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The Sixteenth Century
Queen Elizabeth
Thirteen-year-old Mary Devereux is the
daughter of the head tailor in Saltleigh Hall, a big house in
Devon. One night she is alone in the darkened workroom waiting
for her father. She overhears the steward, Hugh Trevor, plotting
with another man to murder the queen and involve her employer's
cousin Walter Raleigh. Then her father returns and disturbs the
plotters who murder him.
Mary knows that Trevor suspects that she knows he is the murderer
and that he plans to kill her too. But Walter Raleigh unwittingly
comes to her rescue. Mary and her father had been working on a
very special cloak for him and now he wants Mary to finish it.
As he gets Mary to work on it in his private rooms she is therefore
safe from Trevor for a time. Then Mary accompanies Raleigh to
London where she is presented to Queen Elizabeth and, in due course,
becomes seamstress to the Queen.
But all the time Mary is harbouring her terrible secret. And when
Trevor also comes to London she fears for her own life as well
as that of the Queen. Is Raleigh also in the plot? What can she
do to save the Queen? She cannot tell what she knows because no
one will believe a simple country girl.
This book gives a good picture of Tudor England with all its political
intrigue and scheming. When Mary is at court who can she trust?
Although much of the story proceeds quietly albeit with a background
of violence there is a thrilling climax when Mary is actually
present at the assassination attempt on the Queen. Alongside the
plotting and intrigue we are also shown the utter insignificance
and uselessness of the lives of many of the wealthy women of the
time when the number of bows on their dress was considered a major
issue. And always in the background is the violence of the age
when a man could be accused of theft on a trumped up charge and
put to death.
The characters are particularly well drawn. There is Raleigh,
vain and ambitious. There are the two daughters of Saltleigh Hall,
unkind and malicious and obsessed with the trivialities of fashion.
Above all there is Mary herself. Mary who appears to be a dreamer
but who is actually an artist in her own right. When Mary appears
to be dreaming she is really observing -- seeing, for example,
the frost on a tree and thinking that the intricate pattern of
the branches reminds her of delicate lace. Mary works long and
painstakingly on Raleigh's cloak and we are shown her utter devastation
when she sees it thrown down on the mud and trampled under Elizabeth's
feet -- a description which is positively poignant.
The book comes with a short note about Raleigh and Mary. It turns
out that Mary was a real person and she eventually married the
new steward at Saltleigh Estate.
Very highly recommended.
11+
"It was just before midnight when Queen Elizabeth slipped out of bed and went in search of her magician."
This is the attention grabbing first sentence of "The Devil and His Boy."
Queen Elizabeth makes her way along a secret passage to her magician Dr John Dee. She wants to know about someone called "Robert." Is he alive or is he dead? Dr Dee looks in his "stone of vision." Robert is dead but he has a son who is still alive. The boy is about twelve years old and he lives near a castle with strange chimneys - which can only be Framlingham Castle in Suffolk.
The scene then changes to the Pig's Head Inn in Framlingham. Tom Falconer, a half starved boy dressed in rags works as a slave for the owners of the inn. Then one day a wealthy gentleman - who is actually Sir William Hawkins, a member of the Gentleman Pensioners, the private bodyguard of Queen Elizabeth - comes to the inn and takes Tom away with him. But on the way to London Sir William is killed by a highwayman. Tom escapes and manages to reach London - where he finds nothing but danger. He even finds himself involved in a plot to assassinate the Queen. But he finds an unexpected friend and protector - the girl thief Moll Cutpurse.
The Devil and his Boy moves at a fast pace. The story is plot driven and the characters are lightly sketched in. The descriptions are economical but still manage to give a good impression of Elizabethan England.
For example we are told that the inn "had few windows - glass was too expensive." Later the landlord offers a traveller, "A potato!. Have you ever tried a potato, my Lord? It is quite new and the most remarkable thing ..."
The Devil and His Boy may read like a lighthearted romp but it actually has more substance than may appear at first. It has been carefully researched and there is much interesting information about Shakespeare and the Elizabethan theatre. But some lesser known but even more fascinating facts have been introduced into the story. How many people know that the Banqueting Hall in Whitehall Palace was made of canvas? That it was, in fact, a gigantic tent and it was not until the reign of James I that it was replaced with a solid structure. Then there is a detailed description of the execution chamber in Newgate Prison.
