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The Sixteenth Century -- General
Time travel. This is a story of the clash between two cultures and of divided loyalties.
Dilsmead Hall, just outside Carlisle, houses the northern enterprise of the FUP. We are not told what the letters "FUP" stand for but it is a large organisation. It has built a Time Tube which can take people back to the 16th century, to the time of the border reivers. The FUP hopes to be able to exploit the untapped resources of the 16th century -- coal, oil and gold -- and bring them back to the 21st century. They even have plans for time travel holidays.
But there are problems and these are all caused by the Sterkarms, an old reiving family. At first the Sterkarms are kept partially under control because they are told the 21st century people are Elves with magic powers. But even that does not stop them from robbing the FUP's survey teams. And the Sterkarms refuse to give up raiding. Nevertheless the FUP and the Sterkarms are able to work together until one incident brings matters to a head.
Per, the only son of Toorkild, the head of the Sterkarms, is badly wounded in a raid. Andrea, the FUP's observer in the 16th century, knows he will die if he is not given a 21st century blood transfusion. She persuades Windsor, the head of Dilsmead Hall, to allow her to take him back through the Time Tube to be given the benefits of modern medicine. Per's life is saved but unfortunately he does not understand this. He thinks he is being kept in "Elf-land" to be ransomed. (To a certain extent he is correct because Windsor, the head of the FUP, wants to keep Per so that he can keep control of Toorkild). Per escapes back along the Time Tube to Toorkild and the rest of the family who are only too ready to listen to his story of kidnap and ransom. From then on the situation deteriorates until there is war between the Sterkarms and the FUP. Thereafter the story races on to a violent and tragic climax when the Sterkarms travel through the Time Tube to 21st century Carlisle.
The first part of this book is very good indeed. The 16th century is brought home to us in two ways. Firstly we are shown it through the eyes of the FUP personnel. There is a detailed description of the Sternkarm's tower, and, later, of the ride against the Grannams in which Per is wounded. Then later Andrea (the FUP observer in the 16th century) thinks over what it would really mean if she were to marry Per. " A small amount of pleasure and happiness offset by sixteenth century childbirth and - if she survived that -- all the humilitations of Per's infidelity, the grief of children's deaths, the frights and shocks of constant petty warfare and daily drudgery."
Then we see the 21st century through Per's eyes and his observations also throw light on his own time. For example, Per could not understand why his leg has not gone "bad ways." In other words, he cannot understand why it has not become infected. He does not know that wounds have to be cleansed. Then Per will not eat the food he is given. He is suspicious because it is Elf-food, but even so he has never seen a banana before and he is used to goat's milk, not cow's. He asks for his pouch and instead, breaks off a lump of solid, cold porridge, which he enjoys.
The characters are boldly drawn and they do come alive. There is Andrea, the FUP observer in the 16th century. She is torn between her friendship for the Sterkarms and her love for Per and her knowledge of the Sterkarm treachery and cruelty. There is the ignorant, arrogant, pompous Windsor who refuses to listen to Andrea who knows far more about the Sterkarms than he does, or to Bryce his head of security. Then there is Joe, the 21st century misfit. And of course there are the Sterkarms, kind and loyal to family and friends but brutal and callous to any they perceive as an enemy.
After the Sterkarms declare war on the 21st century this book reads rather like a traditional western in a different setting. Even the characters have their parallels in many westerns.
This book is well worth reading for the fascinating picture it gives of the borderlands at the time of the reivers -- and for the original way in which this picture is conveyed.
The Sterkarm Handshake won the Guardian Award and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.
Teenage
This book was first published in 1999. It is set in the north-east of England in the sixteenth century.
When Canon Clare's second wife dies his sister comes to look after him and his two daughters. But Aunt Latimer turns out to be not only sadistic but also mentally unbalanced and the girls are subjected to savage beatings. Thirteen-year-old Kezia cannot bear to see her half sister, the formerly lively little chatterbox Beth, reduced to a frightened, stammering shadow. Kezia takes Beth and runs away.
Her father has wealthy relatives in York but Kezia does not go to them. His second wife, Beth's mother, had been a servant and Canon Clare's family had disapproved of the marriage. So Kezia goes to Beth's mother's family. But she finds they are too poor to take the girls. They then travel with a couple of tinkers -- who try to betray them. Eventually Kezia finds a home for them when she gets a job looking after a confused, demented old woman.
