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The Seventeenth Century
London
Seventeenth century London. Eliza had spent her whole life in a little village in Somersetshire. Then when she was fifteen her father left home to go to London to try to find work rebuilding the city after the Great Fire. Once he had left her step mother told Eliza to leave the house. Eliza was distraught. She decided to go to London and look for her father. She reached London and found that her money was all gone. Starving she stole a pie, was caught and thrown into the Fleet prison. And this is the point at which the story begins.
She manages to survive the horrific conditions only because she finds a good friend who shows her, among other things, how to beg for money from passers-by at the grille in the prison yard. Eliza turns out to be good at this especially as she has a beautiful singing voice. This brings her to the attention of Ma Gwyn who thinks she will be an asset to her bawdy house and pays for her to be released from the Fleet. So Eliza goes to stay with Ma Gwyn. When the time for St Bartholomew’s Fair comes round Ma Gwyn dresses her as a mermaid and makes her sing for the crowds. She is noticed by some of the young gentlemen and it is at this point that Ma Gwyn’s daughter Nell decides to rescue Eliza and give her a better life.
Eliza becomes the personal maid of Nell Gwyn and also an orange seller in the theatre. She also accompanies Nell when she goes to the Palace and meets King Charles II himself. But Eliza still wants to find her father. When she does eventually track him down there is a shock in store for her. He tells her she is not his daughter, just that his wife had been paid to look after her when she was a baby. So who is Eliza’s real mother? An astrologer hints that Eliza could be high born but Eliza is sceptical. She despairs of ever finding out the truth about her family.
But what she does not know is that her real mother is also conducting her own search for the daughter she was forced to abandon as a baby. Does she find her and is Eliza reunited with her family?
This book gives a good picture of the diversity of Restoration London. The filth and degradation of the Fleet Prison, the decadence of Ma Gwyn’s house and the licentiousness of the lives of some of the young noblemen, the glamour of the theatre and the sumptuousness of the royal pace –– they are all described in detail.
Added to this are the various story elements –– such as Eliza’s search for her family – which provide added interest. There is even a foiled assassination attempt on the King and a Tyburn hanging.
Comes with a historical note.
A pleasant, enjoyable read. There is nothing too explicit but much of the subject matter means that this is very definitely a young adult book –– and not so much of the young either.
Young adult