Several characters in the book really lived. Moll Cutpurse the thief, Gamaliel Ratsey the highwayman, John Dee the magician, and many more were real people.
There is also a rumour that Queen Elizabeth had, before she became queen, a child the birth of which was concealed. Anthony Horowitz has taken this theory and spun an engrossing story around it.
10+
This is the first in a series of historical
mysteries set at the time of Queen Elizabeth.
Young Lady Grace Cavendish is a Maid of Honour -- and secret investigator
-- to Queen Elizabeth. Grace has a special position in the Queen's
heart. This is because her mother died after drinking poison which
was meant for Elizabeth -- and thus saved the Queen's life.
At a ball Grace is asked to choose between three suitors. Then
she will be handfasted and married properly when she is sixteen.
Grace reluctantly chooses one of the suitors. The next morning
another of the suitors is found murdered and Grace's betrothed
is accused of the crime. Grace at once decides to find out the
truth of the matter -- a decision which leads to much unravelling
of threads, trouble for Grace, and a daring plot to rescue a kidnap
victim.
The story is told in the first person in the form of a diary kept
by Grace. But her diary concentrates on the important parts and
does not stop the story from just racing along. The book also
introduces painlessly many interesting facts about Tudor times.
Grace has two secret friends -- Ellie a laundry maid and Masou
an acrobat -- and these two characters provide a way of informing
the reader about the lives of the lower classes at the time.
This book is obviously meant to be a subtle way of teaching history.
But it is rather too subtle. There is much detail about clothes
as Grace describes how she is prepared for the ball. But Grace
just refers to her kirtle, farthingale etc. True there is a glossary
-- if children are prepared to go to it and look things up. But
more is needed. A brief explanation of the various garments is
not enough. Illustrations are badly needed -- and they would not
have given the book a text book feel. Think of the way in which
Cynthia Harnett's illustrations enhanced her books.
Comes with a glossary and a historical note. The latter points
out that while we are all familiar with Walsingham's spies, Elizabeth
was so well informed that she may well have had her own investigators
among her own ladies. So Lady Grace may well have had factual
basis. I like to think so.
Excciting. Amusing. Authentic. A real fun read. But at the same
time this is a book which is just crying out for illustrations.
10-14
This book was first published in 1997.
This is the second in the series about Ka, the time-travelling cat and her young master Topher Hope. (His name is really Christopher but he is called Topher to distinguish him from his dad).
In this story Topher's dad (a widower) marries again and Topher is uprooted to Cambridge. He has to change schools. At his new school there is a strong Animal Welfare Club and Topher gets drawn into their activities. This poses problems for him because Molly, his new stepmother, works in medical research and is trying to find a cure for cancer.
Ka goes missing and Topher's new school friends tell him she has been kidnapped and taken to an animal laboratory.
Then Molly's car is blown up by animal rights activitists. Topher sees the burning car and sees a figure being carried away on a stretcher. But we have to wait until the end of the book to find out who is on the stretcher because this is when Topher is taken back in time to be with Ka again.
He is still called Topher but he is now the son of Dr Dee, Queen Elizabeth's mathematician and astrologer. And he has a cat called Ka. This is quite dangerous in Elizabethan times. It could mean Topher being accused of being a witch.
Topher has all the normal problems of an Elizabethan schoolboy. Latin verbs to learn and a savage beating if he makes a mistake. But he also has to help his father find the Philospher's Stone - which would turn baser metals into gold. This worries Topher because he knows it is against the law. But Topher also knows that the Queen has ordered his father to find it. A puzzle.
Then Ka is stolen by the rogue and fraud Ned Kelley. Topher tries to find them and is captured himself. Kelley tells him that he knows that Ka can speak to him. If she does not tell the secret of the Philospher's Stoneshe will be drowned.
This is an interesting and unusual story. It does not have "National Curriculum" written all over it but it does give a good picture of Elizabethan England. In particular it shows the superstitions and cruelties of the time. Example, a man has his right hand cut off because he writes a pamphlet of which the Queen disapproves. Dr Dee, the "Welsh Wizard" really existed. He did try to find the Philosopher's Stone and he also tried to find the Elixir which would enable Queen Elizabeth to live for ever.
Queen Elizabeth herself and her court and palace are well pictured. There is also a detailed description of the scenes at Deptford when Francis Drake is knighted.