But this is more than just a story about a flight from child abuse. It is also about guilt and evading responsibilities.
Kezia has been told to go to Collywell Cross where Beth's mother had once been a servant. Formerly Collywell Cross had been a guest house and hospital for an abbey. After the Dissolution of the Monastries it was bought and sold many times before being bought by a Hugh Fairlamb who set up a caring community with his wife Mary. Kezia had been told that both she and Beth will be cared for there. But she does not know where Collywell Cross is and she puts off asking about it because she knows it is the place where she will have to face the truth. Kezia thinks of all the mistakes she has made and the lies she has told. She set out to try to help Beth, but has she really cared for her? She nearly let her drink bad water. The two of them were nearly arrested for witchcraft. Beth fell ill while in her care and was also trapped in a house fire. Kezia also knows she has hurt her father deeply. She will have to face all this at Collywell Cross and she is not ready for that yet.
But Kezia and Beth eventually find their way to Collywell Cross where they find a place of healing and caring, a place of learning and also of fun, a place above all of love.
Mary Fairlamb manages to help Kezia but she cannot answer all her questions Like why did God allow Beth's mother to die? But Kezia is not the only one who has to face the truth. Eventually Canon Clare is brought to Collywood Cross and reunited with his daughters. He comes to realise how he had taken refuge in his work and tried to forget his grief at losing the mothers of both Kezia and Beth. How, too, he had shied away from standing up to his sister. How he did not even realise the utter poverty in which some of his own clergy lived. How he even ignored the clues which would have let him understand the dreadful reason why his sister acted the way she did.
At the end Kezia has some hard decisions to make for a thirteen-year-old girl.
This book is set in the north-east of England in the sixteenth century and has been very carefully researched. It is about real places but they have been fictionalised. For example Canon Clare is attached to Cutherham Cathedral -- which is probably Durham Cathedral. I would have preferred the places to have kept their real names.
This is an exciting story with an authentic historical background and some very deep undertones. A book to make the reader think.
Teenage
Fiction with a firm factual foundation.
Kit is an orphan and pickpocket living by his wits on the streets of Elizabethan London. Then he gets the chance to abandon his precarious lifestyle and join the household of mapmaker and artist John White. Kit eventually agrees although he has misgivings about giving up his freedom. Moreover he has heard that White is a wizard.
Kit settles down and becomes White’s assistant mixing his paints and carrying his bags. He also goes with White to the Queen’s Palace of Greenwich and attracts the attention of the spymaster Walsingham.
Then Kit is given another opportunity –– to accompany White on an expedition to the New World to set up a colony in Virginia. Again Kit agrees and we see the problems of the infant colony through his eyes. Kit and White are enlightened and realise the necessity of making friends with the native inhabitants but the autocratic governor, Ralph Lane, says that force and strength are the only things they understand and things go from bad to worse.
But Kit has problems of his own. He has not told White the truth about himself. He is the son of a Catholic nobleman who was executed for treason. Kit is ashamed to be the son of a traitor. And then he finds his father was convicted because of forged papers. And the forger who had betrayed his father is another member of the colony. And he finds out who Kit really is.
All the most important people of the age flit across the pages of this book. White was a real person and many of his watercolours still exist and are in the British Museum. Other well known characters are given a more rounded description than is often the case. For example Sir Walter Raleigh’s part in the slaughter of Smerwick in Ireland is brought out.
There are also interesting discussions about the barriers people erect between each other. Catholic and Protestant in England and Indian and Englishman in America.
A well told, well researched story with fascinating details about the early colonists in America.
11+
Ian Watson and his three friends are working on a history project for school. To complete it they plan a visit to Lilleshalle Abbey to take photographs. But when they get there they find that it is closed for repairs. Ian is not prepared to give in so easily. He persuades his friends to come back early next Sunday before the custodian is awake. It is not just for the school project. In some strange way Ian finds himself drawn to the Abbey.
Next Sunday Ian sneaks into the Abbey while his friends keep guard. Once inside the grounds Ian finds himself transported back in time. He is now Brother John, a novice monk and nephew of the Abbot. Last summer Ian's father had taken him on a Retreat and together with his knowledge of a modern monastery and by watching the other monks carefully Ian manages to get through the day without arousing suspicions.
