Hello everyone,
I recently found out about a new 18 inch doll company called A Girl for All Time. I am very excited about this, because they have dolls from the Tudor time period, Elizabethan, and Victorian and many more.
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| (Image from the Official Girl For All Time site, https://www.agirlforalltime.com/pages/meet-elinor) |
Plus I love that their Elizabethan doll, Elinor, looks vaguely like Queen Elizabeth. I am super excited that they have a doll from the Elizabethan time period, because it is one of my favorite time periods.
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| (image from the official Girl For All Time website, https://www.agirlforalltime.com/pages/matilda) |
And I think that Matilda's facial shape is really neat looking, and her outfit is awesome.
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| (image from the official A Girl For All Time site, https://www.agirlforalltime.com/pages/amelia) |
I am also excited that A Girl for All Time made a Victorian doll. (I plan to do a review of her book soon.)
Anyway before I go on and start talking about why I am excited about the fact that A Girl for All Time has dolls from British history,
I have a book to review:
**A warning for younger readers, this book is a tiny bit dark and involves some dark topics, so ask your parent or guardian before reading this review since it involves the Tower of London, which is a bit gruesome. Also this review contains spoilers for Matilda's Secret, so read with caution**
Matilda's Secret
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| (Image from the official A Girl for All Time site, https://www.agirlforalltime.com/products/3-matildas-secret-novel) |
This is the first book in the Girl for All Time series.
I realized while I was reading this book that I hadn't read many books that are in diary/journal entry format. Most of the books I have read are in third or first person but not written by the character themselves. I liked the beginning of the book, where Matilda talks about her simple life in the country. One detail I love is that she is writing in her journal and sitting in a pear tree while doing so.
Throughout the story she writes down her fears, her bad dreams, and her thoughts about the royal family. Matilda is sent to the court of Henry VIII as a spy to help her cousin, Katherine (or Catherine) Howard with her relationship with the king. Matilda is commanded by her uncle to encourage a marriage between Katherine and the king, and she doesn't really have a choice.
She describes Henry VIII as a disgusting person (which is true), and basically talks about how he seems to be looking for younger woman to marry. Matilda describes how the king kept looking at Katherine and was not fond of his current wife, Anne of Cleves.
In the story Matilda's nightmares are described, with some atmosphere and symbolism which includes ravens (which are foreshadowing to the Tower of London). There are a few disgusting elements though in the book, including the point when Matilda comes up to the castle and sees the heads of those who have been executed. This is described, but can be ignored. Also, the ways people would have had to use the bathroom in the Tudor time period is mentioned, since Matilda would be worried about that since she is in a strange place.
The other girls in the court aren't really nice to Matilda. Only her cousin Katherine is kind to her.
Katherine's character is in keeping with the real Katherine Howard. She is flirty and gives
Matilda tips for ways to impress boys (though Matilda doesn't have much of an interest in this). Katherine is adulterous, eventually marrying Henry VIII, but she then finds herself absolutely disgusted with him. Matilda is asked to help Katherine have children (because Henry wanted to keep the Tudor dynasty going). She tries to give Katherine medicine that will help her have a child but it doesn't succeed, and Katherine ends up throwing up because of it. Towards the end of the book Katherine starts going insane, and she talks about Thomas Culpepper, who she would have rather married than King Henry. Interestingly one historical fact that they did not mention was Katherine's other affairs that happened during the time she was married to Henry VIII.
One thing I am rather glad about is that Matilda had no interest in being married to the king or becoming a queen. She was in a royal court and it is possible that someone would be interested in such things, but she is not. She is happy with being a lady in waiting, and has no interest in boys, which is rather nice to have in a girl character.
A detail of the story I found interesting was during the time that Katherine was about to be executed (way before her execution) she asked if she could practice putting her head on the block. I had read somewhere before that there was a sort of myth about this, Katherine took hours and hours to position her head properly on the cutting block.
The execution is very sad for Matilda considering Katherine was one of her only friends at court. In a way Matilda led Katherine to her death by following her uncle's orders. As Katherine prepares to be executed she tells Matilda not to forget her, and gives Matilda her heart shaped necklace. Matilda closes her eyes, so there are no gruesome details about how Katherine's head got cut off. When Matilda opens her eyes, she does describe it a little bit, but only a little bit.
