The Paper Duchess Series by Angeline Trevena

"Too much trouble, and you'll end up just like your crazy mother."Maeve was six when they took her mother away, and left her in the care of her Uncle Lou: a drunk, a misogynist, a fraud.For eleven years she's lived with him in Falside's slums, deep in the silt of the Falwere River. She bottles his miracle medicine, stocks his apothecary shop, and endures his savage temper.But as his violence escalates, and his lies come undone, she devises a plan to escape him forever... more"Too much trouble, and you'll end up just like your crazy mother."Maeve was six when they took her mother away, and left her in the care of her Uncle Lou: a drunk, a misogynist, a fraud.For eleven years she's lived with him in Falside's slums, deep in the silt of the Falwere River. She bottles his miracle medicine, stocks his apothecary shop, and endures his savage temper.But as his violence escalates, and his lies come undone, she devises a plan to escape him forever. Even if it means people have to die. less