It is also a very special time for the monastery. It is the time of Henry VIII and the Dissolution of the monasteries and the King's Commissioners are due the next day. The abbot has an important task for Ian - one which puts him in danger.
This is a well crafted story which gives a good picture of monastic life in general and of the Dissolution of the Monasteries in particular. The descriptions of Lilleshalle Abbey add authenticity. The book is interesting and entertaining without being over-dramatic. It really held my attention.
The part about the past is balanced by the picture of four modern teenagers and the problem of a family where a once successful father has just lost his job.
Jan Shaw knows well what she is writing about because she herself used to be custodian of Lilleshalle Abbey -- although I refuse to believe that she is anything like Mr Crumphorne, the crusty old custodian in the story.
Teenage
This is from Scholastic's My Story series where historical events are shown from the viewpoint of one particular fictional character through entries in her diary.
Here Eva is sent over to England with Catherine of Aragon. She is to be Catherine's interpreter. The book covers Catherine's marriage to Prince Arthur, her widowhood and her eventual marriage to the future Henry VIII, her coronation as queen and the births of her early short-lived children.
Details of everyday life are contrasted with the political intrigue and diplomacy of the period. At first Eva and Catherine are horrified by the dirt and cold of England. We are told that Catherine loves riding, shooting and falconry -- and embroidery. Later Catherine gets involved in politics and tries to help her husband against Scotland.
This book contains details of Catherine conceiving and giving birth. This places it very definitely in the teenage category.
This is quite an easy read and it does present and flesh out the details of a rather complicated historical period. But it is more of a painless way of finding out about the period than a novel.
Comes with historical notes, a timeline and contempory pictures.
Teenage.
In Cloak for a Spy young Giles Taberdar is thrilled when his father agrees that he should go abroad on the "grand tour." A tutor has been chosen, a young man recommended by Sir Francis Walsingham, one of Queen Elizabeth's Privy Councillors. The tutor, Mr Martell, arrives. Preparations are made and, in due course, they set off on the great adventure.
Paris. Heidelberg. Frankfurt.
Giles attends lectures at the Sorbonne and, later, at Heidelberg University. He attends these lectures alone because, for a tutor, Martell does not seem very interested in Giles' progress and often leaves him to his own devices. But Martell is still in charge of their itinerary which he often changes with surprising suddeness. Despite all this Giles does not really begin to wonder about Martell until he finds a pistol hidden in a hollowed-out book which the tutor always carries.
Then Giles finds out what many readers will have guessed already. Martell is really one of Sir Francis Walsingham's spies. He is using his position as tutor to cloak his mission to find proof that the King of Spain is planning to raise a great fleet and invade England. In search of this proof they go to Italy where they face danger from the Inquisition. They outwit Don Gonzalo and escape back to England with the vital evidence. The story ends with Queen Elizabeth's speech at Tilbury.
A really exciting story which gives a fascinating picture of Europe in 1587.
Once again Geoffrey Trease has given us a rattling good story.
10+
This book was first published in 1964. It is about adventure, political intrigue and conspiracy in the Edinburgh of 1589.
The Spanish Armada may have been defeated in 1588 but the King of Spain has hopes of another Armada. He sends two of his agents to Edinburgh to negotiate with certain traitorous Scottish nobles. News of this leaks out to Queen Elizabeth's espionage service and Roger Macey, an agent -- or spy -- of the English government rides north to Edinburgh where he lodges with the Master of Fence, John Forbes, his daughter Marie and her bodyguard, the huge highlander, Angus Mhor.
Right from the start it is obvious that if Macey is to achieve anything at all he will need help. For one thing he has no knowledge of the city. Forbes urges him to enlist the help of the Edinburgh caddies.
The caddies are a bold and closely knit body of men who hang around the streets of Edinburgh looking for strangers. They will guide them, fetch and carry for them and find them lodgings or the hire of a horse. Even better from Macey's point of view, they are sworn never to reveal the business of any who may employ them. Also they are sworn to stand by one another in any danger arising from their pursuit. The caddies are led - and ruled - by a bent old man called Cleek. He is called this because he always carries a cleek or golf club which serves him equally well as a walking stick or a weapon. His closest associates are the one legged Lucky, the giant Tod and fifteen year old Jamie Morton.
