The Remarkable Life and Times of Eliza Rose
Grade 8 Up–Hooper takes readers to 17th-century London in this novel about Eliza Rose, who is thrown out of her house by her stepmother. The prologue, set in 1655, tells of a girl baby being swapped at birth for a boy to please the father. The novel then jumps ahead 15 years. When Eliza arrives in London to search for her father, she steals some food and finds herself in Clink Prison, with its rats, sewage, lice, and deadly fever. While begging at the gate, she encounters handsome Valentine Howard. Their paths cross often, but both realize that love cannot be between a noble and a girl from the lower class. Old Ma Gwyn, the madam of a bawdyhouse, spots her and gets her released. When she promises Eliza to a young nobleman for one night, Nell Gwyn, Ma's infamous actress daughter, rescues her. Eliza is then swept into the world of the theater and the court of King Charles II. Nell, who unabashedly is mistress to many men, aspires to and succeeds at being the King's whore. In the end, a long-hidden secret is revealed when Eliza meets her real mother. The down-and-dirty side of the city comes alive through the author's descriptions of its sights, sounds, and smells. The novel is replete with historical people, events, and details, making it an exemplary work of historical fiction. This engrossing, fast-paced novel, with its determined, well-drawn protagonist, is a winning combination of history and fairy-tale tropes.–Connie Tyrrell Burns, Mahoney Middle School, South Portland, MECopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.