Some deep questions are posed in both the modern and the historic parts of the book. We learn that there are no easy answers.
An exciting, fast paced and yet thought provoking story which still manages to give a good picture of Elizabethan England.
10+
This is the last of the series of stories about the Marsden family of Marsden Hall near Durham - and especially about young William and Meg the servant girl who is something more than a servant.
There are Puritans on Marsden Manor. They accuse the Widow Atkinson of witchcraft, haul her from her cottage and then set her home on fire.
Then they take her to the local magistrate, Sir James Marsden. Some spiteful villagers give evidence against her and it is arranged that she will stand trial at the Easter assizes. Will and Meg are also involved. The Puritans have accused them of helping the Widow and so, if Jane Atkinson is found guilty then William and Meg will hang too. There is one hope for all of them. If William can go to London and get a pardon from Queen Elizabeth herself. In doing this he might also save his grandmother because she is ill and her only chance lies in the Widow's skill with herbs.
Will escapes to London and Meg goes with him. In London Will meets Sir Robert Carey, an old friend of his father's and one of the Queen's favourites. Sir Robert arranges for Will to see the Queen and the most amazing, incredible part of the story begins.
The cruel, terrifying Queen takes a liking to Will and commands him to become her page. When Will is not helping the Queen he is to help her astrologer, Dr John Dee who has just found the Elixir of Life. This is the liquid which brings everlasting life. It will keep the Queen alive for ever - but not as an old woman. She will become young again.
(Incredible as this may seem there is a historical basis for it. Dr Dee actually existed and he did try to find the Elixir just as, earlier, he had tried to find the Philosopher's Stone which, it was believed, could turn baser metals into gold).
Meanwhile Sir Robert Carey and his sister Lady Philadelphia Scrope are plotting to make sure that James VI of Scotland becomes King of England when the Queen dies. Young Will is caught up in all this.
The story races along to a climax when Will accompanies Sir Robert Carey on his furious ride north to take the ring signifying Elizabeth's death to James in Edinburgh. Will leaves Sir Robert at Chester le Street and returns to Marsden Hall. It is the end of the Tudors - and also of the older members of the Marsden family. It is the beginning of the Stuarts - and as for Marsden manor, it soon has a new lord - young William.
Told in the first person by William although his grandmother also has a few chapters when she tells of the time when she served the young Princess Elizabeth.
As well as Dr Dee, Sir Robert Carey and Lady Philadelphia are also real historical characters.
The Queen of the Dying Light gives a very different picture of Queen Elizabeth from the traditional ones of Good Queen Bess, but I shall remember the book more for the grim portrayal it gives of the witchhunts which were to be such a feature of the new century.
Comes complete with historical notes and time trail.
10+
This book was first published in 1991. It is about 10,000 words long. It is for children of seven to eleven.
Crispin is a baker's apprentice. One day his master is approached by Master Kyme, the head of the household of Sir William Petre, a lawyer and one of the most important men in the Queen's government. Sir William needs some extra servants and Crispin's master has recommended him.
This is a wrench for Crispin. His parents are dead and his master and his wife have treated him as if he were their own son. But he knows that he has to go.
Crispin has more to worry about than a change of household. That morning, while on a message, he had seen a dying beggar in the streets. The beggar had been stabbed. Just before he died he pressed a piece of parchment into Crispin's hand. This parchment is to lead Crispin into danger. He meets Sir William Cecil, Chief Advisor to Queen Elizabeth and finds that he may have the knowledge to prevent the assassination of the Queen.
The story is fiction but the background is factual. Sir William Petre really lived and his country house Ingatestone Hall, can still be visited. And there were attempts on the Queen's life.
This is a fast paced story which nevertheless includes a lot of detail about life in Elizabethan times - baking bread, the streets of London, the domestic arrangements of a large house. In particular, the visit of Crispin and Hannah to the scrivener highlights the fact that in those days very few people could read. And the last section of the book gives a comprehensive picture of a royal "progress," which was the name given to the regular journeys made by Queen Elizabeth (with all her courtiers and servants) round the country when she would stay at the homes of the English nobility - and eat them out of house and home.
An exciting story with an authentic background and two believable young characters, Crispin and the resourceful little servant girl Hannah.
Key Stage 2