Macey allows himself to be persuaded and he very soon finds out how useful the help of the caddies is.
Sixteenth century Edinburgh with its narrow streets and tall buildings forms the background to this tale of spying and adventure: of swordfights, of codes and secret tunnels, of the palaces of the wealthy and the harbour of Leith. In all this fifteen year old Jamie plays a leading part. Marie is kidnapped and the treacherous Earl of Huntly tries to take King James VI prisoner but in each case the Edinburgh caddies race to the rescue. At the end young Jamie finds that there may be something more in life than the free, but somewhat purposeless life of an Edinburgh caddy.
All the leading characters really stay in the memory but I would say that the real heroes are not Macey or Forbes or even Jamie, but the caddies. They remind me somewhat of John Buchan's Gorbals Diehards.
A thrilling story with a sound historical background. One of the best of Mollie Hunter's books.
10+
Tudor England in the middle of Queen Elizabeth’s reign. The first book in a two book series.
Terrified of her drunken father Lucy runs away from home. She is making her way along the Thames bound for London when she sees some children playing in the mud. The youngest gets into difficulties and Lucy saves her from drowning. She goes home with the little girl and her older sister and finds herself in the house of Dr Dee, the Queen’s magician and astrologer. Lucy is taken on as a nursemaid for the two girls.
Lucy is by nature very curious and she finds opportunities to explore the house and especially the library. She even discovers an old priest hole and hides there when the Queen is visiting Dr Dee.
Dr Dee is offered a large sum of money by a grieving father if he can bring back the spirit of his dead daughter. The doctor cannot do this but his assistant Kelly persuades him to ask Lucy to impersonate the dead girl. Lucy agrees reluctantly because she needs the money to help her mother.
Here there is an interesting twist to the story. In this case Dr Dee is acting fraudulently but Lucy herself has certain supernatural powers and the spirit of the dead girl warns her that the Queen is in danger and tells her that she must save her. Lucy has dreams showing her that Elizabeth is poisoned after drinking from a particular flask. But no one is interested in the dreams of a poor servant girl. Dr Dee is interested only in the dreams of the rich. What is Lucy to do?
As well as the fast moving story this book covers a wide sweep of Tudor life. There is the poor Isabelle living in a hovel and eking out a living selling what she can find in the market. This is contrasted with Richmond Palace and the court which is described in detail when Lucy and Isabelle go there to see the Queen in the Presence Room. There are also certain hints about spies and Walsingham.
But above all the reader learns much about the beliefs and superstitions of the Elizabethans with Lucy’s discoveries in Dr Dee’s house.
A gripping story with a well researched background. The ending paves the way for the sequel. Lucy is told that she can help the Queen. She can become one of Walsingham's spies and her contact will be Tom Fool, the Queen's jester.
10-14
In this sequel to At the House of the Magician Lucy is firmly established in Dr Dee's household. And so is that fraud and trickster Kelly who is still preying on the gullible Dr Dee. But the alert Lucy succeeds in foiling one of his plots.
But Lucy is still wondering when she will be asked to do any spying. Then she is finally contacted by Tom Fool when she is taking the children to a frost fair. Her first assignment is relatively easy. She has to follow one of the Queen's maids of honour who keeps disappearing mysteriously. It is feared she may be working for those plotting to put Mary Queen of Scots on the throne. Lucy follows her and discovers the reason for her strange disappearances --- and the real reason is something no one had thought of.
This is a good story but devoid of any high drama. But it does not need any. The author has a gift for making the more mundane really interesting. There are fascinating little insights into life at the time. For example the Queen's Christmas present to Dr Dee is a haunch of venison. When the cook starts to prepare it, it is found to be bad. How long had it been hanging up in the Palace? With the help of Isabelle, Lucy's friend, the venison is consigned to the Thames and carefully prepared and disguised mutton is served instead.
And the description of the frost fair is such as to make reader wish to be there too.
Comes with a bibliography.
There are also some of the cook's favourite recipes and a glossary.
An interesting story with some vivid pictures of Elizabethan life.
10-14
Tilly Middleton is a fictional character
but the events described in her diary are based on actual historical
events.
