Customer Reviews

Traveller in Time

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This novel, one of my all-time favourites, is the story of Penelope, who at the age of nine visits her great-aunt in the British countryside for a summer. While at the centuries-old farm, she discovers that her second-sight enables her to travel back in time to the 16th century, when Mary, Queen of Scots was first in hiding nearby, then imprisoned, by Elizabeth I of England. She interacts with the nobility of the farm, some of whom are in league with the exiled Queen, and are plotting to rescue her. Although she knows the plot is doomed to failure, and that Queen Mary will be executed, Penelope sympathizes with the "Captive Queen", and tries to aid the rescue attempt. She makes several trips to the past, and grows to love the people she meets there. This novel is full of beautiful language, evocative descriptions, and haunting images. It is an unforgettable story: one so moving and detailed that you can almost taste and smell the past from its pages. A! warning: this book is very sad. However, it is also incredibly interesting, especially if you have studied Elizabethan England, or the history of the Scottish Queen.

"Traveller" is not only a children's book - it is written to older-fashioned guidelines for children's literature: very appropriate for adults as well.

Reading this book, it is hard to believe that the author has not actually visited the 16th century in person. The heroine, Penelope, staying with her great-aunt Tissie and great-uncle Barnabas at Thackers Farm in Derbyshire, finds herself unexpectedly able to pass back and forth from the present (late 19th century) to the reign of Elizabeth I. Here she meets the Babington family, who plot to save mary Queen of Scots from captivity in nearby Wingfield Manor. Her distant ancestor, Cicely Taverner, is cook to the Babbington family, and the descriptions of the servants lives and conversations are utterly convincing, more so than the rather romanticised upper-class Babbingtons. The Thackers Farm of the past comes to be more real to penelope than the present-day place. The escape of the Queen of SCots is doomed to fail, and Penelope knows it, but can do nothing to change history. I understand Alison Uttley had plans to write a sequel to this lovely book, it is fascinating but frustrating to imagine what it would have been like.

I first saw A Traveller in Time on TV in Ireland in the 80s, and had to buy the book. What a delight for all ages.The book tells the story of Penelope who on a visit to her Aunt and Uncle's farm in Derbyshire, travels back to the 16th century. Penelope meets the Babington family who tried unsuccessfully to free the captive Mary Queeen of Scots from nearby Wingfield Manor.Alison Uttley's characters are so convincing, and her descriptions of 16th century life so vivid. All the places in book also exist and can be seen today.

I loved this book when I was young, and it inspired me to read everything I could about Mary Queen of Scots. The author pulls you into the story, and doesn't let you go until it's over. The imagery and descriptions are unforgettable. A wonderful story.

My mother bought this book for me when I was about ten as I had very much enjoyed the author's Little Grey Rabbit stories. I have never forgotten it and am now ordering another copy for my own nine-year-old daughter in the hope that she will love it as much as I still do. Oh to be able to step back in time to Elizabethan England at the push of a door, like the story's central character Penelope! Together with the Babington family who live at Thackers in the earlier time period which she is able to visit, she becomes involved in a plot to rescue the doomed Mary Queen of Scots. This is a marvellous adventure that will captivate any imaginative reader with an interest in 'the olden days'. Books such as this that blend exciting adventures with historically accurate descriptions and evocative writing styles must surely be the best way for children to assimilate knowledge of history. This book IS still in print - I have ordered a copy from Amazon.co.uk and it ships in 24 hours. Also try The Country Child, by Alison Uttley, and The Armourer's House by Rosemary Sutcliff, set in Tudor London - two other gems that I still love thirty-odd years on.

I found this book at a second-hand bookstore a few years ago and I consider it one of my luckiest second-hand finds. This is a suspenseful, exciting, heartwarming story. The era of Mary of Scots is presented in wonderful familliarity, and is very natural. I find it hard to believe that this book has willingly gone out of print.

In early twentieth century England, a young girl finds she is able to slip between her own time and sixteenth century England to take her place among her ancestors, a family of servants to a Catholic nobleman's family. The Babingtons are fiercely loyal to Mary, Queen of Scots, at that time imprisoned by Queen Bess. From the descriptions of the country kitchen, to her budding romance with the nobleman's young kinsman, this book stays in one's memory long after others have faded.

Alison Uttley is a quiet writer, unpretentious and understated. I adore A Traveller in Time which tells a wistful and enchanting tale using the tried and tested device of a child slipping accidentally into another time. It brings to life the period of history when Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned by Elizabeth and when plots were rife as well as recounting the way history is woven into the very fabric of a place. Truly lovely.

This book combined my love of English history with an inquisitive daring modern day heroine. I still have my copy but wish it were still in print so others could discover and love it as much as I have.