Overview
In Restoration London, sixteen-year-old Meg Moore is something of an anomaly. Unlike other girls her age, Meg pores over books. She spends long hours conversing with the famous authors and poets who visit her father's bookstore, and even writes her own stories, laboring over every word until her hand is black with ink. Without warning, however, Meg comes to learn exactly how powerful words can be. The day her best friend's brother Edward sets sail for Italy, Meg scoffs at his attempts at romance by answering him with a thoughtless jest.
Soon news travels to London that Edward's ship has been captured and he has been sold as a slave in North Africa - and Meg cannot shake the thought that her cruel words are the cause. Now Meg must use her fiery language to bring Edward home, imploring her fellow Londoners to give all that they can to buy Edward's freedom. But once Meg learns to direct the power behind her words, will she be able to undo the damage she has caused, and write freely the stories that she longs to put to paper?
This inspired sequel to At the Sign of the Star continues Meg's story with elegance and élan.
Synopsis
In Restoration London, sixteen-year-old Meg Moore is something of an anomaly. Unlike other girls her age, Meg pores over books. She spends long hours conversing with the famous authors and poets who visit her father's bookstore, and even writes her own stories, laboring over every word until her hand is black with ink. Without warning, however, Meg comes to learn exactly how powerful words can be. The day her best friend's brother Edward sets sail for Italy, Meg scoffs at his attempts at romance by answering him with a thoughtless jest.
Soon news travels to London that Edward's ship has been captured and he has been sold as a slave in North Africa - and Meg cannot shake the thought that her cruel words are the cause. Now Meg must use her fiery language to bring Edward home, imploring her fellow Londoners to give all that they can to buy Edward's freedom. But once Meg learns to direct the power behind her words, will she be able to undo the damage she has caused, and write freely the stories that she longs to put to paper?
This inspired sequel to At the Sign of the Star continues Meg's story with elegance and élan.
Publishers Weekly
In a starred review of Katherine Sturtevant's At the Sign of the Star, PW wrote, "Admirers of historical fiction will relish Sturtevant's detailed depiction of life in 1677 London." A now 16-year-old Meg returns in A True and Faithful Narrative; here she assesses whether to marry either of two suitors, weighing both love and her passion for writing. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
From the Publisher
"Sturtevant once again offers readers a story depicted with great clarity and many vivid details of everyday life. Memorable."—Starred, Booklist "A quietly meticulous realization in microcosm of the collision between East and West as well as a musing on the mutability of destiny." —The Horn Book "Readers will root for the lively heroine to find her way." —Kirkus Reviews "Intriguing, believable glimpse into Restoration London." —Starred, School Library Journal "An amazing book! Even though it is set in 1681, I could really relate to Meg. [She] is such a beautifully drawn character." — A YALSA Teen YA Galley ReaderPublishers Weekly
In a starred review of Katherine Sturtevant's At the Sign of the Star, PW wrote, "Admirers of historical fiction will relish Sturtevant's detailed depiction of life in 1677 London." A now 16-year-old Meg returns in A True and Faithful Narrative; here she assesses whether to marry either of two suitors, weighing both love and her passion for writing. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
The world of Restoration England (1680s) comes alive in this well-written and well-researched book. Meg Moore, 16, lives a life both typical and atypical of a young lady in London. She helps with her younger half brothers and sisters, and worries about acting properly and gaining her father's approval. She is anxious about the inevitability of marriage, since she is of marriageable age. But her life is also full of books and writing. She dreams of seeing the world, and her happiest times are helping in her father's bookshop. When her best friend's brother, Edward, sails for Italy, Meg sends him off with a joking request to be captured by pirates and have an adventure that can become a book. To her horror, that is just what happens. Meg is determined to use her writing skills to help raise the ransom that will free him. But how can she do this when writing, for a female, is considered improper, even scandalous? Her father has forbidden her to write for publication, yet, when a changed Edward returns and asks Meg to write his story, how can she refuse? When her father's apprentice, Will Barlow, indicates he wishes to woo her, Meg is torn between the prospect of a future married to a bookseller, living in a small town the rest of her life, and the compelling Edward, who offers her a life of writing and a world far greater than the bustling London she loves so well. Although this book is the second book Sturtevant has written about Meg, it stands alone well. Hand it to a young adult reader to learn about a fascinating time in history, as well as identify with the choices, constraints, and conflicts that face a sixteen-year-old, then or now. 2006, Farrar Straus Giroux, Ages 12 to 18.—Judy Crowder