She is the daughter of the physician in the Tower of London. At
the beginning of the book she is twelve and at the end she is
eighteen. She has a notebook which had been given to her father
by a lady shortly before she was executed. He was told to 'give
it to a lady.' He keeps it and later gives it to Tilly and she
uses it as a diary. She finds a sealed letter in the book and
deduces that it is from Anne Boleyn to her daughter Elizabeth.
Tilly secretly longs to be able to give the diary to Elizabeth.
In the first part of her diary Tilly gives much detail about domestic
conditions -- about throwing out the old rushes and putting new
ones down on the floor, about lice in her room, about her father's
crude remedies -- but as she continues her diary is more and more
taken up with political events. And because she lives in the Tower
Tilly is able to see the likes of Queen Mary, Lady Jane Grey and
many others.
In fact, through Tilly's eyes, we see the struggles for the throne
of England in these troubled times. And we also experience the
many executions. The story starts with the death of King Edward
and ends when Elizabeth becomes Queen. And yes, Tilly is able
to fulfil her self-imposed trust and hand over the precious letter.
The diary format means that much of the structure of a conventional
novel is missing but many of Tilly's descriptions are quite poignant.
The part dealing with Lady Jane Grey is particularly emotional.
Comes with historical notes and many contemporary illustrations.
11+
This is the first book in a trilogy.
Lancashire just after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Thirteen-year-old Tom Caswell has just moved, with his parents and younger sister, to an estate with a bigger house. But there are many things Tom does not understand –– like why he has been forbidden to see his old friend Edward Fishwycke and why he was severely punished for just trying to do so. But Tom is soon to find out all about the troubled times in which he is living.
One day Tom sees Edward in the marketplace with his mother. But it is a very different Edward from the boy he used to know. Edward used to live in a big house but now he is shabbily dressed and he is selling firewood. Tom hears his story. When King Henry broke with the Pope and set up his new Church of England Edward’s family refused to comply and remained Catholics. For doing this Edward’s father was branded a traitor and put to death with all the barbarities of the law and his family turned out of their home.
Tom then thinks of his own family’s position. His father had been given his new estate by King Henry as a reward for unmasking some plotters. But Henry could just as easily take it away again. Especially as Tom and his sister Kate have found a monk’s robe near the stables. Harbouring a monk is also regarded as treason. Even worse they believe that someone on the estate is plotting against the King and is trying to implicate their father. From then on the plot races on to an abrupt and TV style cliffhanger of an ending.
This book clearly gives a good picture of the running of a large country house in Tudor times and the lives of the different classes of people but above all it brings out the perilous conditions of the people under Henry VIII’s autocratic rule. Moves at a good pace and is a real page turner but I have reservations about the sudden ending.
Comes with a very attractive web site at http://www.haswellchronicles.com/
9+
This is from Franklin Watts’ fictional diary series. This is a diary about a diary writer!
Sixteen-year-old Roger Scratch lives in Huntingdonshire. He leaves to take up a post with his distant relative Samuel Pepys. Things do not work out the way young Roger had expected. He had hoped Pepys would use his influence to get him a post at the Naval Board but instead he finds he is more or less a menial servant in the Pepys household.
Nevertheless he gives a good picture of London at the time, the state of the Navy, the Great Plague and the Fire of London. He even serves aboard a ship for a short time and plays a small part in the Dutch Wars.
Roger comes to life in a rather amusing way. He has a very good opinion of himself. His diary is intended as a ‘fitting memento to his grateful heirs.’ He is intent on making his fortune and wants to invent something special so he can claim a reward from the Royal Society. When his his idea of improving the suspension of carriages fails he considers becoming a painter but he finds he is better at buildings than portraits. Eventually Pepys says he will arrange for him to train as draughtsman under Christopher Wren. But he adds a warning. Roger will have to learn to walk before he can run. In other words he ‘will have to start from scratch.’
Even despite Roger’s lively style of writing and (unintentional) humorous remarks, the diary format means that this book tends to suffer from the lack of any real plot. It remains a chronicle of the events of 1666 – even if it is a humanised account.
Illustrated in black and white throughout. Comes with historical notes.
Reading age 8-10 Interest age 8-14
This is one of the Flashbacks
series.
