Buy this book from Amazon UK
Buy this book from Amazon UK
Buy this book from Amazon UKThe second offering from Adœle Geras, Linda Newbery and Ann Turnbull about the house in Chelsea is just as enjoyable as the first three books a couple of years ago. This time round the stories are more spread out in time, which reinforces the fact that the house is quite old and that much had happened well before the first story in Victorian times.
Ann Turnbull writes about Mary Ann in the middle of the 18th century and her struggle to have similar rights to those of her brother. The Chelsea house was used as a school, where Mary Ann gets sent to study before it's her turn to get married. One life-changing event for her while at the school was a concert featuring a very young Mozart and his older sister, who becomes a role model for Mary Ann.
Adœle Geras continues her tale of the Bright family by introducing the reader to the next generation, bringing a nice sense of continuity to the story. Cecily gets to learn about early photography and dreams of becoming a photographer herself.
Linda Newbery has written about the summer of the first moon landing, which to many adult readers may well not feel very historical at all. Andie lives temporarily in the Chelsea house the summer she is twelve, and she experiences both the thrill of what goes on in space and also her new life with new friends and the excitement of London and King's Road.
As well as providing a good read these books would be excellent for school use, showing young readers how the lives of young girls are both similar and very different from those of today.