I will not spoil the end scene of the book, so all I can say is that the way it was written was beautiful and frightening. We are left with the last sentence, "I cannot forget her." It does mention the ghost of Katherine Howard, but it is rather unclear whether it is her actual ghost or a nightmare Matilda had, which makes this story fit into the gothic genre.
Overall I rate this book five stars:
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Have you read this book? What did you think of it? Also what is your favorite time period(s)?
-Quinley
P.S. I have a custom doll project (as well as Part 2 of Red Coats on the Horizon) which I plan to post possibly soon. Another custom which I plan to do (which I have not yet started) is a Newt Scamander doll, which I will post once I am done making him, but that may depend on how long it takes to customize the doll. If it takes a long time, I may end up posting the progress in parts.
Throughout the story she writes down her fears, her bad dreams, and her thoughts about the royal family. Matilda is sent to the court of Henry VIII as a spy to help her cousin, Katherine (or Catherine) Howard with her relationship with the king. Matilda is commanded by her uncle to encourage a marriage between Katherine and the king, and she doesn't really have a choice.
She describes Henry VIII as a disgusting person (which is true), and basically talks about how he seems to be looking for younger woman to marry. Matilda describes how the king kept looking at Katherine and was not fond of his current wife, Anne of Cleves.
In the story Matilda's nightmares are described, with some atmosphere and symbolism which includes ravens (which are foreshadowing to the Tower of London). There are a few disgusting elements though in the book, including the point when Matilda comes up to the castle and sees the heads of those who have been executed. This is described, but can be ignored. Also, the ways people would have had to use the bathroom in the Tudor time period is mentioned, since Matilda would be worried about that since she is in a strange place.
The other girls in the court aren't really nice to Matilda. Only her cousin Katherine is kind to her.
Katherine's character is in keeping with the real Katherine Howard. She is flirty and gives
Matilda tips for ways to impress boys (though Matilda doesn't have much of an interest in this). Katherine is adulterous, eventually marrying Henry VIII, but she then finds herself absolutely disgusted with him. Matilda is asked to help Katherine have children (because Henry wanted to keep the Tudor dynasty going). She tries to give Katherine medicine that will help her have a child but it doesn't succeed, and Katherine ends up throwing up because of it. Towards the end of the book Katherine starts going insane, and she talks about Thomas Culpepper, who she would have rather married than King Henry. Interestingly one historical fact that they did not mention was Katherine's other affairs that happened during the time she was married to Henry VIII.
One thing I am rather glad about is that Matilda had no interest in being married to the king or becoming a queen. She was in a royal court and it is possible that someone would be interested in such things, but she is not. She is happy with being a lady in waiting, and has no interest in boys, which is rather nice to have in a girl character.
A detail of the story I found interesting was during the time that Katherine was about to be executed (way before her execution) she asked if she could practice putting her head on the block. I had read somewhere before that there was a sort of myth about this, Katherine took hours and hours to position her head properly on the cutting block.
The execution is very sad for Matilda considering Katherine was one of her only friends at court. In a way Matilda led Katherine to her death by following her uncle's orders. As Katherine prepares to be executed she tells Matilda not to forget her, and gives Matilda her heart shaped necklace. Matilda closes her eyes, so there are no gruesome details about how Katherine's head got cut off. When Matilda opens her eyes, she does describe it a little bit, but only a little bit.
I will not spoil the end scene of the book, so all I can say is that the way it was written was beautiful and frightening. We are left with the last sentence, "I cannot forget her." It does mention the ghost of Katherine Howard, but it is rather unclear whether it is her actual ghost or a nightmare Matilda had, which makes this story fit into the gothic genre.
Overall I rate this book five stars:
I wouldn't have a super young child read this book, I would have a somewhat older child read it. I think it is a good introduction to the gothic genre and to the Tudor time period.
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Have you read this book? What did you think of it? Also what is your favorite time period(s)?
-Quinley
P.S. I have a custom doll project (as well as Part 2 of Red Coats on the Horizon) which I plan to post possibly soon. Another custom which I plan to do (which I have not yet started) is a Newt Scamander doll, which I will post once I am done making him, but that may depend on how long it takes to customize the doll. If it takes a long time, I may end up posting the progress in parts.