It is 1581. Temperance Jones is completely besotted with her uncle's
secretary, Robert Poley, and when he leaves she runs away from
home to try to find him. Barnabus Saul, the son of her old nurse,
goes with her to see that no harm comes to her. They make their
way to London where they pick up his trail. They meet the strange
Dr Dee, astrologist, alchemist and scientist and stay with him
in his country house on the Thames for a time. Dr Dee is convinced
that Barnabus is a scryer, or one who can foretell the future.
He gives Barnabus a crystal ball and tells him to descibe what
he sees in it. He says that Barnabus can be his 'eyes.'
Then Temperance falls ill. When he hears that Temperance and Poley
have exchanged tokens Dr Dee says that Poley has used witchcraft.
Barbnabus is told he must retrieve the handkerchief which Temperance
gave to Poley. So the chase continues. As Poley is intent on becoming
one of Walsingham's spies, Temperance and Barnabus find themselves
involved in political intrigue.
This book covers the whole canvas of Elizabethan London. The lowly
taverns, the Thames ferrymen, St Paul's, the palace of Whitehall,
the Marshalsea Prison and a Tyburn execution.
The story rattles along at a fast pace. Perhaps too fast. It would
have been better if there had been more detail and atmosphere.
And, just as important, more explanation, as the plot becomes
rather confusing at times.
Nevertheless the book does convey a good impression of the era
concentrating particularly on the strangeness of early science
and, in complete contrast, the political intrigue which surrounded
the court.
Comes with a historical note and glossary. Robert Poley and Barnabus
Saul were both real people although not very much is known about
Barnabus.
The Flashbacks series is aimed at children between 7 and
11 but I would say that this particular book is more suited to
the 10+ age range.
10+
This book was first published in 1951. It is a family story set in London at the time of Henry VIII.
Tamsyn Cauter's parents died when she was a baby and she was brought up by her grandmother in Bideford. When she was nearly nine her grandmother died and she was sent to live in London with her aunt, uncle and cousins. The story begins with her journey to London.
Her new family are kind to her but Tamsyn is desperately unhappy. She feels that she does not "belong." Also she misses Devon, the ships and the sea. Tamsyn has always wished she were a boy so that one day, she, too could go to sea. Then one day Tamsyn makes a discovery. The eldest boy, Piers, is apprenticed to his father, a goldsmith. But Piers has a secret longing. He, too, would like to be a sailor. Tamsyn and Piers now have a secret understanding and Tamsyn begins to feel much better and she settles down.
Then follows an account of Tamsyn's life in London from the spring to Christmas. There is May Day with the morris dancers and a fight among the apprentices; a glimpse of the king's barge on the river with Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn; a picnic on the river; a visit to the fields outside the city to see the archery practice; and story telling at Hallowe'en. Just before Christmas Tamsyn's Uncle Martin comes from Devon to visit. He takes Tamsyn and Piers to see the King's dockyard at Deptford. Then it is Christmas Eve with snow and carol singing and something very like a fairy tale ending. When midnight arrives the bells ring out for Christmas morning and Aunt Deborah says,
"Quick, open the windows my dears and let Christmas in."
This is a warm family story which contains much information about sixteenth century London. It is simply and sympathetically told for young readers and should provide a pleasant read for girls.
This is certainly not a book for the "life is real, life is earnest" brigade. I do not entirely accept what we are always being told;- that children watch adult TV and are much more sophisticated nowadays. Despite everything I firmly believe that there still is - and always will be - a place for books like The Armourer's Apprentice.
10+
This is the first book in a new series of historical mysteries -- the new Tudor Terror series. The series centres round the Marsden family of Marsden Hall, near Durham. Every night, after supper the members of the family like to gather round and tell stories -- and these stories are eventually written down by young William Marsden. Each book in this series consists of two parallel stories. One story is told by William and the other parallel story is told by one of the older members of the Marsden family and is set further back in the past. Each book starts with a list and short description of the main characters. There is also a sketch map of the Marsden estates near Chester le Street. At the end there are notes on the historical characters and also a time trail.
In The King in Rags and Patches Queen Elizabeth is dying. She sends a messenger to King James VI in Edinburgh. This messenger is murdered in a wood on the Marsden estates. Young William and Meg, the clever, spirited young servant girl, solve the mystery and save the country from being plunged into another war. William's great uncle tells the parallel story. It is about Richard and the princes in the Tower.
