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Review by Linda Harmon
Even though author Jamie Gilson loves
to read history, this new novel is still a departure from her usual
contemporary themes. "Stink Alley" is a historical novel set in 1614
in Leiden, Holland. It is the story of the Pilgrims before they left
Europe on the Mayflower in 1620.
The main character is Lizzy Tinker, who
is 12 years old and recently orphaned. She is part of a congregation
known as Separatists, led by Master William Brewster. They have
escaped from Scrooby, England, to live in Holland where they can
practice religious freedom. After Lizzy's father dies, Master
Brewster and his wife take her into their home. Master Brewster is a
harsh man who believes that children are born evil and that the evil
must be beaten out of them. This is very hard on Lizzy, because her
father and stepmother were very loving and demonstrative parents.
Lizzy's father was a very faithful follower of Master Brewster, so
when he talks badly of her parents for the way they raised her, it
hurts her.
Her daily life is harsh and she must
pay the Brewsters for her keep, so she needs to have a steady job.
As the story opens, Lizzy has a job in the miller's home helping the
cook just for the day. The family is preparing for a breeching
party. This is the time when a 6-year-old boy gives up his baby
dresses and begins to wear the breeches that older boys wear. It is
a time of great celebration with mounds of food, and so the cook
needs extra help.
Lizzy wishes she could stay with the
miller's family, but the cook gives her a good reference for a
cooking job with another family. It is with this family that she
finds a friend in their 8-year-old son. He is intelligent,
precocious and draws everything he sees. He is embarrassed by his
name, and readers must wait until the end of the story to find out
who he is.
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One day the young boy overhears some
Englishmen at the printing shop asking questions about Master
Brewster and tells Lizzy. She knows that he is wanted in England for
subversive activities and she must tell him that the king has sent
spies to find him. In order to alert him to the problem, she must
break the rules. She also breaks the rules when she doesn't tell
Master Brewster about her best friend, Will, and his brother running
away. Every time she tries to do the right thing, it is the wrong
thing as far as Master Brewster is concerned.
Lizzy is a wonderful and brave
character, and at times it is easy to forget that she is only 12
years old.
The author has done a lot of research
about a time in our nation's history that there is not much written
about for children. Young readers will be deliciously grossed out by
meals of eels, calves feet with tripe and peas, and other
information about the sanitary conditions of the times. An afterword
provides even more historical information about the real characters
and also what Ms. Gilson envisions happening to her characters.
This book is recommended for readers in
the fourth through sixth grade.
For more
information about this and other books, please visit the library at
725 Pekin St. or call (217) 732-8878.
[Linda Harmon,
Lincoln
Public Library District]
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