Matilda Bone (Paperback)

by Karen Cushman (Author) "Matilda stood before the scarred wooden door and stared at the bright-yellow bone painted there..." (more)
Key Phrases: saliva mucusque, master physician, goose girl, Father Leufredus, Master Theobald, Doctor Margery (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Fans of Cushman's previous medieval novels (Catherine, Called Birdy; The Midwife's Apprentice) may be disappointed with this historical adventure set in "Blood and Bone Alley" in the town of Chipping Bagthorpe. Unlike Catherine and Brat, heroines whose combination of rebelliousness and resourcefulness made them instantly likeable, 13-year-old Matilda is less winning than her supporting cast. The daughter of a wealthy lord's clerk and a mother who fled soon after her birth, Matilda finds herself orphaned when her father dies. As the novel opens, her self-appointed guardian, Father Leufredus, has just dropped her off at the meager lodgings of Red Peg the Bonesetter to learn Peg's trade. Fresh from the intolerant Father's tutelage, Matilda, in her zealous piety, snubs Peg and inadvertently thwarts the woman's work: more than once, while lost in prayer, the girl ruins a salve or a simple meal of porridge. Thus readers don't get the same insider's view of the bonesetter's apprenticeship that they saw of midwifery through Brat's eyes. The promise of a potential villain, Master Theobold, "the leading physick" who prizes money over healing, is never realized; the development of Matilda's friendship with another girl takes place mostly offstage; and, strangely, there are two denouements, in which Matilda makes the same realization that she has been wrong about Peg (one involving an ailing stranger whom she is treating, the other the apothecary's apprentice). Fiery Peg, her witty husband and her circle of friends will be the characters readers remember. Ages 10-14. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-8-A fascinating glimpse into the colorful life and times of the 14th century. Orphaned Matilda, 13, has lived the good life in a manor where she was well educated by Father Leufredus. Things change drastically, however, when he abandons her, leaving her to serve as an assistant to a bonesetter in return for food and shelter. Matilda is expected to cook the meals, tend the fire, and generally assist Red Peg. And Peg has her hands full dealing with this self-righteous, pious child who snobbishly sprinkles Latin in her everyday speech and continuously brags about her ability to read and write. Peg, however, allows Matilda time to ponder her new role and teaches her, by example, that kindness and friendship go a long way toward lessening the harshness of life in this small English village. Matilda constantly prays for help, guidance, and deliverance. The saints, and this child knows many, respond with humor and sometimes sound advice. The theology espoused by Matilda is consistent with the time period and Father Leufredus has taught her well. She has no thoughts of her own-only the musing and learning of Father Leufredus. She stiffly withholds herself from all attempts at friendship and kindness, and she feels more and more alone. However, when she meets a kitchen maid who joyfully introduces her to the market square, her eyes slowly open to the world around her. Readers witness her spiritual and emotional growth as she blossoms from a self-centered "nincompoop" to a compassionate, competent assistant. Cushman's character descriptions are spare, with each word carefully chosen to paint wonderful pictures. This humorous, frank look at life in the medical quarters in medieval times shows readers that love and compassion, laughter and companionship, are indeed the best medicine.
Kit Vaughan, Midlothian Middle School, VA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Yearling (March 12, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440418224
• ISBN-13: 978-0440418221
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #281,126 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a new book from Karen Cushman!, September 10, 2000

By	Rebecca Herman (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Matilda Bone (Hardcover)

I was so happy when I got this book, because I've been waiting for a new novel from Karen Cushman ever since The Ballad of Lucy Whipple came out, and that was back in 1996. Matilda Bone does not dissapoint. Some professional reviewers have called Matilda whiny and unlikeable, but I disagree. I came to care about Matilda, and watching her learn and grow. In fact, I devoured this book in one setting. The story is about fourteen-year-old Matilda, who was raised on a manor in the Middle Ages after her mother runs off and her father dies. For the most part, her bringing up is handled by a priest who tells her that little more that piety matters. So when she comes to Blood and Bone Alley to work as an apprentice to Red Peg the Bonesetter, she can do little else but believe that since the people she is surrounded by do not pray constantly, they are ungodly. I could understand Matilda's unhappiness - she was torn from the only home she knew, and her extrene religious views were a byproduct of her upbringing. Don't listen to the professional reviewers; I'm a fifteen-year-old reader, and I loved this book!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book on medieval medicine., November 22, 2000

By	Kurt A. Johnson (Marseilles, Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Matilda Bone (Hardcover)

When (in Medieval England) 14-year-old Matilda is apprenticed to Red Peg, the bonesetter, she feels like a duck among chickens. Raised to read French and Latin, to pray often and mortify the flesh, she suddenly finds herself in a world where literacy is vanishingly rare and not appreciated, where prayer is ignored and the flesh taken seriously. She begins to learn that prayer and religion is not the answer, but down-to-earth action is.

This book is a marvelous window into medieval medicine (if that is not too grand of a word to use for it) and life in general. In it we meet a pompous stargazing doctor, an ill trained but capable woman physician, a leech, a near-sighted apothecary, and a host of others. The author added an interesting appendix on her research into medieval medicine, complete with a short bibliography, should you wish to read more on the subject.

I must confess myself to being somewhat uncomfortable with the author's treatment of medieval Christianity, but I do not believe that her characters acted at all out of character for medieval people. So, I do recommend this short, but fascinating book.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Matilda is not a whiner, just a fish out of water..., October 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Matilda Bone (Hardcover)

One thing that I find commendable about fiction writers like Karen Cushman is that they bring history to life for young readers. It's one thing to study medieval times in the classroom, but when a young person can absorb that history through the fictional life of a character in a story, history becomes much more interesting. Karen Cushman has always succeeded on that level with her earlier books, and does so in this one also. I think that another reason this new book succeeds is because it offers the story of a character out of her own element. Matilda leaves all that she finds familiar and comfortable, to enter an existence where all her rules of life until now no longer apply. The culture clashes that follow provide the reader with humor, and encourage empathy for Matilda. I bet that each young person who reads this will wonder, "What would I do in that situation?". And with that question in mind, the reader will be hooked on the story of Matilda Bone. What more could an author (or reader) want than that?