These books contain much historical detail. They are also illustrated with black and white line drawings. Personally I feel that this first book is not so successful as others in the series. I feel that too many historical figures and too many events are introduced too quickly with not enough time for young readers to absorb them. I also feel that, in this case, the parallel stories are rather confusing.
Terry Deary is well known for his "Horrible Histories."
This is the second book in the Tudor Terror series -- and I liked it much better than the first.
The story is set against the background of the Scottish and English reivers at the time of Queen Elizabeth. English raiding parties cross the Border - and do not come back. They just disappear. Although he is over ninety Sir Clifford Marsden agrees to ride north and try to solve the mystery. He is accompanied by his young grandson Will, and also by Hugh Richmond, a London actor who doubles as a spy. Meg the servant girl wants to go too but she is told that the wild border country is no place for a girl so she disguises herself as a boy and follows along behind - and eventually comes to the rescue of the others.
There is a real sense of mystery in this book as the little party follow the trail of the missing raiders, also vivid descriptions of the wild border country complete with references to the Devil's Beef Tub and the Murder Hole -- both deeply embedded in the folklore of the region.
Interspersed with this story is another from the days when Sir Clifford was a young man: a story of Flodden Field and the cruelties of Henry VIII.
10+
This book was first published in 1988
as one of the Canongate Kelpies - which are now being reprinted
by Floris Books.
Fourteen-year-old Lizzie lives in the Fife fishing village of
Crail with her mother, her stepfather and her seventeen-year-old
brother Davie. Lizzie has been blind since a childhood accident
and Davie has always planned to take her to the holy Well of Triduana
on the other side of the Firth of Forth. On the death of St Triduana
it was found that the spring had special healing powers - especially
for the eyes - and Davie wants to take his sister there.
He had planned gto take her on that pilgrimage when he was older
and had finished his studies at St Andrews but he is told that
that might be too late. For this is during the turbulent times
of the Reformation and the Well will probably soon be closed on
the grounds of being an object of idolatry and superstition. So
Davie had better move fast.
Davie's stepfather, Walter, is a fanatical Reformer who would
stop their pilgrimage if he could. But Lizzie and Davie slip away
while Walter is out at sea in his fishing boat. They travel through
Fife pursued by Walter from whom they have several narrow escapes.
Eventually they cross the Forth by ferry at Earlsferry and spend
some time with the nuns at Haddington before going on to St Triduana's.
Is there a miracle? Does Lizzie get her sight back? Yes there
is a miracle. In fact not one but two. Lizzie gets her sight back
- but not in the way she had expected. And Walter undergoes a
great change and loses his earlier severity.
But this all happens against a background of violence. St Triduana's
is attacked and set on fire by a crazed mob, Lizzie is carried
off by a stranger and Davie is thrown into jail in Edinburgh.
There is even an encounter with pirates in the Firth of Forth.
This is a fast paced story which gives a good picture of the times.
On their travels Lizzie sees a proper bed for the first time as,
at home, she sleeps on a bed of turf and heather. Later her simple
home in Crail is contrasted with the house of a wealthy Edinburgh
merchant.
But above all this is a story of ordinary people suffering because
of political decisions which they are powerless to change. The
poor and hardworking fishermen of Crail are suddenly told by the
Reformers that they can no longer fish on a Sunday. Lizzie's mother
had always hoped that when she was older Lizzie could go to a
nunnery. But now all the monasteries are being closed. And later
there are descriptions of the devastated land outside Edinburgh,
laid waste when an English army had come to attack Mary of Guise's
garrison of French soldiers at Leith.
An exciting, fast paced story of ordinary people caught up in
events beyond their control.
Comes with a rough sketch map of Fife. This book will be of special
interest to those who know Fife.
8-12
A humourous look at the reign of King Henry VIII
9 -- 12
This is one of the Tudor Flashbacks
series.
Big and stupid Will Biglow makes friends with Francis Enterley.
Francis has been sent to live with his wealthy uncle who sends
his nephew to the local grammar school instead of having him educated
by a private tutor like his own children.
The unpleasant and arrogant Francis despises his school fellows
and makes use of them whenever he can. But Will -- the son of
a local innkeeper -- is too dim-witted to see that and when Francis
suggests a dangerous way of getting revenge on the schoolmaster
for all the beatings he has given them, Will does not think of
the possible consequences. Instead he is just full of admiration
for Francis' daring.
