From School Library Journal
Grade 6 Up-"I was the first one in the family to know when Mama started to go insane." This introductory line sets the tone for this story about Patrick Henry's two eldest daughters struggling to grow up in revolutionary America. The first part of the book is narrated by 16-year-old Patsy, who strives to gain her siblings' respect and retain control of the family's "Negro servants" when her mother is confined to the cellar. With immature aspirations and clouded by the fear that she will inherit her mother's illness, she longs only to marry her betrothed and to live a privileged, petted life on their Virginia plantation. Willful, provoking, and seemingly spoiled, nine-year-old Anne narrates the second part. She is surprisingly filled with insight, intelligence, and overwhelming compassion as she challenges her domineering sister. Tormented by the question, "when do you keep a secret and when do you tell a lie?" Anne takes measurable yet unrewarded risks to do what is best for those she loves. Rinaldi successfully weaves the past into a fascinating story from two unique perspectives. Although the plot unfolds slowly at the beginning, its appeal along with the pace increases. The book is an intriguing blend of historical fact and fiction within which lies the hint of embedded psychological themes such as mental disorders, precognition, and complex relationship issues.
Kimberly Monaghan, Vernon Area Public Library, ILCopyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Gr. 7-9. One of the few novels to deal with the problem of insanity in early America, this opens in 1771, as Patrick Henry's 16-year-old daughter, Patsy, realizes that her mother is going insane. When Mrs. Henry's actions threaten the lives of her two youngest children, the family shut her away in a cellar room for the safety of all and to hide her dementia from the larger community. In 1773, Patsy's younger sister, Anne, takes over the narration, which concludes in 1778 with the breakdown of her brother. Patrick Henry appears at intervals, but for the most part the other family members, and occasionally their slaves, take center stage. Two plot elements seem a bit contrived: Mrs. Henry's anguished plea to Patrick Henry to give her freedom or death (foreshadowing and, the novel intimates, inspiring his most famous speech) and her "second sight" that allows her to predict events. Rinaldi knows how to tell a story, though, and her depiction of the effects of mental illness are true to the period, yet transcend it. The book ends with an author's note and a bibliography.
Carolyn PhelanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
