by ELOISE WILLIAMS;
An Adventure Book Review by Erin the Literary Cat©
Image ©
Hello, and welcome to my weekend Book Review featuring Adventures in Middle-Grade Fiction!
But first, we head to Upper Much-Mousing. This week we find Erin and Mrs H in the Manor's library, surrounded by history books about the Elizabethan period.
"Oh, my word! Surely they never used THAT to clean their clothes!" Erin exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock. "You don't," Erin whispered something in Mrs H's ear, "do you?"
"Heaven forfend; absolutely not." Mrs H's shocked expression quickly turned to a smile at Erin's innocent question. "We have powders and chemicals to do that sort of thing. And machines too. No more manual labour for the modern laundry worker."
The library descended into silence again, only to be broken five minutes later by another outburst from Erin.
"Ewww, that is horrid; the smell must have been awful! Not to mention the rats. And just think if you were walking beneath the window when that happened!" Erin shuddered but offered no more explanation to a now-curious Mrs H.
"Ah, this is more like it, Mrs H, pies! Good to know our ancestors liked meat pies. Though I'm not entirely sure I like the name they gave them, it conjures up the wrong image of what's inside."
"And what did they call their pies back then?" Mrs H had stopped knitting, determined to get a bit more information from Erin.
"Coffins, Mrs H, coffins! They must have had a robust constitution to face one of those for breakfast when the plague was about!"
Mrs H leaned over and looked at the pictures and text Erin had been reading. "They called them that because the pastry was thick and shaped a bit like a coffin and was just as well sealed so the contents within would last some time."
"That sounds horrible. Sort of reminds me of that job-lot of second world war, army surplus Christmas mince pies that Mrs Singh's brother-in-law got hold of. We've still got some of those, haven't we?"
"Yes, dear. And still 'in-date', too." Mrs H frowned. She was not one for wasting food but just couldn't bring herself to risk opening an item over 70 years old. "I think I'll send them to the clay pigeon shooting range for their next Open Day."
"To eat?" Erin asked incredulously, remembering what happened to the vicar's false teeth when the packets of pies had got mixed up.
"No dear, to shoot at. Judging by their weight and sturdiness, I suspect they'll be reusable!"
With Mrs H and Erin descending into laughter, I think it's time to look at this week's book, a mighty fine Elizabethan adventure called HONESTY & LIES.
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| ©Eloise Williams/Cynthia Paul/Firefly Press |
BOOK TITLE & AUTHOR: Honesty and Lies by Eloise Williams
Cover art by: Cynthia Paul
Published by: Firefly Press
Publication date: 6th October 2022
Paperback ISBN: 978 191 310 2999
Cover price for Paperback £7.99
Kindle Version to be available? Yes
Pages: 288.
Age range: Middle Grade (9-12 AND upwards)
Any
dogs or cats? No, but a strangely attired squirrel!
SPOILER ALERT
Some as to plot direction and characters.
Thank you to...
We are exceedingly grateful to all the wonderful folk at Firefly Press, & NetGalley, for the privilege of getting to Read & Review this winning book before publication.
As ever, our views are our own, and we only share reviews of books we like and feel our readers deserve to know about and that we hope they will enjoy.
The plot
Honesty is a Welsh girl, no more than 13yrs, who has escaped to London to avoid a marriage arranged by her father to a much older, loathsome man. Arriving in the bitter cold of Christmas time, she is taken aback by the dirt, stink, chaos, and the noisy hustle and bustle of the streets. She needs her wits to keep her purse and life in this place. Will her quick tongue and way with stories be any help?
Fleeing from an attacker, she runs into Alice, a girl of about the same age, who it seems is a maid of some import at Queen Elizabeth's court. Honesty realises Alice is key to gaining work and thus safety, so she follows her into the grounds of Greenwich Palace. In so doing, Honesty foils an attempt on the queen's life. Her reward is to get to be a maid with Alice.
And so begins a journey that starts out of Alice's need, then twists and turns through skullduggery, betrayal, treason, envy, lost friendships, and rivalries created.
While Honesty doesn't want her past catching up with her, Alice has a secret in her present that gnaws at her very soul. It could be the end of her and her family if discovered by the palace guards . . .
So, what did we think?
As you may recall from our review of WILDE, Eloise is a highly skilled writer and the inaugural Welsh Children's Laureate. She has created a compelling gem-of-a-tale, steeped in the atmosphere, characters and smells of Elizabethan London, both good and bad. It is maybe one of which the bard or even Chaucer would approve.
Unlike Anna Fargher's book, 'The Fire Cats of London', which we reviewed a few months ago (LINK HERE), this book is far less brutal in depicting the reality of period life. But that doesn't mean this is in any way a less appealing or less well-constructed tale. In fact, quite the reverse. The detailed descriptions of life for the Londoners, as well as that of the courtiers, are very compelling. Whilst not long, it packed a punch of excitement, tension and a powerful sense of person and place.
The twin, first-person narrative in alternating chapters from Alice and Honesty works really well, especially when the two try, often wrongly, to make sense of each other's actions and emotions.
The book's title is a lovely play on what the reader will discover within its pages. I shall say no more on that for fear I will take away from the plot.
So . . . .
Crunch time.
I thoroughly enjoyed and would recommend this tale. I could see this as a favourite in the classroom for out-loud reading and discussion. Anyone interested in a short but eloquent middle-grade story of Elizabethan life will find much in here to please them.
Want to buy a copy?
To get a copy – avoiding some of the more unpleasant smells and deeds of Elizabeth I's London – please do think of your local independent bookshop. There are plenty out there, and each is just waiting to serve up a treasure of literal magical resource – minus ale and meat pies with dubious content – with a personal touch.
Eloise Williams' WEB page can be found HERE or type this: https://eloisewilliams.com
The Firefly Press web page can be found HERE. or type this: https://fireflypress.co.uk/
And I shall leave you with my traditional selfie . . . .
Till laters!
ERin
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