The scheme is for the boys to disguise themselves as highwaymen
and waylay the schoolmaster and pretend to rob him. But later
they will let him know it had been a joke. But what if they are
caught and no one believes them when they say it had been a joke?
This is something which does not occur to the dull Will. And the
penalties for highway robbery are really savage.
This book has a cleverly plotted story with a surprise at the
end. It also contains much information about Tudor schools, inns
and highwaymen.
I do however have a few reservations.
The series is intended for children of
seven to eleven but I would put this book for an older age range.
I feel that some parents of young children might be concerned
at the detailed descriptions of the beatings Francis receives.
Also, some of the language, while no doubt being authentic and
realistic, might not always be what parents want their children
to learn.
Nevertheless it remains a cleverly crafted story.
1527. Hever Castle, Kent.
Ten-year-old Edward Makepiece is spending his first summer with a company of actors -- the Dragon's Head Company. In the winter they perform in London but in the summer they travel the countryside. They hope to give a performance in Hever Castle, the home of Thomas Boleyn.
Then King Henry VIII arrives unexpectedly. As the actors are known at Hever Castle they are invited to give a royal performance.
At once there is great activity. The actors are to put on George and the Dragon -- and Edward is to be the Princess. Inside the Castle there are frantic preparations for the King's feast. But despite everything Edward still manages to make friends with the servant girl Bridget.
George and the Dragon is a great success and then disaster. The King has given Anne, the younger daughter of Thomas Boleyn a valuable jewel. That jewel is stolen and suspicion falls on the actors. Naturally as many regard actors as thieves and vagabonds. The actors are all arrested.
But the day before Edward and Bridget have seen a man with a limp hiding a bundle in a bush. Do the children have the clue which can save the actors?
A pleasant, enjoyable story which nevertheless gives a good picture of a castle during the visit of a monarch.
Comes with a glossary and a historical note about both Anne Boleyn and Hever Castle.
7--11
This story is set during the reign of Queen Elizabeth -- in 1575.
At that time people believed in lucky charms to protect them from harm. One such charm was known as the hagstone. It was just a stone with a hole through the middle. The hole could be either natural or man-made. Some hagstones were so large that people could crawl through them. Others were so small that they could be worn round the neck. This is the story of one hagstone which really did protect its wearer.
Tom Kett is the son of a rich wool merchant. It is his tenth birthday and he begs his mother to let him go to the Fair. Reluctantly she agrees and he leaves in the company of two of the servants. Before he goes he hangs the house hagstone round his neck. While at the Fair Tom gets separated from the servants. He is attacked and his clothes stolen. Then he is tied up and thrown on a cart. He is taken to the cottage of a poor shepherd and left there. The poor family are told he is mad but the shepherd eventually believes Tom's story. He tells his daughter to lead Tom to the outskirts of the town from where he can find his own way home. All goes well until they are caught by the thieves again.
But Tom's father has raised the hue-and-cry and is racing to the rescue. And Tom is about to discover for himself the power of the hagstone.
This little book is only about 10,000 words long but what a lot it manages to pack into its 50 pages. For a start it is a rattling good story which moves at a furious pace. And it still manages to include much detail about Elizabethan England. There is the annual Fair with its traders, singers, entertainers -- and tricksters. There is the contrast between the fine town house of the rich merchant and the little cottage of the poor shepherd. There is even an explanation of the effects of the enclosures. And much more. And all enhanced with a series of black and white illustrations.
Near the end there is also an indication that Tom is beginning to grow up. So even a hint of rites of passage. What more could anyone want?
Comes complete with a historical note.
Truly good things come in small packages.
7-11
Out of Print
This is a story based on the enterprise of Peter Morice who set up a water
wheel under old London Bridge in 1580 to pump water to nearby houses so
giving London its first piped water supply.
Orphaned Hugh Copplestone endures being illtreated by his aunt and uncle but when his aunt is going to have his dog killed he runs away and becomes one of the Dustyfeet -- as the people who travel the roads and lanes of England are known. He spends a year with a company of strolling players before being adopted by a friend of his father. Set at the time of Queen Elizabeth.
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