I’ve mentioned just how much I enjoy the young adult historical fiction of Ann Rinaldi. I’m delighted to say that I’ve found another superlative author to add to my favorites list – Jane Yolen. I have read some of her adult fiction novels and found them to be very well done, and today I’d like to share with you “Girl in a Cage,” which was nominated for the Utah Young Adults’ Book Award and co-written with Robert J. Harris.
History tells us that Robert the Bruce had one child, a daughter named Marjorie, who was captured by the English and held in a cage for a prolonged period of time before being taken to a nunnery to complete her imprisonment. This is Marjorie’s story, told from her point of view, of the events leading up to her capture and her time spent in the cage.
Marjorie’s birth mother passed away years before, and Robert the Bruce has married Elizabeth, a beautiful but cold woman who has taken on the role of Marjorie’s mother but doesn’t treat her with affection. Marjorie’s best friend in the world is her uncle Neil, who always has time to indulge her little fantasies and take her on rides with him. Her world is safe and fairly innocent, until the day when her father announces that the situation with England is becoming worse and he must fight for the crown if there is ever to be peace in Scotland. Marjorie is forced to grow up in a hurry as she flees from her home, the English on her heels. We see this new maturity as the narrative takes on depth throughout her challenges, taking her from an immature twelve-year-old to a young woman.
After months of hiding from the enemy, Marjorie is taken captive and separated from her family. She is delivered to a small hamlet where King Edward, or Longshanks, as he is called, is residing at the time, and is placed in an iron cage in the middle of the town square, where all the villagers come and throw rotten food and manure at her, calling her a traitor. How long she stayed there, history is uncertain and so the authors conjectured. Her determination to survive was probably the only thing that kept her sane during her confinement, as no one was allowed to talk to her and those who broke that order were severely punished.
This beautifully written, richly meaty book takes the reader on a journey into the past, to another place, another culture, and shows what the human spirit is truly capable of when pushed to the limit.
(This book was published by Philomel Books in 2002.)
Related Blogs:
Mel Gibson: International Star