Maggie Prince

Fantastic book about a girl whose parents have recently split moving into a new house with something...odd about it. The girl, Emily, feels out of place, caught between friends she hasn't made yet and losing her old ones, and her emotions gradually lead her to see images of the past, the Great Plague of 1665, imprinted on the present. And then the opposite happens and she finds herself in 1665 in the middle of a terrifying situation.

The book is written entirely in the present tense, which I found annoying for about three seconds and then I stopped noticing it because the author uses the technique so skillfully. It makes it seem like Emily is perpetually stunned by everything that's happening to her, and it's all going down much too fast. Since that was clearly the author's intent, it works.

There are two other fantastic books that this one reminds me of. One is "The Ghost of Thomas Kempe" by Penelope Lively, and the other is "Black Harvest" by Ann Cheetham or Ann Pilling (Ann has two pen names and you can find editions of that book under either). They share a similarity in plot — somehow the past gets involved with the present — and also that in both of them, the main character is dealing with some major life issues that are given context or illuminated by dealing with the ghost problem. If you've enjoyed either of those books, you'll probably like this one, and vice versa.… (més)

North Side of the Tree, the sequel to Raider's Tide, is a historical YA novel set in the 1500s, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Beatrice lives at Barrowbeck Tower near the Scotland border, in a community which is constantly on the look-out for Scottish raiders. But she no longer sees all Scots as her enemy, after having rescued, nursed and befriended a wounded Scottish raider. He has returned to his home, but Beatrice could still be burnt at the stake if her treasonous actions were discovered. She decides maybe it is time to redeem herself by marrying her cousin in compliance with her family's wishes.
But life is not so tidy. Her unconventional family's secrets begin to become public knowledge, and Beatrice is confronted by her feelings for her former teacher, the parson. Then she discovers that her Scottish raider is again on the wrong side of the border. Unwilling for her previous efforts to save him to be in vain, Beatrice is determined to rescue him again - but this time, by doing so, she is risking more than just her own life.

Like Raider's Tide, North Side of the Tree is gripping and suspenseful, about a determined young woman who is prepared to challenge convention. Beatrice is a sympathetic narrator and her story is a vivid, engaging portrayal of life for a border community in the 16th century. But for me, North Side of the Tree always feels more convoluted. Beatrice's life has changed, and things are no longer as straightforward as they were. Instead of deciding where her loyalties lie and what she wants, Beatrice is torn between conflicting loyalties and desires. Even though she is still only 16, she is now in an adult world and her choices have potentially far-reaching consequences. It is also more of a love-story than Raider's Tide, and like everything else, Beatrice's romance is not straightforward. But this allows the relationship to feel both convincing and mature - and I like how aspects of it are written between the lines.
I find it hard to say exactly what it is that I find so appealing about North Side of the Tree... I love all details which bring the 16th century to life, I am interested by its depiction of a bygone era, and I am captivated by Beatrice and her story.

I first picked up North Side of the Tree unaware that it was a sequel. This didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the story - or ruin Raider's Tide for me - but there is certainly sense in reading them in their intended order. So I recommend them both.… (més)

Raider's Tide is a historical YA novel set in the 1500s, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. Beatrice lives at Barrowbeck Tower near the Scotland border, in a community which is constantly on the look-out for Scottish raiders. Her father is a drunk highwayman and her mother a dreamer, so the running of their household and farm falls primarily to Beatrice and her sister, Verity. She and Verity are capable of this - and of organising defences against attacks from raiders; Beatrice sees no need for a husband. But she is now 16 and and marriage is no longer a safely distant prospect.
However, defying her family over her proposed marriage to her cousin becomes the least her of problems when she pushes a Scottish raider trying to scale the tower from an upper window and then stumbles across him in forest, seriously wounded. Feeling responsible and guilty, she decides to nurse him back to health, despite the huge personal risk involved - her actions mean she is a traitor to her own people.

This is a coming-of-age story about secrets, defying conventions and risking your life to save someone else. There is something very immediate and accessible about Beatrice's first-person, present-tense narrative, and I found it very easy to identify with her. Beatrice and Verity are delightfully intelligent and independent, and this is an engaging account of women who refuse to conform to conventions and expectations.
Raider's Tide's strength is also the vivid picture it conveys of life in a border community. It does a wonderful job of capturing not only the landscape, the sorts of people inhabiting it and their culture, but the little details - jobs, clothes, windows, attitudes, manners of speech and defences. These things help bring the 16th century to life.

I fell in love with this when I was Beatrice's age, despite having accidentally read the sequel first and hence knowing what happened. It captured my imagination. (As a teenager, it was the book I most wanted to see adapted into a film). Both it and its sequel, North Side of the Tree, have remained amongst my favourites.… (més)