petty thieves. Sara Stockbridge introduces an unlikely heroine in Grace Hammer, a captivating young matriarch in a complicated web of intrigue, deceit, loyalties, and betrayal. Originally published in hardcover as Grace Hammer."