Synopsis:
'A wonderful story starring old friends and new from the much-beloved Victorian world of Hetty Feather. Rose Rivers lives in a beautiful house with her artist father, her difficult, fragile mother and her many siblings. She has everything money can buy - but she feels as though life isn't fair for girls and poor people. Why can't she be educated at school like her brother? Why can't she learn to become a famous artist like her father? Why is life so unfair for people who were not born rich? When a young girl, Clover Moon, joins the household as a nursemaid to Rose's troubled sister Beth, and she meets her father's bohemian protege Paris Walker, she starts to learn more about the wider world. Will Paris help Rose finally achieve her dreams? And will she be able to help Clover find her own dream?'
Book Review:
11 years ago Jacqueline Wilson wrote the hit victorian novel 'Hetty Feather', a young orphan who was abandoned by her mother at the Foundling hospital and dreams of running away to the circus after attending the Jubilee - unfortunately, things don't go to plan, and she ends up homeless. The book became an overnight success, and Jacqueline has gone on to write another seven books in the series (with Rose Rivers being the latest).
Rose Rivers unlike Hetty, comes from a wealthy home where she can have anything she asks for...except for equality. Rose wishes to be educated and make her own way in life instead of having to marry in order to have a quality of life, but in Victorian England, women and men are not treated equally in any sense of the word. Rose also loves to draw like her father, but wishes to draw women who wear trousers, who climb trees and cut off their hair! This is seen as incredibly unladylike by her parents (especially her scolding mother) and so drawing becomes an annoyance to Rose instead of a joy.
Like Hetty, Rose feels her life is rigid and dull with all the rules people place upon her despite her wealth. Upon meeting Paris and Clover, Rose gets a more intimate look into the lives of those who come from hardship and what it means to experience the world outside of four walls. As always, Wilson writes the fierce female lead brilliantly and with enviable ease! Lovers of Hetty Feather will adore Rose River for her 'never take no for an answer' attitude and her unending compassion for those less fortunate.
Comments