The only child character in Eleanor Updale's Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman is Cissie Longman, the rather obnoxious hotel manager’s daughter. The main character, Montmorency, doesn’t even interact with her very much. Nevertheless, I can see kids really enjoying this book because Montmorency is such an engaging character. He is a scofflaw, but one whose history generates sympathy. He is clever, but also a bit vulnerable, so his success does not always seem predetermined. And he manages to live a double life, always on the cusp of discovery and ruin, and that gives his story enough suspense and adventure to keep the pages turning.Readers first meet Montmorency when he is in prison. He had enjoyed quite a career as a thief before having an unfortunate run-in with a wicked piece of machinery during one of his raids. He would most certainly have died if not for the ministrations of Doctor Farcett, who eagerly tested some of his latest medical theories as he saved Montmorency’s life. The patient is given the name “Prisoner 493,” and Doctor Farcett is allowed to transport him periodically to meetings of the Scientific Society so that he can use him as a display. Prisoner 493’s scars are bared for all to see, poke at and prod during these sessions.
When Prisoner 493 is released from prison a few months later, he uses the newly built sewer system, which he learned about during one of the Scientific Society meetings, as an escape route and returns to his thieving ways. This time, though, he creates not just one but two new identities for himself. Scarper is his lower class persona, and it is he who robs the city’s wealthy and scurries into the sewer to escape. His second persona takes the name Montmorency, and he is a gentleman who lives in a high-class hotel, enjoying the high life. It’s interesting to see how the former Prisoner 493 juggles his two personalities, claiming that Scarper is Montmorency’s servant.
The book is set in Victorian England, one of my favorite historical periods, and this certainly added to my enjoyment of this imaginative and well-written tale. Updale has written three sequels, and I look forward to reading them.
I had not read anything by Jessica Day George before reading Princess of the Midnight Ball. This surprised me because her books seem to fit in well among my favorite “fairy tale” books such as Once Upon a Marigold, Ella Enchanted, and Hatching Magic. This story adapts the traditional tale of the twelve dancing princesses into a full-length novel with great success. The twelve daughters of King Gregor of Westfalin find themselves cursed, forced to attend a midnight ball in the underground kingdom of the King Under Stone. The frequency of these forced trips to Under Stone’s kingdom increases over time, until finally the princesses have to go every night, even when they are ill. Under Stone’s magic prevents the girls from talking about their nightly forays, so they fear that they are stuck. Evidently their mother made an ill-advised deal with Under Stone, and when she died her obligation transferred to her daughters.
Enter Galen, a young soldier who finds work as a gardener for the palace grounds. He soon falls in love with the eldest daughter, Rose, and decides to try to break the curse, even though many men of nobler rank have failed. Galen is likeable and fun to root for, and I enjoyed reading about these characters and their quest for freedom and independence.
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