Prisoners in the Palace and a Poor Purple Polka-dot Pig

Well, I've decided: the entire month of September is going to be Historical Fiction month at this blog. When I first decided to wax eloquent on this theme, I jotted down a few ideas I wanted to post about, and ended up filling several pages—we're going to need a month to get through it. :)

So, on with the theme! One of the books I read during the storm and the electricity-free days following was Prisoners in the Palace, by Michaela MacColl. And it may be the reason why those days seemed so short; it's one of those books that alters the passing of time, which flies by when you're reading and drags while you're waiting to do so. As circumstances had it, I did not have to wait very much, and was able to emerge myself in the world of Princess Victoria, her spunky maid, Liza, and the intrigue and intricacies of their lives.

Often I am asked my opinion on the best way to incorporate historical details into a book without “hitting people over the head” with them. I had a long answer of my own, but from now on I believe I will refer them to Prisoners in the Palace. The way Michaela MacColl painted the Victorian world was believable and natural—yet even though I have read MANY books set in that time-period, I learned more from this one than all the others put together. It felt so true to the time-period that it might have been written then, which I can rarely say—even the sensibilities of the characters were so carefully drawn that I never experienced the annoyance of finding a modern teenager, with modern political and social ideas, plunked into a fancy dress. Even though many of Liza's ideas are quite in sync with current beliefs, the fact that she had to reach them, grow into them, is what makes them ring true.

Also, in brief...great characters; great plotting; great word choice; great sentence flow.

(So go read it already!)

Touching briefly on the effects of Hurricane Irene... I wanted to share with you the photo of this poor orphaned porker that was washed into our yard after the storm. Yes, the only connection he has with the main theme is that of alliteration--but you can't underestimate alliteration, right?

And some less amusing storm damage: