Sovay [Hardcover]

Celia Rees (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 19, 2008

It’s England, 1783. When the rich and beautiful Sovay isn’t sitting for portraits, she’s donning a man’s cloak and robbing travelers—in broad daylight. But in a time when political allegiances between France and England are strained, a rogue bandit is not the only thing travelers fear. Spies abound, and rumors of sedition can quickly lead to disappearances. So when Sovay lifts the wallet of one of England’s most powerful and dangerous men, it’s not just her own identity she must hide, but that of her father. A dazzling historical saga in which the roles of thieves and gentry, good and bad, and men and women are interchanged to riveting effect.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 9 Up—It's 1794, and the revolution in France is threatening to spill across the channel into England, where Sovay, the beautiful 17-year-old daughter of a gentleman, turns to holding up carriages while in disguise to break her boredom. Then her father disappears and is charged with treason, and, with the persuasion of the notorious highwayman Captain Greenwood and the American Virgil Barrett, she becomes embroiled in the political issues of the day, eventually traveling to Paris during the final days of the Reign of Terror. Rees develops strong (and frequently mysterious) characters to carry this historical novel. The vivid sense of place, especially in France, will cause readers to experience the French Revolution on a personal level. Ultimately, the epitome of evil is not Robespierre or his underlings, but the crowds of ordinary citizens who accept the horrors without flinching. Unfortunately, these strengths are undermined by troubles with the plot. Reference to "The Highwayman" that opens the book serves no purpose in the overall story except to introduce Greenwood and display Sovay's courage. The historical events are not fully fleshed out, and readers unfamiliar with the Reign of Terror are offered no explanatory notes or afterword. Two possible love interests for Sovay are trumped in the last 100 pages by a third character, and readers may be frustrated with the neat ending.—Melissa Moore, Union University Library, Jackson, TN
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Review

'A gorgeous, breathtaking, headlong romp of a read' The Times 'Meticulously researched and completely absorbing with a wonderfully feisty heroine, this is highly recommended for teenage readers' The Independent --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens; 1st edition (August 19, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1599902036
• ISBN-13: 978-1599902036
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,360,043 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Celia Rees was born in Solihull, West Midlands, UK. She studied History and Politics at Warwick University and then went on to teach English in city comprehensive schools for seventeen years. She now divides her time between writing, talking to readers in schools and libraries, and teaching creative writing.

She has written many books for older children and teenagers, and has become a leading writer for Young Adults with an international reputation. Her books have been translated into 28 languages and she has been short listed for the Guardian, Whitbread and W.H. Smith Children's Book Awards, as well as numerous regional awards in the UK and America. Witch Child won the prestigious Prix Sorcières in France in 2003, and the Di Cento Prize in Italy, 2001. Her latest book, The Fool's Girl, publishes in the U.S. in July, 2010

Celia lives in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, with her husband, Terry. Her daughter, Catrin, now lives and works in London.

To learn more about Celia and her books, visit her website at: www.celiarees.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Well, it had great potential..., September 14, 2008

By 

AMB - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sovay (Hardcover)

I usually love Celia Rees's work. This plot seemed especially intriguing, what with France in Revolution and spies and Sovay posing as a man and all. But there was no way to distract from Sovay's complete Mary Sue-ness!!

Almost all the men who she meets fall in love with her, and the only ones that don't are the villains. She is perfect, beautiful, rich, intelligent, and has all the guys wrapped around her little thumb. The plot seemed to have good potential, but the perfect Sovay character quickly got annoying.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars disappointed Celia Rees fan, December 7, 2008

By 

Chelsie Lacny "Chel" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sovay (Hardcover)

Rating: 3/5

Review:

I am one of those people who is drawn to a book by it's cover. So, if I had never read anything by Celia Rees, I still would have wanted to read this book.

As it is, I am a big fan of hers, and so I wanted to read this book even more.

Sovay started out fairly decently. There's this girl named Sovay who is basically getting revenge on her fiance... so she dresses as a guy, pretends to be a highwayman, and steals all of his money. Which is good... an interesting and intriguing start to a novel. Right away I realized something about Celia Rees and why I like her books so much: she always has a strong female main character. At least out of all of her books I've read. And so I instantly liked Sovay: she was strong, and fascinating to learn about.

As the story progressed, I found myself... somewhat less drawn to it. Don't get me wrong, it was still good. But it was all over the place for me. One second it's about the revolution, the next it's about this guy or that guy, then it's about the revolution again, then it's about Sovay's most recent cross-dressing and robbing adventure. All of that in one book doesn't bother me, but it seemed like there was no decent transition. The point of the novel was lost on me... was it to emphasis the horrors of the French Revolution? Or was it a story about Sovay and a brief period of her life?

It didn't make much sense to me. It wasn't a bad book, by any means... and who knows, maybe I'm just being picky and judgemental. The book just didn't do it for me, sorry to say. So, if you're looking for a Celia Rees book to read, the one I would recommend would be Pirates!. It's definitely way better than Sovay.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, But Could Be Much Better, October 25, 2008

By 

K.Warner "Underage Bookworm" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Sovay (Hardcover)

Sovay, the new book by Celia Rees, is a bucket load full of good old-fashioned spunk. Sure the plot is predictable, and the protagonist way too perfect, yet this was an adventure that kept your wanting more, even at its bad parts.
Sovay Middleton is your average rich girl. Well, not exactly. Although she has it all: beauty, rank, and class, she still hungers for more. Adventure, that is. To test her fiancée's love for her she dresses up as a highwayman and robs him, clear in the sight of the road. Soon Sovay becomes somewhat of a serial thief and won't hesitate to steal whatever she desires. This time, its letters, letters that call her missing father treasonous. Sovay, along with her new friends, must navigate the tumultuous world of politics in order to find her father and brother.
One thing that annoyed me about the book was how many characters there were, and how they seemed to all love Sovay. Every chapter told us how beautiful and charming she was, and I didn't like her whole highwayman thing, which the author took great pains to enlarge. I also didn't like how the book began; it didn't really hook me. James and his father disappeared with no explanation, and so did Fitzwilliam. The writing was hurried at parts and not very well planned I think. One thing that I did appreciate was the possible allusion at the end of the book to A Tale of Two Cities, when Virgil took Leon's place. Very much like the classic novel.
Overall, this book may satisfy you need for adventure, but the romance isn't very good since the apparent "right guy" comes in at the end and we don't know very much about him. This had great potential, but because it was so abstract it didn't really hit its mark.