Alison Prince (1931–2019)

Elinor Valjean is a young girl in the court of Henry VIII serving Katherine of Aragon and then Anne Boleyn. She sees the drama unfold as Henry wants Anne for his wife, her rise and then fall.

This was a wondeful little read from The My Story collection. I think it's a great way for children to learn about history. Although it is a book aimed at the younger person as an adult I enjoyed it.

Elinor tells what she sees over a decade or so watching the goings on around her. In the meantime she show more grows up, gets married and has children. Along side Anne Boleyn whose marriage is not happy and she can't give Henry the family he wants, where as Elinor has a happy marriage.

This story is a quick read about Anne Boleyn and covers all the main points. Elinor has a chatty narrative and she doesn't like Anne Boleyn, with her version making Anne guilty where as some accounts Anne is innocent.

I really enjoyed this quick read and will read more of the My Story collection. show less

15 year old Antigone (Tig) cannot forgive her stepfather Phillip for having her beloved cat Jacoby put down, even though Phillip is now dead. Enraged and frustrated by her mother’s grief, and her best friend’s compassion, she decides to ride her bike to her grandmother’s house. On the way, a black cat runs across in front of her, causing her to crash into a bus. As she slips into a coma, Jacoby appears and asks her to play a game with him. This game involves going back in time to work show more out how Tig and her various female relatives have coped with hardship. There is a problem as Tig is enjoying the game so much, there’s a danger she will never return.
p.71-75 Tig dreams she is her grandmother in an air raid shelter when the bombs fall very close show less

A quick and easy read - not great but a still very informative look at the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn throughout the eyes of a young servant girl

Prince manages to pack a lot of historical information into this novel in the form of a diary. Elinor, the narrator, a minstrel (and daughter of a court jester) who entertains Anne Boleyn but who dislikes her considerably is rather too modern a girl to be quite believed. Nevertheless, the book does make the details of Henry's court accessible if not quite compelling. Recommended for girls 13+.