Sixteen-year-old, Jenny Cooper, is keeping a journal of her life starting when she is staying in a boarding school--a.k.a. prison-- with her cousin, Jane Austen. However, Jane is extremely sick and the lady in charge of the school is not taking care of her as well as she should. She's not even letting Jenny send a letter to her aunt, Mrs. Austen, to tell her about Jane's illness. Determined to contact her aunt for help, she sneaks out of the boarding school in the middle of the night to deliver her letter.
Then she ran into someone. Captain Thomas Williams-- a very handsome guy--offers her guidance and protection until she goes back to her "prison". She accepts (who wouldn't from someone that handsome?) but is determined to never see him again because she's afraid he'll ruin her reputation.
Fortunately, Mrs. Austen receives the letter and takes Jane and Jenny back home. There she meets Jane's siblings. When the french lady, Eliza, visits them, she learns more about society and balls.
Consequently, since the Season begins, she starts attending more balls with her cousins. She meets young men her age, and even her own cousin, Henry, seems to have a crush on her. Pretty weird, huh? At one dance, her aunt hires a French seamstress to make a new dress for her and Jane! To make things better, Eliza offers to prepare them for the ball with French hair styles and perfumes! The girls are so exited.
All of a sudden Jenny is dancing at the ball with Henry and other guys, but then she sees Captain Thomas Williams! She couldn't believe he'd been invited to the ball! She did what her instincts told her: HIDE! She ran to Jane and asked her to cover for her. Unfortunately, Captain Thomas Williams spots her and quickly walks up to her and asks her to dance. They start falling in love, but Jenny is afraid that Captain Williams has the power to ruin her reputation and break her heart.
This is such an amazing book that teaches us what true love really is. It shows how important our family should be to us. I really like how the author introduces the eighteenth century to young readers in such an easy way to understand. However, it kind of bugged me how her own cousin had a crush on her. It just makes it a bit awkward. Some of the facts in this book may be false, but it's fiction so don't expect everything to be true. I found it pretty interesting how in earlier times a girl's reputation could be ruined just because she's out alone at night--that's a fact. In our days, it's pretty normal to see a teenage-girl at the mall at night.
Over all, I really enjoyed this book. It made me think how it would feel to be a girl in the eighteenth century, going to balls, being in danger at night, going to an "all-girls" boarding school...it would be a different lifestyle. I really recommend this book to read. I promise you it won't be a waste of your time. Well, if you're a boy, you might want to give a second thought on this book--it's probably not your style, but girls, go check this book out. It's really worth finding out if Captain Thomas Williams will ruing her reputation or keep her secret! Grade: A.
4 comments:
sounds good, but historical fiction is not necessarily my thing. Maybe I'll check it out sometime :D
I agree with you Spartagirl, Historical Fiction isn't really my favorite, but I definitely want to read this sometime. :)
I love all of the colors. Anyways,
like the other two it isn't really my interest,but the way you make it sound I would love to read it.
I will admit, I am a fan of Jane Austen and all of her books. As a result, I am probably going to have to read this book. I hadn't even heard about it, so thank you for reviewing it! I hope it's as good as you say.
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