Fans of Karen Cushman’s Catherine, Called Birdy (1994) and Matilda Bone (2000) will welcome this new tale of a strong-minded young woman coming of age and holding her own in a hostile medieval world. Unlike clashes of arms, this is a battle she can fight, and fight she does, using words and silence as weapons, ultimately winning her tormentors’ sympathy, and grudging respect from the dying king. Here, Marjorie tells her tale, alternating between her past as a tempestuous young princess forced by the advancing English armies to become a fugitive while her father and uncles are off fighting for Scotland’s independence, and the present, in which she sits, filthy, underfed (starved, later on) and caged while jeering locals pelt her with rotten fruit, and wily Edward himself pays daily visits, seeking to break her spirit. Just after the turn of the 14th century, King Edward “Longshanks” captured several women of Robert Bruce’s household, including his 11-year-old daughter Marjorie, and displayed some of them in cages.
A must-read for any child in Scotland - and beyond.Yolen and Harris ( Queen’s Own Fool, 2000) once again dish up an intense drama drawn from Scottish history. The chapters run parallel narratives of Marjorie’s time before captivity and her time in the cage, which makes for heart-breaking reading. Marjorie’s character is the epitome of the YA heroine: witty, smart, mischievous, bold and drastically opposed to the word of adults refusing to take the word of a child. Hot on the heels of the current voracious appetite for Scottish history in pop-culture, Girl in a Cage brings this to a younger audience with its riveting tale of Marjorie Bruce during the turbulent 14th Century relationship between Scotland and England. Harris bring to life a breathless chapter from Scottish history in this thrilling novel with an unforgettable young heroine. Marjorie knows that despite her suffering and pain, she must stay strong: the future of Scotland depends on her…
But Edward Longshanks, the ruthless King of England, captures Marjorie and keeps her prisoner in a wooden cage in the centre of a town square, exposed to wind, rain, and the bullying taunts of the townspeople.
When her father, Robert the Bruce, is crowned King of Scotland, Marjorie Bruce becomes a princess.
0 kommentar(er)
